If you recall, back in 2019, Steve Saka – owner of Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, released a special new Connecticut blend known as the Sobremesa Brûlée.
Though conceived in 2015, the Sobremesa Brûlée, finally made it to market in 2019. When asked about this special liga, Steve Saka noted that the Sobremesa Brûlée is:
“…recreation of the milder, shade wrapped ligas of my early years. Somewhere over the last three decades many of the classic shade cigars have become wispy, uninspiring and rather dull to my palate. I wanted to share with others the way I remember these blonde cigars being.
Also as ligador and tobacco man, I do not understand the recent trend of making strong Connecticut Shade cigars aka “not your grandfather’s cigar.”
For reasons best known to Steve Saka, he continued to tinker with the blend and decided to tweak it a bit, have it pressed and rolled into a (6.25 x 46) grand corona vitola and finished it with a pigtail cap.
Steve noted:
“One of the greatest mild cigars I have ever smoked were from the a pair of boxes of mid 8’s Cuban Davidoff Dom Perignon. Measuring 7 x 48, these cigars were aged nearly 12 years before they ended up in my hands. To say these cigars were sublime is an understatement.
There were some shared traits between those amazing cigars and the current Brûlée blend although they share no tobacco DNA. And I would argue that the current Sobremesa Brûlée blend is the equal, if not the better of those old Habana Davidoffs, except…
Those Habana Davidoff Dom Perignon. puro, those were magical – so smooth, so subtle yet complex, creamy, sweetness, touches of cafe and almond butter. Folded with light notes of cedar and a delicate spice.
This was my goal: to tweak the Brûlée liga to reward me with the smoking experience like offered by those amazing aged Davidoff Dom Perignons.”
The resulting tweaked blend is described as:
- Wrapper – Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade G2BW
- Binder – Mexican San Andreas Negro
- Filler – Nicaraguan
The blend seems to be the same as the original Brûlée, but it is all in the formula of how and where you place the leaf.
The Sobremesa Brûlée Blue is packaged in 13-count boxes and has an MSRP of $14.95/cigar.
For this review, I sampled two Sobremesa Brûlée Blue cigars that I received from the company for the purpose of reviewing on Stogie Press.
Pre-Light Examination
The Sobremesa Brûlée Blue is a firm, golden tan vitola, that is smooth to the touch and light on veins. It is beautifully finished with a well applied pig tail cap.
Two bands adorn this version of this Brûlée. Whereas the original used a brown background in the crown of the primary band, the Sobremesa Brûlée Blue uses a light blue background. The same motif is used in the footer band that incorporates the light blue background to highlight the golden “Sobremesa” name.
Running the barrel along the nose, I detected the similar sweet tobacco notes while the foot exuded notes of light spice and buttery note.
I sliced the cap straight across the shoulder, and proceeded to give it a few cold draw puffs that quickly greeted the lips and tongue with a higher level of sweetness that you would normally get from natural tobacco. (Let the debate begin – sweet tip or not?). There was also a bit of a savory note under that sweetness. I would describe the cold draw as right on with restriction and much to my liking.
With the preliminaries out of the way, it was time to fire up the Brûlée Blue. With great respect for Steve and the delicate Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper, I opted to use the soft flame of a lit cedar spill to warm the foot and draw in the first puffs of thick and creamy smoke. Follow along as I burn this one to ash and break it down for you.
Cigar Review Notes
- Thick and creamy, full volume of smoke off first puff
- BBQ Savory Sweetness starts the journey
- Light grey ash forms on a thin straight burn line
- Smooth – toasted caramel notes add to the early pleasure
- Fine oiling grows just above the burn line
- Mild savory spice after inch plus
- Hint of cedar adds to the profile
- Surprisingly enticing – burnt honey notes enter
- Mild spice notes
- Ash falls after a long run revealing a centered but sharply pointed cone
- Peanut notes near midway
- Mild bitterness joins the mix for a short while
- Spice increases
- Bitterness fades and almond notes enter in final third
- Continued spice with a cocoa nuance down to the finish
- Mild – Medium strength
- Total Smoking Time was 1 hour and 35 minutes
Overall, the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Sobremesa Brûlée Blue a fine blend of this classic cigar from Steve Saka. The savory and caramel notes stood out early in the burn and pleasurable notes of honey, almond, peanut, and cocoa just added to the pleasure. There was a slight bitter note that lasted for a short while before finishing with delectable spice and cocoa. Construction wise, this was a well rolled cigar that had a straight and even burn line and a long ash. Once the ash fell, it did have a rather pointed burn cone. Definitely worth grabbing a fiver of and I rate this a 93.
Point Deductions: (-1) Mild bitterness deep in second third; (-1) Mild jag in burn; (-1) Pointed Burn Cone
Bonus Points: (+1) Nice Oiling Above the Burn Line; (+1) Excellent Ash
