Vitola: Double Perfecto
Size: 6.25″ x 60 ring gauge
Price $100.00 MSRP
Review Sample From SmallBatchCigar.com
Background
Late last year Steve Saka had some posts on Facebook about his desire to try to make a very expensive cigar just for the heck of it. I’m guessing when he showed his creation on FB there was a call for him to sell these cigars. When I heard the announcement that some of them were going to be shipping I didn’t think I would be seeing one. However last weekend Andrew handed me one of the couple that they received so it could be reviewed, so thank you Andrew for this opportunity. I don’t think there is much blend info out there other than the wrapper is Connecticut broadleaf maduro. These were a limited production of just 1,000 cigars. I don’t know how many of these Steve released to stores and how many he kept for himself. As you can guess I only smoked one of these.
Prelight
The wrapper is a very dark brown in color with some oils and tooth to it. The ribbon band is similar to the other Muestra de Saka releases, but with the subtle unicorn stamping in the middle. It also appeared slightly lumpy, even so it seemed very well constructed. It was fairly firm and without any soft spots. When I put my nose to the wrapper I got a leather aroma, with a slight amount of barnyard coming from the small foot. After clipping it and taking a cold draw I got some cocoa and wood flavors with a slightly tight draw.
Flavor
It starts off with lots chocolate, cedar and earth flavors. There is some spice as it starts out as well which built in intensity towards the end of the first third. It was medium strength at the beginning. By the end I did also note some cinnamon and copper flavors in there as well. As I moved into the second third the flavors were pretty similar but I definitely started to taste what I’ve noticed in the one other MdS release I’ve tried as well as from the Sobremesa. I can’t exactly describe that taste, but it isn’t something that is enjoyable for me. That isn’t to say it’s bad, just not a flavor I like. I did note that there were some grilled meat flavors added in to what I got from the first third. The strength was maybe at the upper end of medium. The cigar ended off with flavors of cocoa, earth, coffee, with a slightly sweet and creamy finish. The spice was still present as well, but not as intense as the second third. The cigar moved up in strength a bit and finished out at medium-full.
Construction
I usually don’t like cigars this shape because I can never get them lit straight. This one however didn’t cause me any problems and only needed a slight correction as it rounded the foot. The draw was a little too tight to start but opened up nicely after only about half an inch.
Value
I don’t know if any cigar is worth $100, but it seems like Steve has a formula to make this worth it since the ones released sold out quickly.
Conclusions
Overall it was an OK cigar. That’s not to say it was a bad cigar, but with that particular flavor that Steve likes and blends into some of his cigars it just didn’t do a whole lot for me. The construction was definitely better than I’m used to on cigars of this shape so I didn’t have that frustration as well. These cigars are sold out as you can guess, but you can pick up any other other Dunbarton cigars at SmallBatchCigar.com.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8/10
