Cigar Review: Sobremesa

Cigar: Sobremesa
Size: El Americano (6×52)
Wrapper: Ecuador Habano
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $12.45 MSRP
Samples provided by Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust

Like the Caleanoch 25, I first heard about the Sobremesa by Steve Saka of Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust during this year’s IPCPR. What brought about my attention to this cigar was Steve’s honesty, stating that not everyone is going to like this cigar but many of us are going to love it. It’s that honesty from Steve that pulled me in and made me reach out to him. My thanks to Steve and Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust for the opportunity to try these cigars.

And for a more in-depth background of Steve’s cigar career and the development of the cigar, David also reviewed the Sobremesa.

No construction issues were found with the Sobremesa. Besides the oily wrapper being the first characteristic noted on the light, the pre-light aromas consisted of cocoa and floral notes. My first draws after the punch and light were nicely balanced, coupled with flavor notes of cocoa and mild spice which focused all around the palette (roof of the mouth to middle of the tongue). The initial flavors paired well with each other, making for a great start to the cigar. The spice faded out of the palette altogether around the eleven minute mark. At the halfway point, more prominent notes of cocoa, hints of holiday spices, and a touch of leather were the noticeable flavor notes. The Sobremesa starts out around medium to full bodied in strength and just after the halfway point, the strength begins moving towards full bodied territory and achieves that designation by the end of the cigar. Total smoking time for the Sobremesa is 1:21.

This cigar gave me zero problems. The burn was even and didn’t require any corrections. It drew well throughout the entirety of its smoking time. The oily wrapper held well and did not pull off or give me any unusual burn holes. A very enjoyable cigar, to say the least.

By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 5/5
Value: 0.5/1
Total: 9.5/10

To recap the Sobremesa:

• This is a complex, flavorful cigar. It’s safe to say that this is going to be in the running among my favorite cigars of the year.
• While I wouldn’t give a Sobremesa to someone who is new to cigars or to someone who only smokes a few times a year, I think this cigar can be enjoyable by most everyone who smokes with regularity.
• This is tough…this particular vitola which I loved is just out of my comfortable price range, which is why I have to take a half point off. Otherwise, this is Perfect 10 easily.
• While I can’t keep these in my humidor all the time (I will have to try other vitolas after the Christmas holiday), I did order a few of these just this week.

As always, thank you very much for reading and I look forward to the next time I can share my thoughts with you.