Vitola: Toro- 6” x 52 ring gauge
- ~$15.50
- Sample provided by Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust
Background
In 2021, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust produced a new line of cigars designed to combine the experiences of smoking a fine stogie with that of burning your favorite pipe tobacco. Steve Saka, owner and master blender for Dunbarton, has been a pipe smoker for over 30 years and has added pipe leaf to some of his favorite cigar blends for years. He told Jeremy Reeves, head blender for Cornell & Diehl, about it and the collaboration began.
StillWell Star is a line of 4 blends, each available in a single Toro size. Each features the same high-priming grade A Ecuadorian Habano wrapper and Mexican San Andres Negro binder. The filler is different in each instance, tailored to fit the overall experience Saka and Reeves were trying to achieve. Today I’m looking the Aromatic No. 1 version, which includes Black Cavendish, Golden Virginia, and Burley pipe tobaccos along with Nicaraguan cigar tobacco.
Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust sent me samples of each blend for this series of reviews. If your local shop doesn’t carry Dunbarton products, you can find them on our sponsor’s website at Small Batch Cigar.
Prelight
A friend recently remarked on how beautiful the band for the Sobremesa Brûlée Blue was and I have to say it’s a common theme going through Dunbarton products, with the exception of the Umbagog…all their bands are beautifully crafted and stand out on the shelf. This series features a main band and footband, both of which have a navy blue background with gold foil and embossing for the artwork and lettering.
The wrapper leaf was a medium-brown color with some darker mottling and a touch of oiliness to it. The aroma from it was earth and cedar, with a touch of cocoa powder. The foot was where the party started. There was a strong sweetness on it that was hard to pinpoint, but reading “black Cavendish” again brought it home…it’s a non-exact fruitiness that has notes of raisin and chocolate-covered cherries.
I clipped the cap and took a prelight draw, immediately finding that this was not just “probably” a sweetened cap. It wasn’t offensive, though, as it just kind of completed the aromatic pipe tobacco experience. I got notes of cedar, earth, orange, and dark chocolate before lighting.
Flavor
Firing up the StillWell Star Aromatic No. 1 I got cinnamon spice, cedar, earth, and chocolate up front…not just the “hint” of chocolate that you typically get from some tobaccos, but quite sweet. Along with the cinnamon heat on the palate, I got some black and red pepper on the nose. The whole experience was interesting and the closest I could remember to it was the Drew Estate Natural (or “Larutan” in today’s more “woke-world”). Mind you, this doesn’t seem like “Saka’s version of Natural” but just something similar in theme but totally different in experience. This had more body, less sweetness, more complexity.
The chocolate sweetness kept steadily in the lead during the second third, with cinnamon still coming on strong and earth keeping a solid base to everything. It definitely gave the impression of “pipe tobacco” to the proceedings.
The chocolate toned down in the last third and the cinnamon notes came through even stronger, with earthy flavor still underneath it all.
Construction
I had a good draw, very even burn line, and solid ash throughout.
Value
Good cigar with a price tag that is a little elevated, but “average prices” have gone up and Dunbarton’s prices were always a little higher than average. It’s a tough one, but I’m going to call it “full value”…but just barely for this blend.
Conclusions
The StillWell Star Aromatic No. 1 was a good cigar showcasing some aromatic pipe tobacco in a different format than you might be used to. For me it wasn’t amazing, but that comes down to really just not being an aromatic pipe smoker. It did hold my interest because of its unique profile, but I didn’t find it as complex and rich as I would like. If you’re more of an aromatic fan, though, this might be right up your alley.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
