Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Updating Sobremesa Packaging, Renames Original Line as Sobremesa Solita

Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust’s Sobremesa line is getting new packaging and a new name. Via a post on Facebook, Steve Saka, the company’s founder, announced that it will now be known as Sobremesa Solita.

Solita is the Spanish word for “little sun,” which Saka said “is appropriate to describe its Sungrown Habana capa grown in the valleys of Ecuador which often have cloud cover, hence filtering the sun which results in its exquisite texture and smooth flavors.”

In announcing the change, Saka wrote that “describing the original Sobremesa as the ‘old one’ does not do justice to the liga which has remained strong in the market for 8 years.”

The change will also affect the names of the vitolas in the Sobremesa line:

• Sobremesa Robusto Largo becomes the Sobremesa Solita Robusto
• Sobremesa El American becomes the Sobremesa Sobremesa Solita Toro
• Sobremesa Elegante en Cedros becomes the Sobremesa Solita Churchill
• Sobremesa Short Churchill becomes the Sobremesa Solita Short Churchill

As for the Sobremesa Cervantes Fino, it is being discontinued. While Saka described it as one of his personal favorites, he added that “business is business.” He noted that a few dozen boxes of the vitola remain, but once they are sold, they will be gone until further notice.

The blend of the Sobremesa line will not be changing, as it still uses the Ecuadorian habano wrapper that Saka referenced atop a Mexican Matacapan Negro de Temporal binder, and a filler that includes Nicaraguan GK Condega C-SG, Pueblo Nuevo Criollo, La Joya Estelí C-98, and ASP Estelí Hybrid Ligero, along with Pennsylvania-grown broadleaf ligero.

As for the packaging, three of the sizes in the Sobremesa line will now be offered in 13-count boxes, a change from the 25-count boxes in which the line is currently offered, while the Short Churchill will remain in its 14-count box. Saka said that he has wanted to make the change for three years to match the Sobremesa Brûlée’s packaging, but it wasn’t possible for the box maker to accommodate the change until now.

The new packaging will begin appearing in 2024, though a more specific date was not announced.