Muestra de Saka Unstolen Valor

12. Muestra de Saka Unstolen Valor

DUNBARTON TOBACCO & TRUST

  • Country of Origin: Nicaragua
  • Factory: Nicaragua American Cigars S.A.
  • Wrapper: Nicaragua
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua
  • Length: 6 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 52
  • Vitola: Toro
  • MSRP: $17.95 (Box of 7, $125.65)
  • Release Date: May 7, 2020
  • Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
  • Original Score: 92

It takes a large number of cigars to keep pace with consumer demands for new products every year, and for every new creation that hits the market, there are an untold number of sample blends that never make it to retailer’s shelves for any number of reasons.

In 2017, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust debuted the Muestra de Saka line as a way to give consumers a glimpse of his blending process. As such, each of the cigars would be samples of blends, or muestras as they are known in Spanish.

The fifth addition to Dunbarton founder Steve Saka’s Muestra de Saka line is named Unstolen Valor, but unlike the preceding cigars in the series, it was not blended by Saka himself. Instead, the cigar was created by Raul Disla, who is the production manager at Nicaragua American Cigars S.A. in Estelí, a factory that produces the Mi Querida, Todo Las Dias, Umbagog, Frog Juice and Red Meat Lovers lines for Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust.

Instead of asking Disla to come up with a cigar for Dunbarton, Saka challenged Disla to create some blends that he personally enjoyed, with no consideration given to either the costs or opinions of other people. Thus, the Muestra de Saka Unstolen Valor was born, a 6 x 52 toro priced at $17.95 that is sold in individual coffins, with seven coffins in each box. The winning blend—which is actually Saka’s favorite blends of the ones Disla came up with—features an extremely enjoyable and will-balanced profile—albeit not over-the-top complex—with dominant flavors of earth, charred meat and nuts combining expertly with an ever-present peppercorn note on the retrohale. — Brooks Whittington.