Sobremesa Brûlée Blue

Connecticut-wrapped cigars have been given mixed receptions in the past, with detractors noting a lack of complexity and linear profiles as some of the main culprits holding them back from being better creations. That did not stop Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust’s Steve Saka from releasing his own version of the style in 2019 that he called an attempt to recreate Connecticut-wrapped blends of the past: Sobremesa Brûlée.

However, Saka was not finished with his attempts, and he announced a “tweaked” version of the Sobremesa Brûlée blend dubbed Sobremesa Brûlée Blue in June 2020.

The new limited edition is available in just one size—a 6 1/4 x 46 grand corona with a pigtail cap—and is made with an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper covering a Mexican binder and four different Nicaraguan fillers and have been aged for at least one year after being rolled. Only 1,000 boxes of 13 cigars were released, with each cigar priced at $14.95.

In terms of profile, the Brûlée Blue is both creamy and incredibly rich on the palate, with dominant flavors of peanut butter and dried tea leaves as well as plenty of well-balanced white pepper and an ever-present sweetness on the retrohale that morphs from pineapple to vanilla bean. Throw in excellent construction and the end result is easily one of the best examples of a Connecticut-wrapped blend to be released in 2020. — Brooks Whittington.