Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust cigars

Dunbarton is one blender's company

Steve Saka established Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, usually shortened to DTT, in 2015 as a family-held business.

He came in with a long résumé. Starting in 2000 he spent four years as an executive consultant to Lew Rothman, then owner of JR Cigar. From 2005 through 2013 he was president and then CEO of Drew Estate. The company's own page calls him its ligador and catador de puros, the blender and the taster, and says he sets every standard.

The company page does not explain the name. It does not list outside investors either. What it does stress: no compromises on leaf.

Two Estelí factories roll every DTT cigar

Dunbarton says all of its marcas are made in Estelí, Nicaragua, at two factories: Joya de Nicaragua and Nicaragua American Cigar, S.A., known as NACSA.

The split shows up line by line. Mi Querida comes from NACSA, under master cigar maker Raul Disla, per its product page. Todos Las Dias is made by the workers at Joya de Nicaragua. Saka directs production at both. The site does not say DTT owns either factory.

Dunbarton leaf comes heavy on black tobacco

Dunbarton says it has its own fields, works with growers around the world, and has hybrid seeds grown exclusively for it.

The phrase it leans on is "naturally fermented black tobaccos." Broadleaf and San Andrés Negro show up again and again on its spec sheets. Its product pages list leaf by the Spanish trade terms: capa for wrapper, capote for binder, tripa for filler. Strength is posted as a picture rating out of 10 rather than a word. If those leaves are unfamiliar, the wrapper color chart compares wrapper shades.

Dunbarton marcas and their stated capa

Dunbarton publishes the wrapper and binder for each core line, and lists most fillers as "various."

Sobremesa Solita's filler is listed as Nicaraguan and Pennsylvanian. Todos Las Dias combines Jalapa and Estelí leaf, the company says. The Muestra de Saka Exclusivo uses filler from four Nicaraguan regions, Jalapa, Condega, Ometepe and Estelí, each bale-aged at least five years. Other current marcas include Sin Compromiso, StillWell Star, Red Meat Lovers, Polpetta, Umbagog and Unicorns.

Dunbarton timeline

Dunbarton's record starts with its founder's earlier jobs, years before the company existed.

• 2000: Saka begins four years consulting for JR Cigar's Lew Rothman.
• 2005 to 2013: Saka is president, then CEO, of Drew Estate.
• 2015: Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust is established.
• Mid-2021: Todos Las Dias paused over a filler tobacco.
• Late 2026: the company's stated target to resume Todos Las Dias.

The Bewitched, a Muestra de Saka blend, was first made for the 75th anniversary of the Owl Shop of Worcester, before wider release.

Before you hunt down a Dunbarton

Dunbarton sells through a limited set of shops it calls Select Purveyors, so not every cigar store carries it.

Box counts are odd on purpose. Sobremesa Solita comes 13 or 14 to a box, Todos Las Dias in 10s, and Muestra de Saka in 7-count boxes with each cigar in its own cedar coffin. Muestra blends are made in very small runs, so a size you see one year may not come back. Read the ring gauge carefully, too: Mi Querida runs from a 48 ring Gordita to the 64 ring Gran Búfalo. Convert those numbers with the ring gauge converter.

Dunbarton and Steve Saka questions

Where the Dunbarton facts come from

1. About Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust
2. Mi Querida, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust
3. Sobremesa Solita, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust
4. Todos Las Dias, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust
5. Muestra de Saka, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust