I recently purchased a Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust “Deep Cuts Sampler” online from Secreto Cigar Bar and I received a warm DTT beanie as a nice bonus. It was my first purchase from Secreto and I experienced great customer service and fast shipping, I highly recommended it. They also have a DTT store exclusive called the Dondurma which I’ve been wanting to try for a longtime as a hardcore retrohaler but they don’t sell singles so that would have to wait for another day. Yes, even we all-powerful cigar media entities have a spending budget. Back to the sampler, I didn’t buy the collection for the headwear – I bought it for one particular stick. The one located on the far right of the box.
photo courtesy of the Cade Family Archives
All that was known about the Word of Saka at this point was what very little Steve Saka shared on social media, stating that it’s an “all new liga crafted for uncompromising depth and richness. Extremely limited production in 2025…” He had me “uncompromising depth” and since I knew that all the other cigars in the Deep Cuts Sampler were bangers, it was a total no-brainer to treat myself to a little early Christmas gift. I deserve it goddamnit. Since purchasing the set, Steve has shared a much more thorough explanation of the both the Deep Cut Sampler and the mystery cigar contained within it. Here are some actual Words from Saka:
Now for that Deep Cut Sampler Info:
Included are 10 of my absolute favorite cigars from our very diverse range of ligas including a mixture of core and limited production puros. Also, I have included the yet to be released “Word of Saka”. This sampler is the embodiment of what I regard as our very best and represents the exact cigars I smoke for my own private enjoyment.” – Steve Saka
That is what the bottom of the box says, in simpler less sales-weenie speak: This sampler is comprised of MY personal favorite cigars of all the ones we currently craft from all of our nationwide releases. When someone asks, what is/are my favorite DTT cigars, this is the answer with zero regard to sales, cost, inventory constraints – no mucking about, these are the ones.
Maybe some folks would like just a one cigar answer, but that would be dishonest. It really depends on my mood, time of day, what I am craving, nothing is better than a Brûlée Blue with my morning espresso, I love when I can take the time to smoke a big ‘ol Mi Querida Black SakaKhan and sometimes I just want the elegance of a Solita Red.
Include in each Sampler are the following:
– Umbagog Bronzeback
– Mi Querida Black “PapaSaka”
– Mi Querida Triqui Traca No. 648
– Red Meat Lovers Fritanga
– Muestra de Saka Nacatamale
– Sobremesa Solita “Red”
– Sobremesa Brûlée “Blue”
– Todos Las Dias Thick Lonsdale
– Sin Compromiso Paladin de Saka
– Mi Querida Black “SakaKhan”
– “Word of Saka”
Most are on the medium to full side, many are 48 ring gauge, some a tremendous value and a couple are super pricey.
All are available to procure with the exception to the Todos Las Dias Thick Lonsdale – tobacco limitation still prevent us from making this on the regular. And of course, the WOS is something totally new.
I imagine most of you who have read all of this are really most interested in the WOS, so let’s get into it.
First off, it is banded as a Sin Compromiso with a special Bronze Gold ring. And I am sure everyone that has smoked it can already tell you it has no similarity to any other Sin – and it doesn’t, it is a totally new liga, with no shared ingredients except it has our special SAN Cultivo Tonto capa, but not used as its wrapper, but its binder. It isn’t even made at JDN where all the Sins are crafted, but instead at our other factory partners, NACSA.
So why band it as a Sin Compromiso you ask?
Well there have been a lot of changes in NICA regulations as of late, one of which requires me to register all my brands at BOTH factories and in turn, to eventually export something under that brand name from each.
The “Word of Saka” is the first of such releases.
So what is the actual cigar?
It is a liga I have been wanting to do for a very long time, I have always wanted to make an “elegant” CT Broadleaf cigar. That is such an oxymoron and a tremendous personal challenge, because broadleaf inherently lends itself to making stonger, more rustic, meatier style ligas, just in the same way Cameroon capa lends itself to being crafted into milder, gentle spiced cigars.
So the WOS is not what you would typically expect from a CT Broadleaf liga. It is silky smooth, tempered, very balanced, allows more of its complex tripa notes to shine through – there is almost a brightness upon the palate. It begins quite mild, but builds in strength and depth with each puff. It is a liga that deserves your focus and attention to really experience imo.
So the next question is why include it in this Sampler and not just release it?
Simply put, it has 2 totally new tripa aka filler seed varieties in its blend – one from Jalapa and another from Esteli that were grown as pilot test crops back in the 2022/2023 planting season. So there was very little tobacco, barely enough to make 3,500 cigars – so there was not enough tobacco to even do a limited release exclusive.
Now more was planted in 2023/2024, 2024/2025 and even more is being planted now, but the 2023/2024 wont be ready mid-this year at its earliest, so the plan is to make more WOS, at first it will be very limited, but not as limited as just 3,500 cigars. And hopefully, two years into the future there will be enough to really expand on the liga.
However, I couldn’t just hold/age the 2022 leaf because it would not match the flavor/strength of the later crops with less bale aging, so the Deep Cuts sampler provided me the means of utilizing the leaf at its prime.
Also, be forewarned, I think I am probably going to tweak this new liga a bit. I love it “as is”, but I am already thinking of ways I can make it even better in future releases, but to do so I need more of those original pilot seed crops.
So now you know the story and I apologize it has taken me so long to share it in detail. I hope you enjoy the WOS and all the cigars in the Deep Cut Sampler…
Yada yada yada it’s a new Saka cigar and I needed to smoke it. So here we are.
THE CIGAR – SIN COMPROMISO WORD OF SAKA by DUNBARTON TOBACCO & TRUST
Size: 7 x 48
Wrapper: Connecticut broadleaf
Binder: San Andrés Negro “Cultivo Tonto”
Filler: Nicaraguan (Jalapa & Estelí) *
Price: $232.70 Box MSRP (click on over to Famous Smoke Shop where the Deep Cuts Sampler is currently in-stock and on sale, plus you can save an additional $20 off $100 on other fine products using promo code TNCC20)
The Word of Saka is presented in a Churchill vitola featuring a dark, somewhat reddish wrapper leaf with some minimal surface oils. A muted leather aroma is present along with a rich sweetness that’s detected when sniffing the foot of the cigar directly.
After experiencing a musty cold draw, it’s time to light this motherscratcher on fire. Warm, crisp pepper floods the nostrils upon ignition but it’s backed by a bright woodsiness and that combo really lights up my palate to start things off. Once I’m acclimated to what’s going on upstairs, it’s time to focus on the draw where a full-bodied French Roast coffee flavor is standing tall with a dark chocolate note quickly developing underneath it. This is a sexy fucking cigar early on, with dark grey, copious smoke traveling from the foot up the body of the cigar where it meets and becomes one with the smoke swirling out from the punched cap.
A touch of the mustiness found on the cold draw is now showing up through the retrohale, just as the red pepper spice cranks up the volume a few notches. As I mentioned in the intro, I’ve never had the privilege to smoke one of Dunbarton’s Dondurma series of cigars (which is admittedly odd considering I retrohale constantly while smoking but I’ve been told before that I’m an odd guy); however, I’m confident in stating this early on – if you’re not blowing smoke out your nose with the Word of Saka you are doing yourself a serious disservice. What the hell is your issue anyhow? Just be a man and do it.
The Word of Saka features very good overall construction so far with a smooth, clear draw and an acceptable burn line (one touch up was required in the first half to keep things in check). While the triple threat of pepper/oak/must is undeniably enjoyable, the bold coffee flavors combined with dark chocolate via the draw deserve their time in the spotlight as well. Full bodied and damn near full strength as we approach the fifty yard line, my first thought is that this particular cigar is not ideal for beginners.
The Word of Saka is smoking incredibly smooth. All the cigar’s components are dancing together in perfect unison… perhaps “The Choreography of Saka” would be a better monicker? A golden honey sweetness suddenly arises underneath the draw’s coffee and dark chocolate. It’s a fleeting flavor, gone in under ten puffs, but once it vanishes from the profile a vanilla pudding note instantly fills that void through the retro. The dance continues…
That vanilla sensation lasted just a little longer than the honey did, but sadly it too bids us adios just as the burn line approaches the Word of Saka’s ornate secondary band. The burn line continues to be wavier than I prefer but I’ve only corrected it twice, reluctantly, because I don’t want to screw things up with the introduction of more fire. My nose is now tingling similar to a Wasabi burn (that’s a good thing) and I’m astonished that the draw’s core flavors are still effortlessly shining through despite the level of peppery spice at play.
The Word of Saka’s final act doesn’t disappoint. A splash of mineral has now joined the retro’s pepper/must and slightly diminishing oak. And the draw’s French Roast flavor is now more clearly defined than ever as the dark chocolate downshifts as well. No worries, the void from that chocolate note is quickly filled by a very faint orange zest that keeps things interesting downstairs. I’d say that this is an “interesting cigar” but that doesn’t sound nearly sexy enough so I won’t. But it is a very interesting, sexy cigar.
THE NUB
TNCC Final Score = 93
It’s not often that I’ll describe a cigar as a “silky smooth powerhouse” but that’s exactly what I’m about to type so prepare yourselves. The Word of Saka is a silky smooth powerhouse of a cigar featuring well-defined, highly enjoyable flavors with a nuance and complexity that is more than worthy of the Sin Compromiso label… or wherever it eventually ends up in the Dunbarton lineup. Count me in for more, many more.
* Dunbarton did not submit the Word of Saka to us for review, so the blend information above has been pieced together from Steve Saka’s public social media posts. If we find out there is more to the filler components than what is listed, this post will be updated**.
** More than likely we will forget and this post will not be updated.
*** Total Smoking Time: 94 minutes
