Video review HERE.
(Description taken from Cigar-coop.com website)
Unstolen Valor, the long-awaited fifth installment of Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust’s Muestra de Saka series is now available from retailers.
While Muestra de Saka is a series of blends designed by Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Master Ligador Steve Saka, the Unstolen Valor is a different project. It’s a blend that was developed by Raul Disla, the General Manager of the Nicaraguan American Cigars S.A. (NACSA) factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.
Disla has been in charge of overseeing and executing production of the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida and Umbagog lines (which are both produced at NACSA). Saka challenged Disla to come up with a series of “personal best” ligas for himself. Saka says he fell in love with this blend and asked for permission to use this blend and incorporate it to the Muestra de Saka line. Disla would grant that permission. That blend has been dubbed “Unstolen Valor.”
The Unstolen Valor is a Nicaraguan puro. The cigar comes in one size – a 6 x 52 parejo. Like the other Muestra de Saka releases, each individual Unstolen Valor is packaged in a coffin. The coffins are packaged seven per box.
The cigar has an oily wrapper and a very dense feel in the hand.
The test draw after cutting the cap was very good. The initial flavors at light up were cedar, brown sugar, caramel, cinnamon, leather, nutmeg, and black coffee. There was black pepper rated at 7 to 7 1/2. A nice sweet start. The leather is not overpowering. The nutmeg makes a nice bridge from the sweeter notes to the darker notes. The flavors hint that the cigar may have some power down the road.
At the first third (38 minutes) the leather and black coffee notes started coming out. There is quite a bit of nutmeg. The sweeter flavors are a little subdued with the rising of the darker notes. The cigar is medium to full bodied. The finish is leather, nutmeg, and a minute amount of cedar and brown sugar. The lingering black pepper is pretty good. The first third is very good. I rated it 94.
As I moved through the second third (1 hour 16 minutes) nothing much has changed. I still had the same notes in about the same amounts. The only change is the cigar is now full bodied. The finish is basically unchanged. I noticed from time to time the intensity of the sweeter notes rose and fell slightly. Overall the cigar is very consistent to this point. I maintained the score of 94.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 44 minutes. A very good burn time. In the final third the sweeter notes that sometimes rose and dropped in the second third seem to have dropped almost completely. There are still hints of cedar but the brown sugar and caramel are almost completely gone. The leather, nutmeg, and black coffee still hold the majority of flavors. The cigar is still full bodied. The finish is unchanged. The cigar took a turn downward in the final third. I rated it 91. The first 2/3 were so good the overall score will be very respectable.
Overall Score: 93
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