2023 Cigar of the Year Countdown (Coop’s List) #11: Mi Querida Black SakaKhan by Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust

#11 2023 Cigar of the Year: Mi Querida Black SakaKhan by Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust

SPECIFICATIONS

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf No.1 Dark
Binder: San Andres Negro
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, Dominican
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: Nicaraguan American Cigars S.A. (NACSA)
SakaKhan: 7 1/4 x 54
Price: $15.95

Sponsor: Yes
Samples Provided for Initial Review: Yes
Review: Mi Querida Black SakaKhan by Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust
Appearances on Countdown (By Year/Company): 9 (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)

The Details

The #11 2023 Cigar of the Year is the Mi Querida Black SakaKhan by Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust. At the 2022 Premium Cigar Association Trade Show, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust would launch its third line under its Mi Querida brand, the Mi Querida Black. The cigar was initially released in one size called SakaKhan, which was a nickname given to Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust founder Steve Saka during his days in the Navy. The Mi Querida Black SakaKhan wasn’t exactly a new cigar. It had been released at the end of 2021 as a part of JR Cigar’s 50th-anniversary series when it was simply called the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Limited Edition EM Maduro.

When Saka created the blend for JR Cigars, he wanted a cigar that would fit the type of cigars that Ed McVey, a longtime buyer for JR Cigars, would smoke. The blend features a Connecticut Broadleaf No. 1 Dark wrapper, a San Andres binder, and a combination of Honduran, Nicaraguan, and Dominican fillers. In terms of the vitola itself, SakaKhan is a massive 7 1 /4 x 54 parejo. Both the blend and size of the Mi Querida Black Saka Khan are the same as the JR Cigar release. As with all Mi Querida Cigars, the Mi Querida Black line is produced at the NACSA factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.

The Mi Querida Black SakaKhan delivered a mix of mocha (a combination of coffee and chocolate fused or complementing each other), damp earth, cedar, and pepper. The flavors delivered were medium to full-bodied countered with medium to full strength.

Mi Querida Black SakaKhan along the Muestra de Saka Bewitched makes Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust the third company in 2023 to land two cigars on the Countdown. As we mentioned when the Bewitched landed, Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust has landed on the Countdown each year it has been in business – that is, nine consecutive times. If you are following the unveiling of the 2023 Countdown, Nicaragua continues to dominate. This is the 12th Cigar from Nicaragua to land on the Countdown.