Today, we look at the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Famous 80th Anniversary in the Corona Larga size. This is a store exclusive to Famous Smoke Shop, a retailer known for its online operation in Easton, Pennsylvania. In 2019, Dunbarton was one of several manufacturers commissioned to produce a limited edition exclusive cigar for Famous to commemorate Famous’ 80th anniversary. It was initially released in a Toro size, and then several additional limited production drops followed. This past year saw the line expand to four sizes (the Corona Larga was one of the added sizes) and it is now an ongoing exclusive to Famous Smoke Shop.

Famous Smoke Shop opened its doors in October 1939 in Midtown Manhattan as a cigar and gift shop. The company was founded by David and Rose Zaretsky. David and Rose’s son Arthur joined the business in 1970. Arthur spearheaded the company’s entry into the catalog business and took sole ownership in 1984. Today, Famous Smoke Shop has its retail and online operations in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Let’s break down the Famous 80th Anniversary without further ado and see what this cigar offers.

Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Famous 80th Anniversary Corona Larga – Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

Dunbarton’s 80th Anniversary cigar is a Nicaraguan puro. One interesting note is that this cigar comes out of the NACSA factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust works with this factory primarily for the Mi Querida brand, which is a Connecticut Broadleaf line. The 80th Anniversary was blended by Steve Saka and has been limited because of the availability of the tobaccos used in the blend.

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano 2000 Sungrown
Binder: Nicaraguan Jalapa C98
Filler: Nicaraguan (Esteli, Ometepe, Jalapa and Condega)
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Factory: Nicaraguan American Cigars, S.A.

Vitolas Offered

The 80th Anniversary is offered in four box-pressed (Prensado) sizes. Each size comes in ten-count boxes. The Toro size was first released in 2019 as a limited run for Famous Smoke Shop. A second run of the Toros came in 2020. In 2021, a batch of the Robusto size was released. Late in 2023, it was announced that the 80th Anniversary line would become a full-fledged ongoing production for Famous. Along with the Toro and Robusto sizes, the Corona Larga and Gordo were created. The four sizes shipped to Famous in 2024.

Toro: 6 x 52
Robusto: 5 x 52
Corona Larga: 6 1/2 x 48
Gordo: 6 x 60

Appearance (*)

The Nicaraguan Habano wrapper of the 80th Anniversary Corona Larga is stunning. It has a medium-roast coffee bean color with a slight Colorado tint. There is a light sheen of oil on the surface. It’s a mostly smooth wrapper with only a few visible veins. Most of the wrapper seams were minimally visible. As for the box press, it is more of a classic press as opposed to a soft Cuban (slightly rounded) press.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw (*)

A straight cut was used to commence the smoking experience of the 80th Anniversary Corona Larga. Once the cap was clipped, I moved to the pre-light draw experience. The cold draw delivered a mix of cedar and cocoa notes. Overall, the cold draw had a good balance of these two notes, making for a satisfactory pre-light draw experience. At this point, it was time to remove the footer band of the 80th Anniversary Corona Larga and move into the smoking phase.

Tasting Notes

The 80th Anniversary Corona Larga opened with notes of cedar, chocolate, natural tobacco, baker’s spice, and some red pepper. Early on, the chocolate and natural tobacco developed a fusion. The chocolate/natural tobacco combination, along with the cedar notes, became primary early on. The baker’s spice and red pepper settled into the background. On the retro-hale, there was a layer of mixed pepper notes.

During the second third of the 80th Anniversary Corona Larga, the cedar notes took control as the primary note. The chocolate/natural tobacco fusion settled into the background and morphed into separate citrus and natural tobacco notes. There still were notes of baker’s spice and red pepper in the background. In addition, another note surfaced that reminded me of a flaky pie crust. I am not one to get too extreme with flavor notes, but pie crust is the best analogy I can make.

The final third saw the cedar notes become dominant. Otherwise, there wasn’t much change in the background notes, as there still were notes of citrus, natural tobacco, baker’s spice, red pepper, and pie crust. This is how the 80th Anniversary Corona Larga came to a close. The cigar finished with a soft, cool nub.

Burn

While the 80th Anniversary Corona Larga maintained a straight burn path and burn line with little maintenance in the first third, the second third required more frequent touch-ups. The resulting ash was mostly silver-gray with some dark spots. It was slightly on the loose side. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both maintained ideal levels.

Draw

The draw to the 80th Anniversary Corona Larga performed exceptionally well. It had a touch of resistance, making it ideal in my book. This was also a low-maintenance cigar from which to derive flavor.

Strength and Body

Regarding strength and body, I rated the 80th Anniversary Corona Larga on the upper end of medium and just a tad below the medium to full level. Throughout the smoking experience, there wasn’t much variance in the intensity levels. Strength and body balanced each other nicely, with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)

While the packaging of the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Famous 80th cigar isn’t very flashy, it does have an excellent presentation. The green and gold primary band works quite well with the Dunbarton logo. The footer band indicating the 80th anniversary is quite nice. Finally, things are packaged in an elegant wooden box.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

I’ve long been critical of the cigar market’s single-store release segment. Unfortunately, there are too many of these releases; many manufacturers do it to check a box, and the media spends way too much time covering them. I can honestly say with the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Famous 80th, this is not a case of simply checking a box. Steve Saka genuinely cares when he does these single-store releases. For Famous, he delivers a very nice product. My one shortcoming with this release isn’t over quality; it’s the profile that had more of a cedar taste than I prefer. At the same time, I know many cigar enthusiasts like this profile of a cigar.

The Famous 80th can be purchased in five-packs or ten-count boxes, so my advice is to try a sample first and see if this cigar is for you.

Summary

Key Flavors: Cedar, Natural Tobacco, Chocolate, Baker’s Spice, Citrus, Pie Crust, Pepper
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good