BETTER START SAVING YOUR PENNIES FOR SOME NEW SAKA GOODIES
All the information and images below are from Steve Saka’s Facebook account. Who better to detail new releases than the man himself.
Sobremesa Brûlée “Wagashi” 和菓子
Limited Production – Available at PCA 2024
Booth #9025
The Brûlée “Wagashi” 和菓子 is aptly named after the delicious Japanese desert delicacies that rose to cultural import during the Edo Period (1603-1857). Crafted from very simple, yet high quality ingredients, these petite pastries are often served with green tea and renowned for their refined textures and nutty nature with just the right hint of sweetness. Originally reserved for the upper classes, today Wagashi is part of the everyday joy of many Japanese.
This moniker always struck me as a perfect one to describe this tweaked version of our limited production Brulée Blue liga. Not only does its smoke share some common flavor traits with its intricate nuttiness, creamy texture and gentle sweetness, the prensado format of the vitola even takes on the likeness of Yokan, a particular style of Wagashi.
This is a very refined liga, one that is meant to be savored slowly and afforded your attention as it will reward you with tastes of almonds, delicate coffee notes, caramel, and sweet cream to delight your nose and palate.
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Sobremesa Brûlée “Wagashi” 和菓子
6.00 x 50 Semi-Dressed FBN Box / 13ct
Capa: Ecuador Connecticut Shade G2BW
Capote: San Andreas Negro
Tripa: Nicaraguan – Select Grades Only
Forteleza: Mild-Medium
Flavor Profile: A creamy liga with soft flavors of nut, caramel and café, which are complimented by its inherent sweetness.
Puro Style: Milder, yet flavorful and satisfying. Good for the inexperienced, but truly a treat for those with an experienced palate.
MSRP: $17.95 p/cigar – $233.35 p/box MSRP
Initial boxes will ship in April 2024
Originally released in a small batch as a Cigar Dojo exclusive – now being offered to all of our Purveyors.
“Introducing” Sobremesa Solita
Not new, but a packaging change for our original Sobremesa liga.
First off, absolutely nothing has changed about the cigars or their blends in anyway whatsoever.
Reread that please – anyone that tells you they taste different has rocks in their head… <snicker>
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So what changed?
1. We have reduced to box counts to 13, except the Short Churchill which remains in its original 14 count box – I tried making it a 13ct, but the vista (inside label) is too large – impossible to resize without a huge expense.
The reason was to make box purchases more affordable for both our Purveyors and Patrons.
Also I wanted to make the counts match our Sobremesa Brûlée box counts for consistency.
I have been wanting to make this change since launching Brûlée, but the box factories got so jammed up during C19 to do so was just not practical. Until now…
No Cost Increase has been incurred in 2024 as a result of this shift… I always knew this was the plan so it was “baked into the cake” long ago.
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2. We are changing the name of original Sobremesa to Sobremesa Solita.
This is a result of us now having Sobremesa Brûlée, not having an extra tag line made it confusing for both Purveyors and some Patrons. Now it is easier: Brûlée = the milder, shade liga whereas Solita = the richer, original sungrown Habano seed liga.
“Solita” is a made up word referencing the fact that the wrappers are Ecuador Habano which while sungrown, it is done so in valleys with dense cloud cover, hence they get diffused sunlight.
I have zero interest in debating the Spanish grammatical correctness of “solita” vs “solito” and the gender of cigars or the sun – I have already had the discussion ad nauseum with everyone… my brand, I like Solita better. So if this bugs you, get used to it.
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3. DTT has ceased production of the Gran Imperiales, Torpedo Tiempo, Corona Gordo and Cervantes Fino.
We have slowly been phasing these out over the last few years with the CF being the last in preparation for this shift.
Originally when Sobremesa was the only blend and brand we had, we needed 8 sizes, but today with Sobremesa Brûlée, Blue and the soon to be released Wagashi, eight was simply too much for our Purveyors (and for me to keep up with) so I reduced the line to the 4 most popular vitolas.
Special Note – nixing the Cervantes Fino broke my heart as it was my personal favorite of the line. But have no fear, I will be bringing it back in the future. I actually have a slightly different adaptation of this liga that I have been making just for my own consumption for about 3 years, so right now I am stockpiling the needed leaf and when I am ready there will be a special Solita release. No ETA… depends on the tobaccos.
So whatever is in the wild of these 4 vitolas is all that remains.
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4. I have also simplified the vitola names – again the original ones were confusing for some plus I wanted to make it consistent with the format nomenclature of Brûlée.
So…
Robusto Larga = Solita Robusto
El Americano = Solita Toro
Elegante en Cedros = Solita Churchill en Cedros
Short Churchill = Solita Short Churchill
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This change actually began in November 2023 and was finalized in late January.
So all of the boxes we are currently shipping and will offer at the Premium Cigar Association Trade Show will be branded and packed as Sobremesa Solita.
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Sidebar Comment: Very rare for a new company’s first release to be successful long term, much less still growing in total sales 9 years later. I was proud of this blend when I created it so it is very satisfying to see that it will be able to celebrate its 10th Anniversary next year.
Thank You!
Who in their right mind launches a cigar brand with 5 sizes and one of them is NOT a robusto?
This idiot… but please let me explain.
When creating and blending Sin Compromiso I was never satisfied with the robusto vitola. It always seemed a little off so when we launched the brand in 2019 I decided to just not include arguably the most popular format.
This is how my perfectionist nature gets in the way of my dollars, but I figured I would work on it and introduce the robusto in 2020.
Hmmm… this took a little longer than I had planned, but better right than timely.
So after a five year delay it is with GREAT PLEASURE for me to introduce the Sin Compromiso No. 4!
A 5.00 x 54 prensado robusto whose blend is now perfectly tailored for its format and to suit its namesake.
Samples available at PCA 2024
ETA May 2024
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