Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida Triqui Traca

By Tony Casas | September 30, 2019

Trying to keep up with Jeff and Jeremy over here who have been on review-rolls I decided to venture out back with the dogs, a bottle of Bottle Logic’s Ground State and a Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida Triqui Traca.

The Good Stuff:

A few years back Steve Saka, founder of Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust took the cigar community by storm when he released the Mi Querida. You can read my review of that cigar here. This year Steve decided to follow up that release with an amped up version called the Mi Querida Triqui Traca. Aptly named after oversized Nicaraguan fireworks, this blend remains true to what we all have grown to love about the Mi Querida while adding more body resulting in the fullest cigar in the Dunbarton portfolio to date. The Triqui Traca uses the same style Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper only it utilizes a Dark Corona No 1 leaf over the standard Connecticut Broadleaf mediums in the standard release, Nicaraguan binder and filler along with an added ligero filler grown in the Dominican Republic. The cigars are offered in two sizes: No. 552 (5 x 52) and the No. 648 (6 x 48). Each come packaged in boxes of 20 ranging from $10.75 to $11.75 a stick. I purchased mine over from our friends at Two Guys Smoke Shop.

• Size: 6 x 48
• Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Nicaraguan / Dominican Ligero
• Body: Full
• Strength: Full
• Price: $11.75
• Pairing: Bottle Logic Ground State (Imperial Stout 12.89% ABV)

Prelight:

The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida Triqui Traca starts out with a beautiful, dark brown wrapper that’s semi-consistent in color with a few areas of darker brown around the cap of the cigar and a few orangish-brown areas scattered around the foot of the cigar. The wrapper’s texture is incredibly toothy and gritty with a ton of oils coating the outside of the cigar. The wrapper feels very hard and dense while the cigar as a whole is very heavy with absolutely no soft spots. The wrapper is laid seamlessly over itself leading through the cigar’s slender body up to it’s round double-wrapped cap. The cigar is the polished off with that lovely, elegant “Mi Quireda” band we all love, only this time in a maroon and gold print.

The wrapper on the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida Triqui Traca produces some bold cedar and cocoa aromas while the foot of the cigar is much more spice driven with some great natural tobacco aromas. The cap cut like butter while the cold draw kicks out a good amount of pepper and spice mixed in with cocoa, musk, and natural tobacco.

First Third:

The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida Triqui Traca starts out with a hefty cayenne pepper punch that left my lips and tongue tingling for a bit. After the first few draws the pepper completely faded away leaving me with loads of cocoa and coffee backed by oak, musk, black cherry, and a slight pecan finish. The draw is perfect as each tiny puff kicks out huge amounts of thick, white smoke that really hangs around for quite some time before dissipating while the cigar pumps out stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a trail of tightly compacted white ash which held on for about an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida Triqui Traca and the cigar is still firing on all cylinders. The flavor profile still leads with bold cocoa and coffee with nice oak, spice, musk, earthiness, and vanilla. The retrohale really brings out the spice and oak and is quite sharp so I don’t find myself doing it too often. The burn line is still dead even and razor thin as I close out the second third with a light little nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida Triqui Traca and this is where the already fantastic cigar begins to shine. The body and strength meet right in the middle for a perfectly dynamic mixture while the flavor profile in the cigar balances out with a great mixture of cocoa, vanilla, brown sugar, pecan, oak, musk, and natural tobacco flavors that I thoroughly enjoy. The cigar took me an hour and a forty five minutes to take down to the nub and I loved every second of it. The burn was flawless, I never once had to reach for my torch to touch up, or relight the cigar while I experience no harshness nor extended heat. The cigar did however leave me with a hefty little nicotine kick but nothing too bad.

Overview:

This is yet another fantastic addition to an already glowing Dunbarton portfolio. The Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida Triqui Traca carries a bold, complex, yet balanced profile without being too overpowered by strength. While subjective, the flavor profile is one that really hits all the marks for me. The construction and burn experience was flawless, and the price is right around where I’d expect this cigar to land. I can’t say for sure which one I liked more, but I think both blends easily find their way into my regular portfolio while the Triqui Traca is something I’ll be reaching for after dinner when I am craving a more full-bodied experience.

Pairing:

Ground State is an Imperial breakfast stout brewed by Bottle Logic with Vermont Maple Syrup that is still aged in Bourbon Barrels with cocoa nibs and coffee added. Coming in at 12.89% ABV, Ground state leads with loads of sweet, dark chocolate, vanilla, malt, and brown sugar with a nice little bourbon bite at the end. The maple is pretty well hidden and really only pops in during the finishing taste. Such a smooth, easy drinking ~13% beer. The chocolate, brown sugar, and sweetness really married up nicely with the existing flavors in the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Mi Querida Triqui Traca making for a great pairing.