Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Red Meat Lovers Ribeye

By Tony Casas | November 13, 2023

Even with the weather as cold as it has been here off and on, I am going to try and finish up the year out back smoking as often as I can stand. This week my company includes my two dogs sand a Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Red Mea Lovers Ribeye.

The Good Stuff:

Steak lovers rejoice! Steve Saka at Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust created Red Meat Lovers as a top-shelf offering blended specifically to be enjoyed after a heavy meal of steak or prime rib. Originally created as an annual single store exclusive release at the request of the Red Meat Lovers Club to smoke at their charity dinners, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust founder and Master Blender Steve Saka decided this year to make the Red Meat Lovers a full production line adding two new sizes, the Filet Minon and Porterhouse. Handcrafterd at the Nicaraguan American Cigar factory the Red Met Lovers features a US Grown Connecticut wrapper over a Mexican San Andres Negro binder and filler tobacco from Nicaragua and the US. The Red Meat Lovers is offered in four steak themed sizes: Beef Stick (6 x 48), Filet Minon (5 x 54), Ribeye (6 x 52), and the Porterhouse (6 x 60). Each format comes in a soft-box press format with the exception of the Beef Stick. Each comes package in boxes of 10 running between $14.95 and $16.45 per cigar. While I have purchased and smoked my share of the line, these particular cigars were sent my way from our friends at Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust.

• Size: 6 x 52
• Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
• Binder: San Andres Negro
• Filler: Nicaraguan and USA
• Body: Full
• Strength: Full
• Price: $15.45

Prelight:

The Red Meat Lovers Ribeye starts out with a gorgeous, consistent dark brown wrapper with only a few darker areas located around the cigar’s cap. The texture on the wrapper is very toothy and gritty with some slight oils coating the cigar. The wrapper feels very thick and dense. is laid seamlessly over itself. There are only tiny, little veins located thourhgout the cigar’s slender, soft-box pressed body leading up to the cigar’s round, stubby pigtail cap. Polishing of the cigar is a red and white band with a total butcher-style branding of the “Red Meat Lovers” crest in the front.

The wrapper on the Red Meat Lovers gives off note of musk and spice while the foot of the cigar carries a more earthy/peppery mixture of aromas over natural tobacco. The cap cut clean and easily using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces a fruity mixture of raisin on spice over mostly natural tobacco and musky flavors.

First Third:

The Red Meat Lovers Ribeye starts off with a milder blast of black pepper than I expected. The pepper faded very quickly after the first few puff which allowed the cigar to release some great musky cedar flavors mashed up with some great bold spice and raisin over milder notes of earthy tobacco, pecan and a really mild black cherry tartness. The flavors start right off in the full-body arena and it will be interesting to see how they develop over the experience. The draw is slightly tight, but nothing too fussy. After a starter puff or two the cigar pumps out huge clouds of very thick, dense smoke which takes quite some time to dissipate while the cigar releases almost no stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. I also really enjoy the comfort both in my hand and my mouth of the soft box press. The burnline is ridiculously sharp and very even leaving behind a trail of very tightly compacted white and dark gray ash which held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Red Meat Lovers and the flavor profile has been mostly consistent. The full-bodied profile leads with a ton of musky cedar and spice over more raisin, earthy tobacco and also a great charred pretzel-like flavor. There is also this great little anise flavor that keeps poking its head in and out of the equation. The retrohale brings out a whole ton of spice and pepper which can be a bit overpowering so I don’t find myself doing it too often. The draw at this point has completely opened up and is now kicking out a ton of smoke with every little puff. I close out the second third with a decent little nicotine kick already.

Finish:

The Red Meat Lovers finishes with a very consistent profile as the rest of the cigar: bold musk, cedar and spice over raisin, earthiness, and a grainy/charry/biscuity mixture. It started in the full-bodied arena and ended just the same. It took me almost two hours to take this cigar down to the nub. It’s a stronger smoke so I took my time with it. I close out with no extended heat, no harshness, and no sap. It did however leave me with a pretty hefty nicotine kick. It’s time to break out some cookies to settle that out.

Overview:

It’s very easy to see how great the Red Meat Lovers would pair with a steak or even a heavy stout. The flavor profile is very bold and consistent which you’d be able to grasp even after the heaviest of meals. While it’s not the most complex profile, it didn’t need to be. You can also easily taste the quality of tobacco used in this blend very easily. The cigar performed as it should, is easily obtainable and while a bit higher priced it’s still not crazy expensive considering the tobacco used in the blend. This isn’t a cigar I’ll have a ton of on hand, but I will absolutely keep some in my humidor for those late night after dinner smokes, or a perfect pairing for my winter evening roasty stout pairings.