My Weekend Cigar Review: Mi Querida Black PapaSaka

VIDEO CIGAR REVIEW: Mi Querida Black PapaSaka

In case you ever wondered where black velvet comes from…

Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust calls Mi Querida Black—the third iteration of the blend—“the ultimate execution of our family of broadleaf ligas.” While retaining “the soul” of the other ligas in the Mi Querida line, Black differs by adding a highly select grade of Honduran Habano seed tobacco to the filler. Steve Saka blended the two vitola line and supervised the production by Raul Disla, Master Cigarmaker at NACSA in Estelí. As a result, every facet of the Mi Querida Black represents the apex of Broadleaf cigars from the selection and blending of the tobaccos right down to the torcedor’s rolling table. Since production is dictated by the availability of the tobaccos, Mi Querida Black has been limited to 3,500 boxes of 10 cigars for 2023.

Cigar Details

Factory: Nicaragua American Cigars S.A. – Esteli
Size: 5 5/8″ x 48
Body: Med – Full
Strength: Med – Full
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf No. 1 Darks
Binder: San Andrés Negro
Filler: Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominican Republic

Presented in boxes of 10

Mi Querida Black PapaSaka Cigar Review

The Mi Querida Black PapaSaka is a sharp-looking and expertly-crafted cigar. It’s firm throughout, and after twisting the pigtail cap off, the draw was perfect with a sweet prelight taste. I also liked the thin black and silver band with its sawtooth border.

The cigar lit perfectly. The initial puffs, creamy and sweet with a fair amount of earth and spice. Even at this early stage the smoke is dense and the burn gets off to a good start. Medium-bodied, a sweet woody note, light coffee, and a spicy aroma ensue. All-in-all, the smoke is rich in flavor with a well-fermented & aged tobacco creaminess.

The cigar continues to burn beautifully and is medium-full at midway. The flavors are layered and well-balanced. The cigar is performing like a champ. It’s sweet, a bit woody, and nutty, with nuanced flavors of light spice, and a subtle, peppery spice finish.

The latter inches continue the cigar’s rich, dense, and velvety smooth course. The cigar has also remained medium-full in body & strength. For the record: a relight in the final inches of my first PapaSaka took beautifully and continued without being harsh—a good test. It just seems to resist bitterness. Earthy spice and woody flavors ensue, but the sweetness fades. The aroma also transitions, acquiring a certain mellowness and denseness to it. In the end, I smoked both of my PapaSakas to 1½ inches.

Was Mi Querida Black PapaSaka Weekend Worthy?

More than that. It was uber weekend worthy. As I said in the video, I’m gonna keep my summation short. If you’re already a fan of the brand you can stop reading here and go pick up your box now, but here goes…

Starting with Mr. Saka, he’s a perfectionist who knows tobacco intimately and has a rich history of doing amazing things with Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. With the Mi Querida Black line, he and Señor Disla have delivered a medium to full-bodied cigar with a creaminess that rivals freshly-churned butter and vivid flavors that are beautifully layered and balanced. And for its flawless performance, I’m filing the Mi Querida Black PapaSaka as one of the best cigars I’ve smoked this year. End of story.

If you’ve already had an experience with this cigar please share your thoughts with a comment.