Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust: Year of the Pausers

Every year, more and more manufacturers celebrate Chinese New Year with a special edition that corresponds to the Chinese zodiac sign, and with great success.

Steve Saka wouldn’t be Steve Saka if he didn’t take his own unique, new, and very appealing approach. He asked himself the question:
“So how does Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust get in on this gravy train? But do it differently, something that is more in keeping with who we are as a company. No offense to others, but since we have very little sales in Asia, us making a ”Year of the Whatever” just didn’t feel right to me, it felt disingenuous. So…”

So Saka decided (for the first time last year with the “Year of the Duque”) to create a special cigar every year to celebrate someone who is special to DTT and/or the cigar industry. Saka continues: “And not just in name, but that I would blend a unique liga that is a homage to their own palate.”

The cigar manufacturer is delighted to continue this new tradition with this year’s release, the “Year of the Pausers”.

Basic information about Year of the Pausers:

6 x 48 Parejo w/ Finished Moña DTT Style Pig Tail
14ct Box – 2 Different Ligas – 7 of Each
MSRP: $276.50 Cabinet / $19.75 Single
Handcrafted at JDN & NACSA – Esteli, Nicaragua
Limited Production – ~2,700 Boxes
Available Late March 2026

Blend info:

“Michelle”
Handcrafted at JDN – Esteli, Nicaragua
Wrapper: Mexicano Cultivo Tonto SAN – Grade 1
Binder: Ecuador Habano Viso Rosado
Tripa: Nicaraguan, Pennsylvania Seedleaf
Forteleza – Medium Plus

Inspiration Liga was our Sin Compromiso “Paladin de Saka”.

“Tom”
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Capa Camaleón
Binder: Mexicano San Andres Negro
Tripa: Nicaraguan, Dominican
Forteleza – Full

Inspiration Ligas was our heavier bodied blends like Triqui Traca and MQ Black.

Steve Saka about Michelle and Tom Pauser:
“This year it is a great privilege to honor Michelle Pauser and Tom Pauser aka The Alaskans, but I decided it wasn’t as important where they are from, but who they are as people hence the moniker I chose was “Friends to Many”.

Michele and Tom are a spectacular couple who are very active online, in particular the SI Social Group, and travel to Lower 48 to attend multiple cigar events each year. They are two of the nicest people in the world, always positive and not only are big supporters of DTT, but many other brands. From hosting cigar dinners in the tundra to sponsoring multiple charities through their passion for cigars, they are truly an inspiration to all and are beloved by all who know them!

Michele is as serious a cigar smoker as Tom, maybe even more crazy, so doing one special liga for them was not going to cut it. Therefore I created 2 totally different blends, one for him, the other for her.

For those of you not familiar with the process, these are -not- blends they have any involvement in creating. They will actually smoke them just before we ship to all of our Purveyors, so they may not even like them.

What I do is ask the Year of Honoree, what are some of their favorite DTT cigars and what are their favorite vitola sizes to smoke and from that I create an all-new liga based on this info.

This year they both asked for the classic Saka format, our 6×48 parejo, but blend wise they had different asks. Both smoke many of our cigars, but I needed them to provide me some guidance. Michelle told me she really loves our Sin Compromiso, whereas Tom said some of his favorite DTT cigars are our heavier, bolder blends like our MQ Black and Triqui Traca.

And with these “marching orders”, I got to work.

For the liga honoring Michelle, it is a variation of my beloved Sin Compromiso Paladin de Saka, but now in a smaller format and with modified filler blend that maintains the higher octane of the PDS, but adds a beautiful sweet, creamier note to its combination of cocoa and coffee notes. Overall, medium plus – this is sublime cigar, many folks are going to love this one.

For the liga honoring Tom, I went into uncharted territory. It is the very first ever cigar blend featuring a totally NEW wrapper variety I dubbed “Capa Camaleón”. Grown in Esteli, it is a first generation hybridized seed that crosses the classic H2000 Sungrown Cuban Seed with US Connecticut Broadleaf. Why “chameleon”? Because when the farmer initially showed it to me, at first blush looking at the leaf structure I thought it was Habana seed, but then I noticed some distinct markers in the vein and leaf shape structure that made me think it was some sort of Broadleaf. And then I smoked some samples and I was blown away – it truly tastes different than anything I have ever had before. Almost a burnt caramel and saltiness to it that has a distinct twang on the palate. Now I will admit this liga is a bit of a risk given its unique properties. But torpedos be damned, I just went for it. And while this is a fuller bodied liga, that cross of the broadleaf tempers the bite I would normally expect from an Esteli sungrown Cuban seed capa. I think this liga is going to age out beautifully over time.

So folks, you are getting two great blends in a single box. Kinda’ like the Pausers themselves, both great people, but an even better couple!

Each of the rings is marked uniquely, so you can tell which liga is which. Originally I was positioning Michelle’s cigars on the left side of the box, as in “ladies first”, but David Lafferty told me I had to put Michelle’s cigar on the right.

Why? In his words: “Any happy couple knows that the wife is Always Right!”