Welcome back to the Blend of the Week. 🔥

Every Monday we put one cigar under the microscope: what's in it, how it smokes, how it's been received, and whether it's worth your money. This week, the Red Meat Lovers Ribeye from Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust: a cigar Steve Saka blended for a South Florida steak club, built to be lit after the plates are cleared.

Two honest notes: Dunbarton calls it full-bodied, but reviewers keep describing a medium start that climbs to full in the back half, so think slow build, not first-puff punch. And Dunbarton's own page doesn't name the factory; halfwheel's launch coverage puts it at NACSA in Estelí. Price has climbed from $15.45 at the 2023 national launch.

Steve Saka is the man behind Liga Privada from his years running Drew Estate. In 2016 he went out on his own with Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, a small company built around his own blends, rolled in tight runs at partner factories in Nicaragua.

Red Meat Lovers started on the radio. Saka met Evan Darnell, founder of the Red Meat Lovers Club, who goes by "The Secretary of Steak," during a KMA Talk Radio broadcast hosted by Smoke Inn owner Abe Dababneh. The club gets together to eat a lot of beef, often at charity dinners, and the ask was simple: a cigar that belongs at the end of a steak dinner. Dunbarton says Saka worked the blend out in Nicaragua over a chuleta de dos lomos, a prime porterhouse, with whiskey and espresso on the table.

It debuted in January 2019 in Smoke Inn's MicroBlend Series, sold in bundles wrapped in butcher's paper with a meat tag. The Ribeye followed in December 2020 as a 600-box exclusive. In 2023 the line went national, with every size named for a cut: Filet Mignon, Ribeye, Porterhouse and Beef Stick.

Flavor is personal, and we don't fake a chair we didn't sit in. Here's what the Ribeye's makeup and the reviewers who've smoked it keep pointing to.

What's in it. The wrapper is Connecticut broadleaf, a thick, sun-grown leaf from the Connecticut River Valley that gets fermented hard until it turns dark and sweet. It's the same kind of leaf on Liga Privada No. 9, the cigar Saka is best known for, and it tends to bring cocoa, coffee and a natural sugar. Under it sits a Mexican San Andrés Negro binder, dark tobacco from volcanic soil that adds earth. The filler pairs Nicaraguan leaf with Pennsylvania tobacco, and that's the curveball: Pennsylvania leaf is rare in premium cigars and tends to read heavy and savory, a likely source of the "meaty" reputation. The box press squares the cigar off and packs the filler tight; Saka said this size concentrates the flavor and gives it a bit more oomph.

How it smokes. Synthesized from published reviews and the blend's composition. Not a smoke we're claiming we took.

Pre-light: earth up front, with cocoa, baking spice and black pepper on the cold draw.

First third: sweet and savory at once. Wood, nuts, earth and coffee lead, with a short burst of spice, and the broadleaf's dark chocolate sits underneath.

Second third: the sweetness steps back and coffee takes over, with wood and a Brazil-nut richness. This is where the strength climbs to full.

Final third: earth returns with wood and cocoa. One reviewer picked up a bitter edge in the last inches, so this is one to set down at the band rather than nub.

Construction: a dark, mottled, oily wrapper, a pigtail cap and a firm press. Draw reports are good. Reviews of the original size noted a wandering burn that needed a touch-up or two, so keep the lighter close. Budget 90 minutes or more; halfwheel clocked the original, bigger toro at over two hours.

How it's been received. Coverage of the Ribeye itself is thin, so we read across the family. CigarsLover scored the Ribeye an 89 in 2024 and recommended smoking it on a full stomach, after barbecue. Cigar Coop gave the original 2019 toro a 90 and called it box-worthy, while noting it smoked closer to medium than the marketing promised; halfwheel's review of that first release landed in the same place, restrained and well balanced. Buyers rate it highly, 5 out of 5 across nine ratings at Cigars International. The fit note: the strength arrives in the back half, not on the first puff.

Pair it with. The obvious one first: a steak dinner, then the cigar. Saka blended it with whiskey and espresso on the table, and both work. A high-rye bourbon or a cask-strength pour stands up to the coffee and earth, and a double espresso leans right into the cocoa. Not a whiskey night? A tawny port's nutty sweetness echoes the Ribeye's nut and chocolate notes. Save it for the evening, after a heavy meal.

Who it's for. Maduro fans who like sweetness with some savory weight, and Liga Privada No. 9 smokers curious what Saka did next with broadleaf. It's a strong after-dinner closer for a medium-full smoker ready to step up. If you want a gentle morning cigar, or full strength from the first puff, this isn't that; it builds slowly. Want more kick? The Fritanga is Saka's spicier, beefier take on the same blend.

Where to buy. It's regular production now, but stock moves: the Ribeye box shows backordered or sold out at a couple of big retailers as we write. Our shop this week is Famous Cigars, which has it in stock in boxes of 10 at $143.99, 15% under the $169.50 MSRP. Right now the box also comes with a free Dunbarton Famous 80th Robusto five-pack, so you get a second Saka blend to smoke alongside it.

The Red Meat Lovers Ribeye is a cigar that knows exactly when it wants to be smoked: after the steak. Connecticut broadleaf sweetness, a savory Pennsylvania backbone, and strength that waits for the second half. It started with a radio conversation and a club dinner here in South Florida, and it earned a national run. If there's a ribeye on your grill this weekend, light the one named after it when you're done.

🔥 Ever paired a cigar with a steak dinner? Hit reply and tell us what you lit. And if there's a blend you want us to break down next week, send it our way.