The Particulars

The Review

This review for the Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust Barba Amarilla 2025 - Corona Gorda (5.63 x 48) is based on the journal entry dated 2025-11-24

Appearance & Construction (0-3):  Good (3)

It’s a good-looking cigar, with just a single yellow band at the foot. The printing doesn’t take well so it’s a little hard to read, but you’ll know which cigar this is, no problem. Do I know why it has a snake head on it? Nope! The Criollo wrapper is a warm, rich brown with a texture reminding me of a brown paper bag. Slightly rough, slightly soft, there’s a lot of small tooth present. It’s a bit drier, but there’s still color variation and light mottling. It’s a thick leaf, so all the edges are quite visible, but it’s well-rolled and has no gaps or other visible issues. It has a cute little pigtail even though it has a triple cap.

Draw (0-3) & Burn (0-4):  Good (3) / Good (3)

The draw has ample resistance; it’s in my sweet spot, and the burn starts beautifully. The ash is among one of the whitest I’ve encountered thus far, but it quickly browns as it cools down. It also has minimal cracking and striations, with dark sections appearing in the areas with more cracking. The cracks increase in frequency and depth as the burn continues.

The burn line is wavy and a bit uneven, but it’s crisp and controlled well enough to start. One side starts burning a little slower, and the burn line follows the wrapper seam. It’s trying to self-correct, and the burn line is still crisp; it’s just uneven side-to-side. I mean, the ash is hanging on past the midway point. 🔥 It’s not perfect, but no major complaints.

Flavor Profile (0-5):  Excellent (5)

This blend wastes no time starting off with a bang of flavor. Mild pepper punch, lots of baking spice, heavy espresso and chocolate, cedar, and earth that finishes with caramel sweetness and some extra breadiness. I’m loving this from the get-go. Breadiness builds with graham cracker, and the sweet is a mix of caramel and light citrus. There’s dark smoked meat savoriness, light bready and cedar flavors, pepper, cinnamon, honey, citrus, dark chocolate, and creamy espresso that bring just a little bit of natural bitterness. And it’s all wrapped up in a rich, creamy finish.

The pepper increases in the second third, balancing the cinnamon and giving it a nice savory, coffee and spice-rubbed steak flavor. The complexity on this blend is through the roof and it’s exquisitely balanced. This isn’t hitting as hard as I would’ve expected with the Viso and Ligero, but it’s working beautifully. Robust and balanced complex flavor is a wonderful thing. Getting away from the big-picture flavors, there are some light floral notes at times, rich earth feeding into that dark savory note, and bits of leather. It’s trying to fill the entire flavor wheel.

With the final third, the flavor profile is locked in and there are only minor changes in individual flavor intensity. The espresso flavor notably ramps up with a little more earth. But for all the spice, which isn’t overwhelming, only leaving a nice tingle and burn, it’s a very smooth smoke. But man, I have enjoyed every minute of this cigar. 🤌🏻

Overall Experience (0-5):  Excellent (5)

Saka done good, the Barba Amarilla bit me too. 🥵 But I’m afraid it might have gotten me in the ass. Unfortunately, Steve doesn’t know me at all, so I don’t think we’re on the level to be talking about who is sucking the poison out of whose ass yet. 😅

Instead, I’d gladly offer to buy him a steak dinner in salute for this blend, but I might regret the bite taken out of my wallet even more. <snicker>

The only downside is this is an annual small-batch release for one retailer, but it’s absolutely worth it. I’ll definitely be thinking about a box with next year’s release.

Review Base Rating (0-5):

4.75

Would I Buy It Again?

Without a doubt (box worthy)

Review Final Score (0-10):

9.67

Overall Score and Individual Journal Entries

While the review is based off one instance of journaling this cigar; there’s a number of reasons you can have different experiences smoking the same cigar multiple times. A blend can evolve with age (for better or worse), palates evolves, preferences change, and sometimes you just get a bad example!  This section captures the ratings from each journal entry and the related journal photo.  Below you’ll find an aggregate score based on every time the cigar has been journaled. Unless it was a gift or on-off smoke, this section will be updated every time I journal this cigar!

The Flavor Wheel

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.