Dunbarton Sin Compromiso Selección No. 7 Review
Filed under: Box-Pressed · Burn Issues · Cold Weather · Tight Draw · Fixing a Wavy Burn · Nicaragua · Parejos · The Ash · Relighting · Retrohale · San Andrés · Spanish Cedar · Strength vs Body · The Draw · What Cigars Cost
Verdict: The Dunbarton Sin Compromiso Selección No. 7 is a Not Even Free (1/4) at about $21.55 street... a smooth leather, coffee and cream smoke for two thirds on a draw that stayed tight through two passes with the draw tool, then a final third that went to all earth and black pepper on a burn that took two touch-ups and three relights. The cream on the retrohale was the best thing about it. It wasn't enough to carry the rest.
- Brand
- Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust
- Line
- Sin Compromiso
- Vitola
- Selección No. 7
- Size
- 7 x 56
- Wrapper
- Mexican San Andrés
- Binder
- Ecuadorian Habano
- Filler
- Nicaraguan
- Made in
- Nicaragua
- Factory
- Fábrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua, Estelí
- Strength
- Medium to medium-full, closer to full by the end
- Street price
- $21.55
Sin Compromiso is a Steve Saka blend from Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, made for him at Joya de Nicaragua. The retailer listings describe a Mexican San Andrés wrapper over an Ecuadorian Habano binder and Nicaraguan filler. The Selección No. 7 is the big one, a 7 x 56 parejo, and mine came with a cedar sleeve over the lower two thirds. I had a good amount of time on a cool Saturday afternoon, so it felt like the right pick.
The Setup
- Cigar: Dunbarton Sin Compromiso Selección No. 7, 7 x 56 parejo with a soft box press. Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Ecuadorian Habano binder, Nicaraguan filler, made at Fábrica de Tabacos Joya de Nicaragua in Estelí.
- Street price: about $21.55 a single online. Cigars International sells it by the five-pack at $107.75 MSRP, which is $21.55 a stick, the box of 13 lists at $280.10, which is also $21.55 a stick, and the single lists at $21.55.
- What I paid: about $19 a stick, my own money. It came in a four-cigar Sin Compromiso sampler I ordered online in June 2025, $76.42 for the four.
- Storage: the Herf-a-Dor at 69% RH since it arrived in June 2025, so about 16 months of rest.
- When/where: lit a little after 1:00 PM on a Saturday on my back deck, with a fire going in the fireplace. 56°, feels like 44 with a wind chill I couldn't feel where I was sitting, 59% humidity, lightly breezy.
- Smoke time: about an hour and three quarters. I laid it down with about a quarter inch of smokable cigar left.
- Food beforehand: a bowl of Crispix with raw milk about 45 minutes before.
- First cigar of the day, finishing off half a San Pellegrino through the start, then water. Cut with the Xikar XO, lit with the Guevara Lux single torch.
Light Up and First Third
The cedar sleeve on the lower two thirds slid off with no problem. Under it is a rustic-looking wrapper with a soft box press, slightly toothy but not super toothy, and slightly veiny, though not with fine veins. It looks like a single cap. It could be a double cap, but if it is, it's basically flat to the top. The foot was well packed, and the whole thing looked nicely constructed.
The cold draw was slightly tight, with a very mild sweetness and no spice on my lips. The toast gave a nice dark chocolate, a bitter type of chocolate, not in a bad way, just a very dark chocolate.
Just after light up I got some of that dark chocolate, leather, and a little bit of espresso. Double draws were more of the same with a stronger leather. The retrohale had some baking spice, chocolate, leather, and a touch of cream. Smoke production was good on a double draw and thin on a single, and I think that was mostly the tightness of the draw. You definitely had to work a little. I left the draw tool sitting next to me to see if it would open up on its own.
It didn't. The burn wasn't great. On one side I had about three quarters of an inch burned, on the flat side right next to it about a quarter inch, and the other flat side was burning at about a 45-degree angle. It was taking about three good pulls to get good smoke production. By the third pull it was really good, but it shouldn't take three pulls, even on a big cigar. So I ran the Perfect Draw tool up to roughly just past where the band sits. The draw was by no means perfect after that, but it was definitely looser.
On a single draw it was pretty much just leather. A double draw gave leather, espresso, a little bit of cream, and a hint of sweetness that I think came from the cream. The retrohale had a really mild white pepper, then a little leather, and then cream came in and coated my palate, which was very pleasant.
Then the cream showed up on the draw too. One draw gave me a mouthful of cream that faded into leather and more of a medium roast black coffee than espresso. Two draws in a row of heavy cream with leather, and that creamy leather just sat on my palate between draws. That was really nice.
The draw started to fix itself a little. Two sides of the burn were good, a third was almost there, and the fourth was still running long. My guess is the draw was so tight that it wasn't getting good airflow all the way around the cigar.
It didn't fix itself all the way. There was a good inch or so of cigar not burning on one side, well past the point of giving it time, so I burned that side off, knocked the ash off, and touched it up. That was the first touch-up.
After that the smoke was thinner, and the flavor went to a milky note with leather and a little coffee. It was pretty mild in flavor right then.
By the end of the first third the burn was better. One side wasn't racing ahead of the others anymore, but it was wavy.
Second Third
On a single draw I still wasn't getting enough smoke to judge it well. It was just milky and leather. On a double draw the creaminess had mostly dropped out. It was primarily leather and coffee, not quite espresso, with a little woodiness, a hint of cream in the background, and just slightly sweet.
The draw hadn't improved, and it hadn't gotten worse. But the cigar acted like it wanted to go out. I had a short conversation, maybe two minutes, and it was nearly out after that. The burn on this thing is not up to par for Dunbarton stuff.
So I tapped it off and touched it up again, the second touch-up. I hate burning off tobacco, especially when it's a good amount of tobacco. I don't mind touch-ups, but when I have to burn more than a quarter inch off one side of a cigar, that's tobacco I paid for and didn't get to smoke.
Smoke production came right back after that. It was a sweet leather, primarily leather with the sweetness sitting right behind it, a little coffee, and some woodiness. Smoke was okay on a single draw and good on a double. The retrohale had some mild white pepper, leather, coffee, and then cream on the finish that lingered for a long time, which was pleasant.
I ran the draw tool through it a second time, because the draw just didn't want to open up for me. It was slightly better after about another half inch with the tool.
Then it went out on me, and the ash crumbled into the ashtray when I knocked it off. It had a horseshoe burn going on, so that was a full relight. At that point I had maybe a third of the second third left. Flavor-wise it wasn't bad. It isn't directly in my lane, because it's not a very sweet cigar, but it was very smooth and not bitter. The draw was still tight, even after two passes with the draw tool.
After the relight, right at the end of the second third, a single draw gave leather and a medium roasted black coffee, then a pretty clean finish with just a touch of cream sweetness in the background. On a double draw the leather moved forward, and now there was some earthiness with a tiny bit of bite, a little coffee, and that leather holding on and lingering.
The retrohale had a moderate amount of black pepper, definitely prominent but not horrible. Then leather first, then a decently strong cream, which faded into a good amount of earthiness. On the finish the earthiness went away and a light cream sat on my palate. That was pretty nice. The burn was a little wavy but serviceable, and the draw was still snug but a little better.
Final Third
On a double draw I got a pretty good hit of roasted nuttiness before it faded to leather, earthiness, and a tiny bit of cream, and that's where the final third started.
The single draw still wasn't good. It was pretty hollow, slightly milky, and slightly bitter. The burn line went bad again.
This is not the burn you expect from Dunbarton. A minerality showed up and ramped up quite a bit. The main flavors were leather and earth. Three sides of the burn were decent by then, after being all over the place, and one side had a finger that just didn't want to burn. It was slightly breezy, and some of that was hitting the deck, but it wasn't windy, so I don't think wind was the issue.
The draw was still snug, so you had to work for it. And it kept wanting to go out. At my normal pace, the first draw gave barely any smoke at all, and it took two more draws to get normal smoke production. So double draws were mandatory, and they gave leather and then a heavy earth that just sat there. The earth was so strong that if there was anything else, I couldn't find it. The retrohale had some roasted nuttiness, leather, a touch of cream, and then earth that came in, finished my palate, and stayed.
I took a picture right before pulling the band, and the burn there was only slightly wavy. The band came off completely clean, no issues at all. Then I ashed it, because the ash wasn't looking pretty.
Then it went out again. To give you an idea of the timing: I stood up from my chair, grabbed two pieces of wood about three feet away, opened the grate on the fireplace, and set the two logs on. I took a draw, and it was wispy. I sat back down, took the photo, took the band off, and took two more draws, and it was basically out. That was the second full relight.
From there I stopped doing single draws, because I couldn't get enough smoke off of it to give any real feedback on flavor. A double draw was leather and earth, and that's all that was there for me. The retrohale was actually quite pleasant: a moderate amount of black pepper, a little leather, then cream, very little earth on the finish, and the cream came back for the long finish. But on the regular draws it was really just leather and earth. Maybe there was cream in there, but the earth buried it. It came in second, but it was strong and it stayed.
I walked inside to put my phone on the charger. I didn't do anything else, I just walked in and came back out, and it was out. Third full relight. After that the flavor was just earth. The retrohale was a strong black pepper, a touch of cream, and then all earth.
I laid it down with maybe a quarter inch of cigar I could have smoked. The burn was super wavy again, and even smoking it a little faster than I normally would, it took three draws to get normal smoke out of it. With the cigar that short, that meant heat on my lips, and I don't like that. The final third was basically all earth. There wasn't much else, even on the retrohale, which by the end was strong black pepper and then earth.
Strength started out around medium and finished around medium-full, a little closer to full than medium-full.
Construction
- Wrapper: rustic, a soft box press, slightly toothy and slightly veiny. Looks like a single cap, or a double cap that sits flat to the top. Well-packed foot. The cedar sleeve over the lower two thirds slid off with no problem.
- Draw: slightly tight on the cold draw and tight the whole smoke. I ran the draw tool through it twice, once early in the first third up to just past the band and once in the second third, and it was still snug. Late in the cigar it took three draws to get normal smoke.
- Burn: uneven from early on. Two touch-ups (late in the first third and in the second third), each one burning off a good amount of tobacco, and three full relights: after it went out and the ash crumbled in the second third, right at the band in the final third, and after I stepped inside to charge my phone. Wavy again at the end.
- Ash: crumbly. Almost every time I ashed it, half the ash fell apart, and once it crumbled straight into the ashtray when I knocked it off.
- Smoke output: thin on a single draw the whole way, good on a double draw for the first two thirds, and in the final third it took two or three draws to get normal smoke.
- Band: came off completely clean, no issues at all.
Bottom Line
The first two thirds were okay. There was a stretch in the first third where the cream came through on the draw and the retrohale, a heavy cream with leather that sat on my palate between draws, and that was the best part of this cigar. The second third had sweet leather, coffee, woodiness, and a long cream finish on the retrohale. It was smooth and never bitter on a double draw. It's not a sweet cigar, so it's not in my lane, but it wasn't bad.
The final third was all earth and black pepper and wasn't very enjoyable. And the construction never let me just smoke it. The draw was way too tight, and two passes with the draw tool didn't fix it. The burn needed two touch-ups and three full relights, it went out or nearly out any time I stepped away for a minute or two, and the ash fell apart almost every time. At $21.55 a stick, for a cigar this long, that's a lot of babysitting and a lot of tobacco burned off that I paid for and didn't get to smoke.
Would I smoke it again? Not Even Free (1/4). The argument for a Hand-Me-One is that the first and second thirds were okay. But the final third was just earth and black pepper, the burn was pretty terrible, and the draw was way too tight even after the draw tool. I'd have to think really hard about whether one would be worth it if someone handed it to me, and I'm leaning towards no, probably not.
Best for: someone whose palate runs to leather, coffee, earth and black pepper, who has the better part of two hours, keeps a draw tool and a lighter close, and doesn't mind working for it. That isn't me.
My scale, one question only... would I spend my own money on this again? 4 Box Buy (box on hand, always) / 3 Five-Pack (yes, a few live in the humidor) / 2 Hand-Me-One (wouldn't buy it, wouldn't turn one down) / 1 Not Even Free (I'd rather smoke nothing).
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