Todos Las Dias Offered at 2017 IPCPR Tradeshow
Dunbarton, NH – Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust® will be showcasing its newest Todos Las Dias® brand and blend of fine handmade cigars at this year’s 85th Annual Convention of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association in Las Vegas, Nevada, July 10th through July 14th, 2017.
“Todos Las Dias is my personal Spanglish translation meaning “All the Days.” The workers at Joya de Nicaraguan often cringe at my casual butchering of their mother tongue, but in my opinion cigars are far more than a grammar lesson to abide, they are the physical manifestation of a feeling and of an experience. TLD embodies the classic bold flavors that represent the heart of their soil’s peppery tobaccos and the labor of their always working hands. For me, this spicy Nicaraguan puro reflects no pretentious airs or any of that “notes of pencil lead with a hint of fennel” nonsense. It is an honest, hardworking cigar intended to be smoked by men who know what it means to be a cigar smoker and never give a damn about what others think,” states the creator, Steve Saka.
He continues to add, “It is a supple, sungrown Cuban Seed capa which encapsulates its intricate tripa recipe of rich Jalapa and Esteliano tobaccos. From the first puff, there is no doubt of the origin of this cigar or that it is intended solely for the seasoned cigar smoker. What I love about this liga is that it builds; so many stronger blends start off super peppery and robust only to mellow out as you smoke them. Whereas the Todos Las Dias does just the opposite; it begins smooth and then escalates in strength and body, it almost lulls you into false sense of security. It is a much heavier liga than you will have realized until you go to stand up afterwards.”
Todos Las Dias will be offered to Select Purveyors and like all DTT’s cigars, it will be limited in its production. Initially it will be available in four formats: Half Churchill – 4.75 x 48, Robusto – 5.00 x 52, Toro – 6.00 x 52 and the Double Wide Belicoso – 4.75 x 60. Packed in 10 count boxes, the MSRP ranges from $10.45 to $12.45 per cigar. The anticipated ship date to those Select Purveyors who order at this year’s tradeshow is August 2017.
About Steve Saka
Regarded as a cigar expert throughout the industry, he is credited as being an experienced cigar blender and maker, a prolific author regarding cigars and black tobaccos, a forefather within the online media segment and a dynamic tobacco industry executive. In 2000, he worked directly for Lew Rothman, the former owner of JR Cigar, as an executive consultant for four years and he subsequently served as the President, then CEO of Drew Estate from 2005 through 2013. In 2015, he established the family held Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust to craft and distribute traditional handmade puros. For more information, please visit: www.dunbartoncigars.com.
Todos Las Dias is my personal Spanglish translation meaning “All the Days.” The workers at Joya de
Nicaraguan often cringe at my casual butchering of their mother tongue, but in my opinion cigars are
far more than a grammar lesson to abide, they are the physical manifestation of a feeling and of an
experience. TLD embodies the classic bold flavors that represent the heart of their soil’s peppery
tobaccos and the labor of their always working hands. For me, this spicy Nicaraguan puro reflects no
pretentious airs or any of that “notes of pencil lead with a hint of fennel” nonsense. It is an honest,
hardworking cigar intended to be smoked by men who know what it means to be a cigar smoker and
never give a damn about what others think.
A supple, sungrown Cuban Seed capa encapsulates its intricate tripa recipe of rich Jalapa and
Esteliano tobaccos. From the first puff, there is no doubt of the origin of this cigar or that it is intended solely for the seasoned cigar smoker. ¡Viva Nicaragua!
Frontmarks:
- Half Churchill 4.75 x 48 Simple SBN Box / 10ct
- Robusto 5.00 x 52 Simple SBN Box / 10ct
- Toro 6.00 x 52 Simple SBN Box / 10ct
- Double Wide Belicoso 4.75 x 60 Simple SBN Box / 10ct
- Liga Details:
- Capa: Nicaraguan
- Capote: Nicaraguan
- Tripa: Nicaraguan
- Forteleza: Full
- Flavor Profile: A strong liga of dark chocolate and pepper. It builds in strength and body the entire smoke finishing quite powerfully.
- Puro Style: Not for the casual smoker, this is a puro that intended for those who
- want their daily cigars heavy and untamed.
The Very, Very, Very Long Explanation of How Saka Could Knowingly Name a Product Using Improper Spanish.
The Origin of “Todos Las Dias”.
It all began in 2001.
I was working as a consultant for JR Cigar and was on trip to Honduras and Nicaragua with John Oliva Sr – the Patriarch of the Oliva Tobacco Company, Daniel Nunez – the Master Cigar Maker who ran all of General Cigar’s operations and eventually went on to become the President and Lew Rothman – Owner of JR Cigar and by far the most influential Retailer in our industry ever. I learned so much on this trip, it was crazy.
One of our visits was to the HATSA Factory in Cofradia, Honduras. Owned by legendary cigar and tobacco man Frank Llaneza, they were the makers of many of my favorite cigars at the time: Hoyo de Monterrey, Punch, El Rey del Mundo – always had a love for full bodied maduros and this was the mecca maker. The GM of the factory was another legend, Estello Padron – he is the late brother of yet another legend Jose Orlando Padron of Padron Cigars fame.
I was like a kid in a candy store. I was pummeling everyone with questions about tobacco, fermentation, manufacturing techniques… anything and everything I could think of… I mean when in the world are you going have five legends at the very top of their industry with near 200 years of combined expertise like this together???
Don Estello spoke no English, but I think he took a shine to me because I was just so interested. I was asking some really technical questions and I don’t think he was used to gringos being so engrossed in the topic. Anyhow somehow, we got onto what -I- like to smoke and I told him I really liked “strong, dark cigars.” He had someone fetch us two samples for us to share and man this cigar was POWERFUL – the nicotine in it was blowing me away even though at this point I was a very seasoned cigar smoker. In hindsight, I think he gave me the cigar as a bit of a joke, knowing it was likely I would
nearly choke on it… Anyhow I asked, “You really smoke these?!?!?!” To which he replied, “Todos los dias Saka, todos los dias.”
This translates to “Every day Saka, every day.”
That experience and exchange has really stuck with me over the years. And over time I had come to suspect he was breaking my balls a bit, but that makes the memory even fonder so I always wanted to name a super strong cigar “Todos Las Dias.”
What? Wait… you said he said “Todos Los Dias!”
Yes, he did, but for nearly 15 years I thought he said LAS not LOS.
Anyone that knows me is aware of how shamefully pathetic my Spanish is particularly given how much time I have spent working in Latin America – I have tried to learn to no avail, I just plain suck at it… I am actually tone deaf. Thankfully I understand it far better than I speak it.
Anyhow, I have been saying “Todos Las Dias” for years and no one has every corrected me.
And it is understandable because many gringos convert the “o” sound into an “a” sound when they speak – for example in this phrase it is very common for us Anglos to say “todas” rather than “todos”…
So, fast forward to 2015 when I tell Joya de Nicaragua, S.A. I want to work on a new liga with them called “Todos Las Dias”.
First, they were excited by the project, but they immediately pointed out my obvious grammar error and explained how I had been saying it wrong for 15 years. Even knowing my mistake, I still wanted to call the brand Las not Los, because of the memory of it, plus I thought it was perfect reflection of my notoriously bad Spanish and the inspiration of my being a young man trying to learn from a Master who in the end I think was punking me a bit.
So, I really wanted to keep the name, but it was really driving Mario Perez and Juan Martínez of JDN crazy so I agreed to change the name to the proper “Todos Los Dias”.
Okay, so why is it still screwed up Saka?
After I submitted the TM application and did the brand design, I then through a consumer learned that a gentleman named Stephen Adib of small cigar company in California named Cuba Rica was also planning on doing a brand named “Todos Los Dias.”
We both had come up with the same brand name separate of each other and while I probably had legal position on him due to some early sales I had made on it in, I really wanted to resolve this in way that would be just for both of us and thankfully he felt the same. Do it as gentlemen, sans attorneys.
Stephen and I met at Two Guys Smoke Shop – Seabrook courtesy of David Garofalo and reached an agreement that would allow me to use the name in exchange for a dollar value to him. Both of us were satisfied.
Okay, we are back on track – Todos Los Dias is a “GO”…
Not so fast, as fate would have it the USPTO rejected the TM application!
What? Why?
Because it translates in English to “Every Day” and it so happens that Phillips and King has a mass market style tobacco product that bears this name registered in International Class 034.
So the USPTO refused my application, however the reviewing attorney told me if I changed it to “Todos Las Dias” it would be fine as far as the government is concerned. Turns out they use Google Translate which gives the result of “All the Days” and this would be perfectly okay…
Are you freaking kidding me?!?!?!
Having said it wrong for 15 years, having capitulated to JDN’s rightful sense of grammar decorum, done all the work on the design including having the printing plates and cliche plates made, applying for the registration and as a cherry on top, having to buy the rights to use the name from someone else that may or may not had rights to use it, but ultimately courtesy of the USPTO could have never used it, I find myself unable to use it?!?!?!?!?
Literally I might as well have lit $15k+ on fire – it would sure have saved me a whole lot of grief.
And in the end, I found myself right back where I started…
Using the incorrect name I had always wanted to use in my heart.
It means something to me.
It honors -my- memory and the origin of the brand.
It is self-depreciating as it acknowledges my poor Spanish which is appropriate given how I think Senor Estello was “punking” me with a bit of sly smile when he fed me that punishing nicotine bomb.
It is reflective of my honesty of always admitting how much I still don’t know, while striving to still learn even though most people regard me as an expert.
I love the name.
“Todos Las Dias my friends, Todos Las Dias
– Steve Saka, 2017