Steve Saka is highly regarded throughout the premium cigar industry as an experienced cigar maker, prolific author on cigars and black tobaccos, and a dynamic tobacco executive — a résumé that includes working directly for JR Cigar's Lew Rothman and serving as President then CEO of Drew Estate from 2005 through 2013. In 2015, he fulfilled a lifelong dream by establishing the family-held Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, dedicated to crafting cigars without any compromises — a philosophy the company distills into three words: Puros Sin Compromiso. From the outset, Saka's intention was not to build a broad commercial portfolio but to create a focused body of blending work — each liga developed with clear intent, disciplined leaf selection, and an eye for blends that show movement from first light to final third. Working closely with vegueros across the globe growing hybridized seeds exclusively for Dunbarton, Saka treats every leaf as an ingredient in a precise formula, not a commodity.
All of Dunbarton's marcas are crafted at the legendary Joya de Nicaragua S.A. and Nicaragua American Cigar S.A. factories in the heart of Estelí, Nicaragua, under Saka's direct oversight, with dedicated teams of craftspeople at both fabricas whose sole focus is handcrafting Dunbarton ligas daily. The result is a portfolio — spanning the broadleaf-driven Mi Querida, the refined Sobremesa, the San Andrés-wrapped Sin Compromiso, and the highly curated Muestra de Saka — that has earned a level of critical recognition virtually unmatched in the boutique segment. Dunbarton's cigars have been rated at the very top of hundreds of annual lists, and the company is the only maker to have been named Company of the Year for four consecutive years by the Halfwheel Consensus — a track record built not on marketing, but on a blender's relentless refusal to release anything less than his best.