06/24/2026
We have just begun the process of shipping the NEW Sobremesa Tapa Negra to our Select Purveyors.
This will take us a couple of weeks, maybe longer as it is dependent on our accounts replying to the team, but you should start to see them in the wild in the very near future.
The "tapa negra" concept was first introduced to me by Sr. Frank LLaneza in Honduras in the 90's and while I was at JRs we created a cigar called La Escepcion with Villazon in the early 2000s. I next brought the idea to my factory partners at Joya de Nicaragua Ci**rs and they created the Cabinetta about a decade later which is still on the shelf today. And here we are in 2026, I am employing it on my Sobremesa Brûlée liga.
To roughly quote Frank: 'all these barber pole ci**rs are nonsense, they are a gimmick, the only way to use two capas is to take a mild blend with a shade wrapper, but to then add a cut of a dark, spicier wrapper on the head. That way the cigar remains mild to smoke, but you get a more robust flavor from the sungrown Cuban seed being in contact with your mouth. More flavor, but no extra bite to the smoke. This actually changes the smoking experience, all that other stuff is [edited]'
It has always been on of my favorite techniques.
Now one of the comments I see -some- people who haven't even smoke it yet say is: "... it is just a Cabinetta at double the cost."
I don't think it is actually double, but I haven't checked... regardless...
IMO, this is just f'ng stupid... I mean that is like saying all ci**rs with a shade wrapper are the same. Or all broadleaf wrapped ci**rs are the same. Or all ci**rs with sungrown Cuban seed are... well you get the point.
I mean both JDN Numero Uno and Sobremesa Brûlée Blue are crafted at Joya and both are shade wrapped, milder elegant ligas of similar formats, but each is unique. And the same is true here.
Now you may prefer Cabinetta over Sobremesa Tapa Negra, but to claim they are the same just because they share the tapa negra trait is just Beavis and Butt-Head worthy.
And if you prefer Cabinetta, awesome because it definitely more economical.
My advice is to try both and see which suits your fancy.
- Steve Saka
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