Dapper: Desvalido Disla Toro Cigars

Ian Reith, founder of Dapper Cigars, describes the Desvalido as the cigar he's always dreamed of making but, until now, had yet to find the right tobacco and form the connections necessary to make this dream cigar a reality. The name of the line hints at this waiting process, literally meaning "defenseless" or "helpless" in Spanish, with a colloquial meaning in Cuba that refers to someone with little hope of "making it" — an underdog, if you will. It's a very personally referential and symbolic cigar for Reith: the rooster logo representing pride and bravery in Spanish culture, as well as Ian's zodiac birth year.

As a cigar, the original Desvalido features an Ecuadorian Habano Rosado wrapper sourced from the Oliva Tobacco Co. The filler blend consists also of Oliva tobaccos from Jalapa and Estelí in Nicaragua, as well as Connecticut Broadleaf from the Lancaster Leaf Tobacco Co. The last filler component remains undisclosed, as does the U.S.-grown binder. In 2023, however, Reith collaborated with Raul Disla, manager of the NACSA factory, to create a reinterpretation of the original Desvalido blend: the Desvalido Disla. Not much info was disclosed regarding this remix, but the Ecuadorian Habano Rosado wrapper remains the same. The fillers and binder, though, are Nicaraguan, creating a bolder, stronger flavor profile — one that Reith said reminds him of why he started smoking Nicaraguan cigars in the first place.