Foundation Cigar Co

Foundation Cigar Company owner Nick Melillo (whose Tabernacle brand has been a favorite smoke of mine for a while) has added a third blend to his Charter Oak line. The first two releases of Charter Oak (Connecticut shade and Broadleaf) are, to me, very well balanced blends. The Charter Oak Habano is the newest wrapper addition to the brand, using an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper with Dominican fillers. The cigar is a sight to behold and I after one look I was ready to begin smoking.

Blend Specifics

• Cigar Reviewed: Charter Oak HabanoToro
• Wrapper: Ecuador Habano
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Size  6″x 52 (Toro)

Appearance and Construction

The cigar has a claro wrapper with two long veins running along its sides. As I squeeze the cigar, it is packed rather tightly with filler tobaccos. The foot is closed and when I give it a smell some cedar and spice come through albeit slightly. I roll the cigar in hand and it is quite well constructed.  

Flavor & Smoke Characteristics

First things first: I grab my Wooly Mammoth Xikar cutter and make a straight cut. The dry draw is airy and sweet. Using a long match (which I picked up from my visit to the Graycliff Hotel in the Bahamas) I light the closed foot which opens up quickly.  The first puffs are peppery and hit me with a full blast of tobacco that surprises me with its strength. Another draw and I’m picking up nutty notes with a bready finish. I take a retrohale and get cinnamon and allspice through the sinus. The strength at this point is medium to full.

Heading into the middle of the cigar, I notice the bold white ash is standing firm. The toast of the smoke starts to really come through along with almonds and mocha.  What was initially just almonds transitions into peanuts with a cedar finish. This stick gives off generous amounts of smoke swirling around my study and creates a wonderful bready aroma in the air and my mouth. Another retrohale and cinnamon rushes through with black pepper on the tail end. The body continues on its medium to full course.

In the final third, the bready notes I tasted earlier become more biscuity and cereal-like as I take draws. Pepper, specifically black pepper takes hold with a bit of a sharp finish. Around this time the white ash falls off showing an impressive burn line. With that a sweetness emerges which is balanced by leather and cashews. I’m finding the last of this cigar is in the medium range with plenty of nuanced flavors. The final few puffs bring leather and toast with a medium finish. A choice cigar.

Conclusion

Finding out this was a Nick Melillo cigar was not surprising given the flavors and style of the blend. The Ecuadorian wrapper gave off a sweet character with nuts and cinnamon while maintaining a pleasing medium body. While there wasn’t a myriad of different flavors in the profile, all of them were refined, and for me that is one of the best things you can get out of a cigar. I would easily recommend picking up a box as they are smoking well now and I think time will be more than kind to them.

Final Rating: 92

Up for review today is the Highclere Castle Victorian from Foundation Cigar Co. The cigar is a maduro version of the initial Highclere Castle cigar which was released in September of 2017 and which we reviewed (favorably) here. I’ve been a fan of just about every blend that Nick Mellilo and the Foundation Cigar Co team have put together, so it barely needs said that I was excited to review this cigar.

Blend Specifics

• Cigar Reviewed: Highclere Castle Victorian
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian (Habano)
• Binder: Brazil (Mata Fina)
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Size: 5 x 50 (robusto)

Appearance & Construction

The Highclere Castle Victorian robusto sports a reddish-brown, oily maduro wrapper. There are a handful of visible veins, but otherwise the surface of the cigar is smooth. From a branding standpoint, I dig the combo of red and gold, but it doesn’t make for an easily readable band and isn’t as attractive as the original Highclere Castle from Foundation Cigars.

When squeezed, the cigar has a moderate amount of give, about as much as I’d like any cigar to have, though there don’t seem to be any soft spots in the packing.  Taking a whiff off of the foot, I pick up aromas of seasoned meat, cedar plank, and a touch of sweet natural tobacco. The draw is excellent, about a 6.5/10 in terms of amount of restrictiveness, and the cold draw has a spicy and savory character.

Flavor and Smoke Characteristics

The Highclere Castle Victorian opens with huge, aggressive plumes of smoke—a real punch in the mouth. There’s quite a bit of pepper and hot spiciness on the palate, as well as earth and a touch of sweetness (spicy hot chocolate comes to mind). The retrohale is similarly aggressive—any more pepper and I’d be afraid of even going there to be honest. As my palate adjusts to the surprising strength, I start to notice that there’s actually a lot more subtlety going on than I thought. The sweeter notes start to take on more prominence, and, now equally balanced between sweet and savory notes, the cigar is very pleasurable to smoke. In fact, I’d say the overall experience is similar to some of my favorites from Padron, like the Family Reserve 50 Years Maduro: lots of concentrated flavor, but subtlety and smoothness to go along with it.

As the Highclere Castle Victorian moves into the second third, the pepper from the beginning takes on new vitality and moves to the fore alongside charred wood and earth. The sweetness that dominated for a good inch pulls way back, and hay and barnyard make up most of the background. There’s less strength now on the retrohale, which narrows down on charred wood and some pepper.

In the final third, the Highclere Castle Victorian continues to produce assertive smoke, dishing out lots of charred wood, earth, seasoned meat and both black and white pepper. It isn’t the nearly jaw dropping combo of sweet, savory and sweet that was the first and part of the second thirds, but it’s still very good, if a bit imbalanced. The construction impresses all the way to the end, with great smoke production and a straight burn.

Conclusion

Maybe my palate has shifted or just become a bit more prejudiced, but a cigar that can balance multiple flavor categories (in this case sweet, savory and spicy flavors), and then go on to develop the notes throughout the smoke, is what I gravitate more and more to. Such is the case with the Highclere Castle Victorian robusto, which puts fourth an amazing array of savory, spicy, and sweet flavors including black pepper, charred wood, spiced meats, hot cocoa, and more. The only negative came in the final minutes of the cigar, where I found the cigar to be at times out of balance.For ~$14, it’s a wonderful smoke and one of the best new releases I’ve smoked this year.

Final Rating: 93

Up for review today is the Tabernacle robusto from Foundation Cigar Company. It’s a cigar that quickly earned praise from consumers and bloggers alike, and for good reason as you’ll read below.

Blend Specifics

• Cigar Reviewed: The Tabernacle Robusto
• Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
• Binder: Mexican San Andrés
• Filler: Honduras & Nicaragua

Appearance & Construction

The Tabernacle Robusto is undoubtedly a beautiful cigar. The gold and black band is adorned with beautiful artwork. The Foundation website describes the ornate band, saying “The artwork features an image of none other than Hailie Selassie, 225th King of Abyssinia, whose lineage traces directly to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The reference to “Tabernacle” is as a container for the Ark of the Covenant.”

The outer Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper is a deep, dark brown, with one major vein running nearly the entire length of the cigar. The cigar has a nice weight in the hand, and is packed consistently its entire length.

Off of the foot are aromas of barnyard, coffee, leather and a bit of tingly spice.

Flavor & Smoke Characteristics

The Tabernacle Robusto kicks off with loads of rich smoke that has a definitively dark, but remarkably light, flavor profile. Flavor notes include roasted nuts, concentrated bitter espresso, milk, and some dark fruit notes in the aroma. The retrohale is smooth and clean, adding some finely ground black pepper. The texture of the smoke alternates between silky smooth and just a touch textured. Construction is spot on. The draw is a perfect 7/10 in terms of restrictiveness, and the cigar produces ample amounts of cool smoke.

By about an inch in to the Tabernacle Robusto, that black pepper on the retrohale is starting to creep onto the palate along with some nice toasty baking spices.

In the second third, the smoke is still just below medium in terms of body and strength. The core of the flavor profile is woody, with some nice complementary flavors of salted milk chocolate, cream, and some toasted bread. Spice is minimal. I’m very impressed with the construction. The smoke production is excellent, the temperature of the smoke is cool, and the burn is consistently straight.

The final third of the Tabernacle progresses exactly as I hoped it would. The body and strength build consistently, landing up past medium. At the same time, a spice develops on the tip of the tongue along with a predominantly sweet profile of milk chocolate, charred oak, and toasted bread. The heat of the smoke finally starts to increase in about the final inch and a half, adding a bit of harshness with it.

Conclusion

There’s a reason the Tabernacle is widely recognized as an excellent cigar. Excellent construction, cool smoke, and great smoke production lay the foundation (no pun intended) for a great combination of creamy chocolate, espresso, charred wood, and spice. It’s an easy cigar to recommend and it earns an excellent score.

Final Rating: 92

Foundation Cigar Co.’s Nicholas Melillo announced this handsome stick last summer, basing its name off the subject of El Gueguense, a centuries-old Nicaraguan folk tale about, that’s right, you guessed it, a wise man:

In the seventeenth century, somewhere in the streets of a small colonial Nicaraguan city governed by the Spanish authorities and inhabited by indigenous and mestizo people, a comedy play of high cultural value was born. Expressed in the play was a rejection of the Spanish domination in a mocking, ingenious, and creative way. Over time this theatrical piece transformed into a national symbol for its protesting character that identified the Nicaraguan people. Three centuries later the UNESCO declared this work “Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”.

This historical play, by a unanimous author, is “El Güegüense o Macho Ratón”, the first literary Nicaraguan work, pertaining to the Nahuatl culture. 

Building upon the foundation of its predecessor cigars, Melillo sought to take the next logical step by expanding out of the Esteli Region of Nicaragua into other regions of the country, as well as to Mexico (home of the increasingly famous and fertile San Andres Valley).

Product Specs

• Cigar Reviewed: Review: El Geuguense The Wise Man Maduro
• Vitola: Toro Huaco (6 x 56)
• Wrapper: Mexican San Andres Wrapper
• Binder: Nicaraguan
• Filler: Jalapa, Esteli & Condega regions, Nicaragua

Aesthetics, Construction & Feel

The Wise Man bears a most striking appearance. The wrapper is dark, positively rugged-looking and finely assembled, to the point where if you removed the wrapper, you might mistake it for a Padron 1926 Anniversario. The wrapper is also satisfyingly fuzzy to the touch, and exudes a cold odor that hints of nothing but, I kid you not, pure, unadulterated tobacco (another first for yours truly). The body is unique as well; hard as a rock, but without being brittle. The cap is the epitome of the body’s robustness; perfectly wrapped, and no loose ends to found after being cut.

Flavor and Smoke Characteristics

First Third

It’s 9:50pm, and the Wise Man gets right down to business by emitting a sweet crackling sound the moment the match’s flame begins toasting the foot. Given the body’s all-around hardness, the draw is surprisingly loose, clearing the way for a heavy and rich spice that immediately and smoothly settles into the palette. The retrohale is equally spicy in nature. Yet, like the draw, its flavors are able to shine through without searing the tongue or nostrils. The background is characterized by delicious combination of nutmeg and cinnamon sugar, offering a crucial counterweight to the spice in the foreground.

Second Third

The second third sees the burn begin to canoe slightly, but the Wise Man’s lush, white/grey ash holds firm while consistently emitting enormous smoke clouds with every puff. The flavor profile gets more and more interesting, on both fronts. The background emits what can only be described as refreshing peppermint element. This new note, along with the nutmeg and cinnamon, partially melds with the foreground, resulting in a new flavor that tastes like a Dark & Stormy. All this in spite of the fact that the flavor is partially compromised by a persisting under-matured tobacco and a slightly tightening draw.

Final Third: Point of Convergence

As the ash finally falls off the foot for the very first time, the flavor profile continues its variation streak with a background note of bitter fruit, which eventually merges with the spice, cinnamon, nutmeg and peppermint to complete the mix. Unfortunately, the flavor begins to strangely disappear entirely near the end, though thankfully not completely. The draw begins to loosen up again, and the burn holds steady, keeping itself relatively even throughout the last third. The smoke finally, and conveniently, comes to an end at 11pm on the dot.

The Final Verdict

It’s been a long time since I reviewed a cigar with a flavor profile this complex. The combination of notes and the way they interacted and melded with each other was like a breath of fresh air. The fact that the draw and burn were as relatively consistent as they were made the experience all the more enriching. The gradual disappearance of the flavor profile on the final third wasn’t the most desirable outcome, but the Wise Man is still a powerhouse of a cigar that deserves a place in Cigar Aficionado’s top cigars of 2017.

Final Grade: 92

Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

The cigar industry is full of stories. Some of them true, plenty made up, and all embellished in one way or another (“the [insert family name here] family has been in the business for 200 years, and the farm was personally blessed by Fidel Castro, Pope JP II, and Michael Jordan“). In fact, the cigar world seems so full of stories like these that it’s a bit of a surprise when a cigar company decides to create a cigar based on popular culture. The Highclere Castle by Foundation Cigar Co. is one of those cigars, hitching a ride of the coattails of the popular television series Downton Abbey.

Here’s the backstory, as related on the Foundation website:

Highclere’s rich cigar history goes back to 1862, when cigars were first introduced to England. The tradition at Highclere Castle has always been to retire to the library after dinner for a cigar and whiskey. In 1922, the current Earl’s great-grandfather undoubtedly celebrated his and Howard Carter’s discovery of King Tut’s Tomb with a cigar in hand. Recently, Highclere Castle’s archivist discovered letters and personal account records of the Carnarvon’s cigar purchases in the early 1900s from dealers in London as well as the Ritz Hotel.

Melillo subsequently crafted a cigar that reflects that historic flavor profile and smoking style. The Highclere Castle Cigar is hand rolled in Estelí, Nicaragua, using a Connecticut Shade wrapper, and both Criollo and Corojo from the volcanic soils of Jalapa and the island of Ometepe. The binder is made from Mata Fina, a dark tobacco from Brazil. The blend is finalized with an exclusive hybrid seed the company has named Nicadán. 

And luckily for Highclere Castle, Nick Melillo paid real attention to quality, uniqueness, and presentation in the making of this cigar.

With that, let’s get on to the review.

Blend Specifics

• Cigar Reviewed: Highclere Castle Robusto
• Wrapper: Connecticut Shade Grown
• Binder: Brazilian Mata Fina
• Filler: Nicaragua (Jalapa & Ometepe)
• Size: Robusto (5 x 50)

Appearance & Construction

The Highclair Castle is a beautifully branded, impeccably constructed cigar. I love the white, red, and raised gold on the band. It complements the light Connecticut wrapper very well. After a straight cut, I test the draw, which is moderately restrictive, which I hope doesn’t create issues with smoke production. The pre-light draw is very light and clean, with some grassiness and sweet tobacco evident, along with a very light spice.

Flavor & Smoke Characteristics

Highclair Castle opens with extremely flavorful, medium body/full strength smoke. Opening notes include sweet hay, almonds, toasted bread, cedar, and a floral finish. The texture is very smooth, with a finely ground white pepper on the retrohale. This cigar is a sipping cigar—not to be smoked too quickly as the strength can quickly overwhelm my palate.

At an inch in, the flavors become more condensed and the strength of flavors is now in the full range. The almond note becomes stronger, and I sense some black pepper entering into the profile as well. The tightness of the draw does seem to have affected smoke production, but Highclere Castle is still in an above average range in terms of the amount of smoke produced.

The second third sees the pepper notes ramp up on the retrohale, and the cedar becomes drier. Most prominent are the nuts (which at this point are closer to peanuts than almonds) and the floral/vanilla notes. The burn has been entirely straight throughout the cigar.

In the final third, the bread note morphs into a burnt toast (overly burnt, that is), the smoke temperature picks up, and some harshness creeps in. That’s really quite heartbreaking as I was enjoying the cigar immensely. The floral notes pull way back, and the pepper increases. At around an inch and a half left, the smoke has become so overpowering that I set the cigar down.

Conclusion

The Highclere Castle Robusto by Foundation Cigar Co dishes out big, complex flavor. It also delivers great smoke production and good construction.  Besides the final third (which was not a winning way to end the experience), I thought at times the flavors fell out of balance in significant ways. The moments of balance though? Pure bliss. If you can shell out $16 for it, give this cigar a try. If you’re on a tighter budget, I recommend the Oliva Connecticut Reserve, which I think offers a similar experience.

Final Score: 88