Foundation Charter Oak CT Broadleaf Lonsdale Cigar - 1 Single

Length: 6 1/4"
Ring Gauge: 46
Strength: Medium to Full

Packaging: 1 Single Cigar
Vitola: Lonsdale
Smoking Time: 45 Minutes

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua

FOUNDATION CIGARS

In 2014 Nick Melillo faced a stark choice - He could well have stayed on as Executive Vice President of International Operations and Head Blender of Drew Estate (a role he had held since 2003), or he could seize the chance to finally use his 20 years of hard-earned experience and his access to the highest quality cigar tobacco to make his own cigars – the cigars of his dreams!

The choice was easy, and in 2015 Foundation Cigar Company was born, all for the love of the leaf.

Nick’s cigar journey started in high school, on Saturdays he would go for a smoke with his grandfather and brother at their local shop in New Haven, Connecticut. After memorising all details of every cigar in the humidor; Nick persuaded them to give him a weekend job.

Nick’s passion for working with cigars was immediately apparent, but following four years at Calabash Shoppe, the wide world was calling, and Nick took off to travel the globe. Following a lengthy global trip remarkably reminiscent of Raiders Of The Lost Ark, it was in 2003 that Nick received a call from Jonathan Drew...

Jonathan needed someone who knew and loved cigars and was willing to move to Nicaragua to oversee the setup and operations of his new cigar company - Drew Estate. Nick jumped on board and immediately started blending cigars and fermenting tobacco; cigars and tobacco that completely changed the cigar industry in the early 21st Century.

In 2015 Melillo branched out on his own, finally forming the Foundation Cigar Company.

Famously and without being prompted, paid or promoted, the cigars are now regularly being championed as the best cigars available by Joe Rogan (the world’s most popular podcaster) and winning awards and ratings such as #1 Best Buy (Cigar Afficionado), Cigar Of The Year (Cigar Snob) and #3 in Cigar Afficionado’s top 25 2019.

But what is at the heart of Foundation Cigar Company is the cigar smoker themselves – that smoke-filled moment of pure presence, that quietly thunderous connection to ancient heritage, modern science, and genuine passion for the leaf. This is something that Melillo and Foundation Cigar Company will provide endlessly to any who will sit and take audience. All for the love of the leaf.

CHARTER OAK BROADLEAF

An homage to the rich history of Foundation Cigar Company's home state of Connecticut, and to Nicholas Melillo's grandfather who, while earning a modest salary at the Winchester Factory after WWII, smoked exclusively Connecticut Broadleaf Cigars.

Long before Dutch settlers landed on American shores, the Native Americans cultivated tobacco and held councils beneath the massive branches of the Charter Oak tree. It is a sacred tree and is a long-standing symbol of independence. Charter Oak cigars hail from the same fertile valley in Connecticut that native son Nicholas Melillo was born and raised in, and through this ancient lineage these cigars preserve and celebrate that lesser-known element, that sacred element, of Connecticut tobacco's rich and storied history.

Cigars need a BOOST?

The CT Broadleaf quality really shines through in the incredibly rich, aromatic profile present. The true Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper crowns the cigar beautifully, giving great depth of sweetness present to the immediate palate.