Length: 4 1/2"
Ring Gauge: 50
Strength: Light to Medium
Packaging: Box of 20 Cigars
Vitola: Rothschild
Smoking Time: 40 Minutes
Wrapper: Connecticut Shade
Binder: Sumatra
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 CONNECTICUT SHADE
This is not your usual Connecticut Shade cigar - Blended by Nicholas Melillo (the most respected authority on Connecticut tobacco), the Charter Oak Connecticut Shade by Foundation Cigar Company embodies what great Connecticut Shade should – balance in profile, nuance in finish, and refinement in strength.
The Charter Oak Connecticut Shade constitutes a unique and outstanding cigar at an equally outstanding price - exclusive to C.Gars LTD
Maintaining light to medium strength throughout, the Charter Oak Connecticut shade graces the palette with an exceptionally creamy texture that carries and supports notes of delicate cedar, robust oak, Islay single malt and sweet bread upon a base of roasted nuts and honey. The silky Connecticut Shade wrapper (of exceptional quality) provides a typically luxurious mouth feel, which perfectly complements the mineralic Sumatra binder and Nicaraguan filler.