Tag Archives: Foundation

June 29, 2025 · 8:45 am

A Quick Connecticut Visit, Paper Crane and Outcast Cigars

Last Sunday my wife and I drove up to Connecticut for breakfast, an annual tradition to celebrate her best friend who passed away.  While we were in the neighborhood, we paid a visit to Mark Twain’s house in Hartford.  I honestly don’t think I even knew that he had lived there.  It was an amazing home, and photography was forbidden, but I managed to sneak a pic in his third floor man room.  Of course, he smoked 24-40 cigars a day, they must have been either tiny or he didn’t smoke much of them, because I can barely manage a couple.  I spend a minimum of an hour smoking a cigar, usually closer to two. There aren’t that many hours in the day!  I do recommend the tour.  They have chocolate cigars in the gift shop.  

 

 

 

On our way home we stopped in New Haven to visit the Owl Shop.  I’ll be honest, I confused this with the Owl Shop in Massachusetts, but I certainly wasn’t disappointed. This is a full bar and cigar lounge in the downtown area, with a nice selection of cigars.  I grabbed a couple of their 85th anniversary cigars, not surprisingly made by Foundation Cigar Co.. Nick Melillo’s from New Haven, and his family has patronized this shop for decades.  If I read right, this came out in 2019, so the 90th anniversary has come and gone, and I assume this is regular limited production for the store and not 6 year old stock.  It has the  Havana Seed CT #142 wrapper found on the Tabernacle Havana Seed No. 142, Mexican binder, and Nicaraguan fillers from Estelí and Jalapa, offered in a 5½” x 54 Robusto Extra.  We sat in the lounge and relaxed with this cigar before heading back to PA, and it was very good.  It has some espresso and leather with some spice.  I liked it a lot, and the lounge was comfortable, the staff attentive, and I imagine the place is packed at night!  It was a long day, but a good one. 

 

I took a few days off this week to get some estate stuff done, and managed to have my first morning cigar of the season on Thursday.  The weather has been crazy this year, I’m not sitting on my porch in the cold in the morning!  I had picked up a Black Works Studio Paper Crane Corona Gorda when I visited Smoke Inn a few months back, and this was the perfect time to smoke it. This cigar came out in 2024, and has an Ecuador Connecticut Desflorado wrapper, Ecuador Habano binder and Nicaraguan fillers.  It was rich and creamy, with a bit of spice. Not a mild cigar, it had some oomph to it, and it was a good kick start to the day.  I haven’t really smoked many of Oveja Negra’s Connecticut offerings, but this one is good.  James Brown knows how to blend cigars!

 

I had heard about the Outcast Cigars debut at the PCA show and had some curiosity.  This is a new brand from Miami Cigar and Co., Gabriel Piñeres, PR guy to the stars, was kind enough to share a couple robustos with me.  This is what the website has to say:

FOR THE BOLD AND UNCONVENTIONAL
Outcast Cigars is built for those who defy the norm and embrace the journey less traveled.

By blending rare and unconventional tobacco, we craft cigars that break tradition and redefine excellence. Like the trailblazers who inspire us, our cigars forge their own path—bold, unapologetic, and destined for greatness.

Outcast Cigars isn’t just a smoke; it’s a statement.

Be unique. Be yourself. Be an Outcast.

I smoked one and I enjoyed it. It has a Brazilian Cubra wrapper,  Ecuadorian Sumatra binder and Dominican fillers. It burned perfectly, had a sweet cap, and was aromatic, my wife said the aromas changed from pipe-like to weedy, which I get the pipe analogy but no weed.  This is obviously a cigar made with cased tobaccos, and I couldn’t help drawing comparisons to another cigar that is super popular and uses tobaccos traditionally found in pipe tobaccos. I believe it’s made by La Aurora, but if it came out that it was made by a certain Esteli factory I wouldn’t be at all surprised. It’ll be a big hit if it gets the right exposure.  It’s a great change of pace cigar for me. 

 

That’s about all I have for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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May 25, 2025 · 2:40 pm

Foundation Aksum and Aging Room Cigars

Today’s post is a little later than usual.  We’ve been having a garage sale at my mother’s house to try to get rid of some of the accumulated stuff that comes with living in the same house for 54 years and having the “someone might need this someday” attitude.  Stuff, just stuff. I’m super-grateful for my family helping out, especially my wife! Anyway I’ve been trying to enjoy some cigars along the way, which is what I usually talk about on Sundays! 

 

I started off smoking both the Foundation Cigar’s Aksum, in both claro and maduro.  This used to be the Menelik, but I think there was some sort of trademark issue, or the descendants of Menelik complained, I’m not sure.  So now it’s Aksum, which is the name of the place where Menelik I brought the Ark of the Covenant.  Apparently it’s still there, not in a warehouse in Nevada.  The blend is Sumatra Ecuador wrapper, Connecticut Broadleaf binder and Estelle and Jalapa fillers.  Best I can tell the only difference is the wrapper fermentation.  I bought Toros, of course, 6” x 52 with a pigtail cap.  These are beautiful cigars with a slight box press if I remember right.  I started with the Claro, which burned beautifully.  It started with a bit of an acidic hit. Skip Martin says that we shouldn’t describe flavors like food, but that’s like 90% of my flavor references.  I would say this is on the leathery side, and that’s in my 10% non-food reference sample.  It’s good if you like that flavor profile.  I moved on to the Maduro the next evening.  This had a dry cocoa profile.  It’s not a sweet Maduro, more a dark chocolate kinda thing.  Again, very good, I do not regret purchasing these, although I think the Olmec line is more my jam.

 

After a long day of garagesaling, and one very disappointing cigar along the way, I got home, took a nap, and then relaxed with an Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Concerto Vibrato. This is another toro, 6” x 56 box pressed.  Aging Room is still Rafael Nodal’s brand, although it’s marketed by Altadis, which also employs him as a brand ambassador. He’s basically the face of Altadis now, and he’s very good in that role.  I have been hit or miss with Aging Room cigars, this one wasn’t bad, but had a floral flavor, and a weird mouthfeel. It was almost cloying in a diet soda kind of way.  I enjoyed it, just not really a cigar I’ll come back to. Even if I am not a big fan of a cigar, I’m rarely disappointed that I bought and smoked a cigar, it’s all part of the learning process.  When I cigar doesn’t burn and or draw right is when I get upset, even if I received it gratis.  By the way, this picture is what you get when I’m distracted! 

 

That’s all for today, enjoy your Memorial Day celebrations, remember the reason the day exists.  Until the next time,

CigarCraig

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December 8, 2024 · 11:27 am

Cigars from Nestor Miranda, Joya de Nicaragua, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust and Foundation

I ended up smoking some pretty great cigars over the last few days!  I started off with the Nestor Miranda Grand Reserve 2024. I have memory of smoking the 2011 and 2012 versions, which were the only other two previously released. The 2024 was released in celebration of Miami Cigar and Company‘s 35th anniversary.  It’s a 6 1/8″ x 52 torpedo, made at the My Father factory in Esteli, and is a Nicaraguan Puro.  This is an absolutely delicious cigar. It started with an interesting spice, maybe like nutmeg, very intriguing. It had a really nice desert cigar feel to it, like smoking a pie. I thought it was really good.  Thanks to Gabe Pińeres for sending me this.  Super-yummy.

 

Next up was the Joya de Nicaragua Cinco de Cinco. I know this one has been around for a while, but one came into my possession at the the Florida Barn Smoker last month.  This was the Corona Extra vitola, 6 ¼” x 46 with a pigtail cap.  Cinco de Cinco seems to translate to “5 out of 5”, but I want to say it has something to do with the company’s 55th anniversary.  I think this is my favorite cigar out of the Obras Maestros collection, and there are some great cigars in that collection.  I have to say that it’s really hard to pick a favorite, Numero Uno, Cinco Decadas, Cuatro Cinco, now this one?  What a line up!  This one  has a San Andrés wrapper, with Nicaraguan fillers and binder.  Burn and draw were outstanding, and it was loaded with dark chocolate flavors, and I loved it.  It’s definitely one I’ll be revisiting.  For someone who loves dark chocolate, but has to severely limit my intake because it triggers migraines for me, this is an acceptable substitute!

 

Yesterday, while watching hockey, I smoked the newest size in Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust‘s Sin Compromiso line, the Selección No. 4, a 5″ x 54 soft box pressed robusto.  This is another San Andrès wrapper, this one Saka calls “Cultivo Tonto” which has the farmer removes all bet the best leaves from the plant so that they get the most nutrients. This make the tobacco more expensive, of course, because there’s no lower quality leaves to subsidise the better leaves.  Saka only ever uses the best and most expensive materials anyway, right?  I absolutely love the No. 5, which is a Toro, so I was excited to try the robusto.  This was a really good cigar, although I felt like it wasn’t quite as sophisticated as the larger size.  Sure, it was better than a lot of cigars, had some earth and black coffee notes, but it just seemed less refined.  If I can afford it, I’ll pick another one up one day. 

 

Finally, I smoked a cigar that Stace Berkland sent me a bit ago.  I may have mentioned before that Stace had sent me some cigars in an unexpected reciprocation for some things I sent him. Here’s the silliness: Stace wanted to purchase one of my 20 year old plastic cutters, the little rectangular ones that Saka’s über expensive Guillotino de Saka is based off of.  I had a few that’s I’ve had for years, used to buy them at my local shop, the guys there called it the “hot knife through butter cutter”. Like I said, I have had three of these for 20+ years, I’ve got a load of cutters, sending one to a friend wasn’t a problem!  He felt the need to retaliate, so he sent some nice cigars.  One of them was this Foundation Cigars Grasshopper, which appears to be from an exclusive box from Small Batch Cigars.  This box had six of the Candella Grasshoppers, six of the Maduro, and one barber pole version.  I had never seen this cigar before, but my first thought was that it was from Foundation, something about the look of the band.  This is a small, box pressed torpedo, 5¼” x 52, with a San Andrés wrapper, Jalapa binder and fillers from Jalapa and Esteli.  This was another great smoke with some spice and dark cocoa.  Burn was excellent and I really dug it. Thanks Stace!  

 

I need to start getting my Secret Santa gift together, names went out and it’s too late to join!  I gave plenty of notice.  I”ve got my work cut out for me this time!  That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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March 3, 2024 · 9:55 am

My Father, Metapa, and Perdomo 30th Anniversary Cigars

This week I smoked some cigars I bought on recent forays into some of my local cigar spots.  All were new to me, although not necessarily new to the market. This happens, I don’t always jump right on the new stuff, and sometimes I miss out!  Thursday evening I met up with my fellow Craig, and recent contest winner, at Cigar Mojo – The Grove, to  hand deliver his prize.  Shipping is always less expensive than visiting a cigar shop!  I picked up a few cigars, and lit up a My Father The Judge in the 656 Toro size.  This has been around for a while, I just never got around to it. Since Mojo carries a lot of My Father cigars I see myself catching up on them.  I’ll grab something I haven’t tried whenever I stop in.  This is a 6″ x 56 cigar, oddly they call their 6″ x 52 a Toro Fino, which seems like a toro to me. Maybe the 6″ x 56 should be a Toro Gordo and the 52 should just be the Toro?  Not my circus…anyway, this has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and fillers, with a nice box press. This got off to a slow start, good, although fairly mediocre.  It built up some sweetness, which I like, of course, and worked out to be a very enjoyable cigar, one I’ll smoke again.  Naturally, the company was exceptional, I always enjoy time with my fellow Craig. We’ll definitely have another Craig cigar summit soon.

 

Friday evening had us attending a middle school theatrical production that one of the granddaughters was in, so I got a late start. I was going to skip a cigar altogether, but I had picked up a Foundation Metapa Corona Gorda at Mojo and it wasn’t that big, so I figured I’d light it up.  Sometimes having a cigar too late gives me sleep issues, not the case this time, although I did get to bed a lot later than usual!  I wanted to smoke a Metapa because these are being rebranded to Aksum, I guess to keep in line with the Tabernacle/Menelik/Ark of the Covenant theme. I’ve heard mixed reviews on this cigar, and maybe it’s the Maduro vs. Claro?  I only had the maduro to chose rom, so that’s what I got, as if anyone would be surprised at that. This is a nice 5½” x 48 with a coil pigtail cap (I know there’s a name for it, just can’t remember it!).  This was the best cigar I had all week.  It started a bit heavy, cloying like licorice, which worried me.  It settled in to a really nice, dense dark chocolate, not much sweetness, the kind with a high cacao percentage. I found this to be quite enjoyable, whatever the name, and I might have to see if I can find the claro version (although I still need to try the Olmec Claro!).  It’s hard for me not to like Foundation Cigars, there seems to be something for everyone.

 

Last week I stopped in The Wooden Indian looking for some new cigars, and picked up some Perdomo 30th Anniversary Epicures in Sungrown and Maduro.  These come with a lot of hype, and my expectations were high.  I’m a big fan of the 20th Anniversary Maduro, probably my favorite Perdomo.  I thought the 10th Anniversary Sungrown was my favorite of that line, which, oddly, only really came out a couple years ago.  The 30th aren’t priced bad, I could see companies asking a higher price for  their anniversary cigars, but Perdomo does things right in this respect.  I admire them for keeping their cigars pried within reason.  I decided that yesterday was going to be Perdomo day, so I started with the Sungrown.  I chose the 6″ x 54 Epicure size because, well, that’s the size I like.  This has a 15-year-old bourbon barrel-aged Cuban-seed Nicaraguan Sun Grown wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and has a nice box press.  I think this one had a patch near the cap on the underside of the cigar, which I find to be unacceptable on a cigar like this, regardless of price.  This, of course, came off and I had to do some wrapper surgery because I don’t care for the mouth feel of a flappy wrapper.  Other than that, the burn and draw were very good, and the cigar had a sweet spice that was nice.  Not blown away, I’ll stick with the 10th Sungrown.

 

I had high hopes for the Perdomo 30th Anniversary Epicure Maduro.  This has the same 15-year-old bourbon barrel-aged Cuban-seed Nicaraguan wrapper processed to a maduro, not overly dark, but dark enough, with a nice oil.  This is a nice looking cigar, again, lods of hype, best Perdomo cigar ever, yada yada…It was a good cigar. It had rich dark roast coffee and cocoa and was very nice.  For me, I find that the 20th Maduro to have more that I enjoy, to be honest. I suppose I was expecting a more refined experience, and maybe my palate just isn’t acute enough to appreciate the subtleties of these cigars. I’m told that the 30th Connecticut is something special.  Given I was never a fan of the Champagne, I actually disliked it ( a rarity), I always pass on the Perdomo Connecticuts. Perhaps I’ll give this one a try, for science.  

 

The folks at Best Cigar Prices posted a  bunch of pictures of the cigarlebrities that will be at their Smoke-onos event in May, but they didn’t ask for my picture.  If you’re there, hunt me down!  Also, keep an eye out for upcoming details about a multi-vendor event at Goose’s Montecristo Lounge in Limerick, PA which will be in the beginning of May.  That’s more than enough for today, until the next time.  

 

CigarCraig

 

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November 12, 2023 · 10:45 am

Trash Panda Connoisseur Club Over-Runs, All Saints and Micallef Cigars

I had a little different idea about how this week’s smoking was going to go.  I got one each of the Connoisseur Club Over-Runs from TrashPanda, which are on sale for a ridiculously low price, by the way.  These came with the caveat that they needed to be dryboxwd, as they had been sealed in the humidibags for several years.  I opened them out and left them on the desk for a week (I think the house has been around 52% RH this week) thinking they would dry down sufficiently. The Foundation Lonsdales did, the Aganorsa Robustos did not, so you’ll have to wait until next week to read about that cigar and how there;s some left!  I can tell you that the  is quite a treat, and if you don’t go to TrashPanda.com and pick some up you’re foolish (and there’s nothing in it for me, at $25 each and buy one, get one, there’s probably not much in it for Kevin either!). the cigar is  6¼” x 46, has a Habano Nicaraguan grown wrapper, Habano Ecuador binder and fillers from Estelí and Jalapa. This is going to be a great cigar for the holiday season, because it has some really interesting warm spices, kinda like mulling spices.  I thought it was very unique and delicious, and quite different from what Nick usually does.  Maybe it’s close to something he’s come out with in the past two years that I haven’t gotten around to smoking? For $2.50 each you can’t go wrong, you might need to beat me to the checkout.  I might note that TrashPanda is transitioning away from selling the rare and vintage cigars, and moving toward selling their own branded lines, so there are some great deals to be had all over the site. Again, nothing in it for me! (I just placed an order…as if I need more cigars…)

 

I’ve probably said this before, but I find that I have to talk myself into going out after a long day at work.  I get home, eat dinner, and I just want to grab a cigar and retreat to the peace and quiet of my porch and enjoy that cigar for an hour and a half or thereabouts. Friday evening I had some choices to make, and I talked myself into heading to the Wooden Indian to celebrate All Saints Cigars 4th anniversary with Micky Pegg. When I arrived, Jim from Great Cigar Reviews was several hours in to his live podcast, which I assume was streaming on Youtube?  Micky threw me to the wolves and sat me in front of the mic and Jim and I had a nice chat for a while. I had decided early in the day that I was in the mood for a Saint Francis Churchill, which was a motivating factor in going, I’ll admit.  The cigar, as always, was delicious, it’s probably my favorit

e in the line.  I came to be in possession of the new Solamente, which is going to be an annual release. I think I have one of the originals still in the humidor someplace.  This is a 5″ x 58 cigar in the round, where the majority of the All Saints line is pressed.  The Solamente comes in a box of 23, next year’s will be in a box of 24, and so on. How’s that going to work going into 2030?  This is a $20 cigar, box buying is going to get a little cost prohibitive as the years progress.  Anyway, I smoked it yesterday as I wanted to smoke it on a fresh palate. This. has an Ecuadorian Habano oscuro wrapper with Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers.  I found this to be on the leathery side of the flavor spectrum, with some coffee notes, with a nice burn and draw.  It was a fine cigar, but I’m in love with the Saint Francis and it’s hard to get me off that one right now, it suits me perfectly.  It was fun hanging with Micky, I look forward to smoking the All Saints Collection Plate (my suggestion, doubt he’ll remember!).  The Wooden Indian always has great events, they have a great staff and Dave, the owner is among the best guys around.

 

Of course, Micky Pegg wears two hats, when he isn’t a co-owner of All Saints, he’s the president of sales for Micallef Cigars, and I picked up a couple of their new  toros as I’d been hearing good things about them. When it turned out that the Aganorsa Connoisseur Club  cigars were still too wet to smoke, I grabbed one of the Micallef Black Toros to smoke last night.  The first thing I notice when doing some background research on their website is that the have the measurements goofed up on this cigar. It’s 6″ x 52, not at all 5″ x 62 like the website says. Perhaps they should fix this.  This has a San Andrés wrapper, Ecuador Habano binder and Nicaraguan fillers.  This is a cigar that appeals to me.  The construction was perfect, it was a good, solid maduro cigar with a nice chocolaty flavor, and it was just a good cigar at a great price. I don’t know what more to say about this that hasn’t already been said by others, I’m late to the game, but it’s good, and at $8 it’s great, can’t go wrong if you like nice, medium bodied, sweet, earthy maduro cigars. 

 

That’s all for today.  I figure I should get the temperature i n the room about doing a Secret Santa agai

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n this year.  I’m fairly sure I know one person who will be interested, but who else would like to get in on a cigar exchange?  Let me know in the comments.  Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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