Cigar Review: Charter Oak Maduro by Foundation Cigar Company

• Vitola: Petite Corona
• 5.25” x 42 ring gauge 
• $5.49
• Purchased at Burns Tobacconist

Background

Call it “Round 1b” in the Battle of the Broadleaves…while Nick Melillo and Steve Saka are both producing top-quality cigars wrapped in Connecticut Broadleaf this year, they also both have decided to do “budget-friendly” Broadleaf-wrapped sticks. As with The Tabernacle, Nick’s Charter Oak Maduro showed up at Burns first, so I am able to give it the first review.

Charter Oak is intended to honor the state that Foundation Cigar founder, Nick Melillo, was born and raised in: Connecticut. The Charter Oak of the name is described like this:

historians estimate that this unusually large Oak tree began growing sometime during the 12th century on a plot located on what is now downtown Hartford. Native Americans, who by the way cultivated tobacco nearby long before settlers, held councils beneath its massive branches. The tree is actually mentioned in Dutch Explorer, Adrian Block’s journey guidebook in 1608. By the mid 1600’s the plot was parceled and a farm was built with the agreement that the local tribe could share this sacred tree. In 1662 King Charles II issued a Royal Charter to the Connecticut Colony granting an unusual degree of autonomy. However, when his successor, James II appointed an English Governor-General to reclaim the Charter, it was hidden in what became known as Charter Oak, one of our countries greatest symbols of American Independence.

After living much of his adult life in Nicaragua, Nick blended Nicaraguan fillers and binder along with Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper for this cigar (as well as a “Connecticut Shade”…grown in Ecuador…for a natural and milder version…I may visit that cigar at a later time). The cigars are made in the AJ Fernandez factory and shipped in boxes of 20. I had a Rothchild vitola before and paid for this Petite Corona that I’m smoking for this review.

Prelight

The box and band on the Charter Oak series are noticeably less expensive than what Foundation used on Tabernacle. That should be expected since the price is about half. It still looks unique and I would say the bands are “appropriate” in appearance for the price level.

The wrapper leaf is not as dark or beautiful as the one on the Tabernacle, but it still looked good to me. It was a dark chocolate coloration and left an oily resides on my fingers. It had a rich earthy aroma to it, with just a touch of sweetness. The foot was a fold-over, closed type so it really just imparted more of the rich earthiness that I got from the wrapper.

The cold draw was good and featured mostly sweet earth, with side notes of dark fruit and cedar.

Flavor

The Charter Oak Maduro lit up quickly and evenly. I got a semi-sweet chocolate note right away, with earth following closely behind, and cedar close behind that. There was a little pepper on the palate, but not much. The retrohale exhibited a bit more pepper, but even there it was outpaced by some cedar and nuttiness.

The sweetness of dried fruit and earthiness continued into the second third, where they were joined by some espresso bean and a little extra pepper. Every now and then, I got some flat or “off” flavors in the mix. Nothing horrible, but it just helped point out that this was not the most expensive cigar in the line-up.

The last third tended to be have more of the same earth and dried fruit notes as the previous two thirds. Pepper was still a factor and wood notes were evident every now and then.

Construction

The build quality on these bargain-priced sticks is very good: great draw, even burn line, and solid ash.

Value

$5 for a very good Broadleaf Maduro cigar? Yes, please!

Conclusions

The Charter Oak Maduro is not the most complex cigar Foundation has made, but it makes up for it with a very good flavor profile throughout and a dynamite price point. It was consistently good on my palate, with plenty of the Broadleaf sweetness and earthiness that I’ve come to expect. With a price of about $5.50 per stick, it will definitely become a staple in my humidor.

Charter Oak and The Tabernacle showed up just before Tweet-Up…then Mi Querida showed up just afterwards. Tomorrow the “Year of the Broadleaf” continues when I post my review of Steve Saka’s new “upper” line Broadleaf-wrapper stick.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: 1/1