Foundation cigar samplers bring the best of an interesting brand right to your humidor, complete with a variety of shapes, sizes, and blends. We can’t really describe Foundation cigars as new at this point, but in cigar industry terms, this is still a young company. Many cigar families go back generations and cover immigration from one country to the next. Foundation’s story isn’t like that. These blends you find in Foundation cigar samplers are made with a fresh perspective.
Decades ago, Nick Melillo worked down at Calabash Shoppe in Hamden, CT straight out of high school while studying international business at Quinnipiac. He ran into Jonathan Drew of Drew Estate in connection with an event at the tobacconist, and the two kindled a friendship. Studying tobacco and business turned out to be the right combo for Melillo because his relationship with Drew eventually led to a position at Drew Estate in 2003. Melillo was backpacking around the globe at the time, but there was one thing that could bring his restless soul to go put down roots.
At that point, when he arrived in Nicaragua, Foundation cigar samplers were just a twinkle in his eye.
He learned tobacco, fermentation, blending, and had a hand in some outstanding cigars from Drew Estate. But after a decade of experience had properly aged and seasoned him, it was time for him to break off on his own to create his personal cigar brand in accord with his own spirit in 2013. He knew there was no other path if he wanted to do things his own way.
The results have been nothing short of spectacular, with his El Gueguense (now called the Wise Man) blend combining Nicaraguan and Mexican tobacco to score an astounding 95-point rating. Tabernacle, Highclere Castle, Charter Oak… the hits have kept on coming, which is to say nothing of the super fun Upsetters line. Jamaican tobacco and always a surprising flavor profile – the Upsetters is a great smoke when you need something fresh. It even seems a bit ACID-inspired (the innovative, infused Drew Estate best-selling cigar line), in its way.
Foundation cigar samplers can take you down any of these roads, or in the case of the Ultimate Toro Sampler of 10, all of them! Depending on which blend you’re drawn in by, Foundation cigar samplers can give you the full experience. If one, in particular, has got you interested, you can get a sampler that allows you to enjoy that blend in a variety of shapes and sizes. Or if you want to taste some of the variations in a particular cigar line, you can get that too.
Go with any of the lines mentioned here, and you’re getting a great smoke. Nick Melillo has built a heck of a reputation for himself. Not bad for a boy from Connecticut, eh?
Please browse our selection of Foundation cigar samplers at your leisure.
