The Good Stuff:

This past year Nick Melillo and Foundation Cigar Company released quite a few new blends at the IPCPR show in Las Vegas. 2 of those blends are the value-based blends called the “Charter Oak”. The Charter Oak line features two different blends. We already looked at the Connecticut Broadleaf version, so this week we are concentrating not he Connecticut Shade version.

The Foundation Cigar Company’s website has a good amount of detail on the project:

 “I wanted to choose a name that represents the greatest symbol of my home state of Connecticut, the Charter Oak.” – Nicholas Melillo” 

Foundation Cigar President Nick Melillo announces the completion of his newest brand, Charter Oak, set for release at the 2016 IPCPR Show in Las Vegas.

Charter Oak also pays tribute to Melillo’s grandfather, who while earning a modest salary working for the Winchester Repeating Arms factory after WWII, smoked exclusively, broadleaf cigars manufactured by FD Graves on State St, while, no joke, Rick Ardito’s grandfather, a guard at Winchester, also smoked FD Graves biggest selling broadleaf, Muniemakers.

“I wanted to create an economy-minded, everyday smoke for connoisseurs; something tasty and delicious but didn’t break the bank”, says Melillo.

Charter Oak Cigars hail from the same fertile valley in Connecticut that Master Tobacco Blender Nick R Agua aka Nick Melillo was born and raised. Charter Oak Cigars feature some of the most prized and sought after Cuban seed leaf varieties from the exquisite Esteli and Jalapa regions of Nicaragua. The cigars are then wrapped in either a silky, beautiful Connecticut Shade wrapper or a hearty and rich Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, leaving you with the perfect every day and every occasion cigar.

As for the brand’s signature graphic, 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.

The Charter Oak Shade features a Connecticut Shade wrapper, Indonesian binder, and Nicaraguan filler. Both of the Charter Oak versions are produced at the Tabacalera Fernandez S.A. factory in Nicaragua. Both blends come packaged in boxes of 20 which feature 5 formats: Petite Corona (5 1/4 x 42), Rothschild (4 1/2 x 50), Lonsdale ( 6 1/4 x 46), Toro (6 x 52), Grande (6 x 60) ranging between $4.80 and $5.80 a stick. I purchased a handful of these over from our friends over at Smoke Inn.

Size: 6 x 52
Wrapper: Connecticut Shade
Binder: Indonesian
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Medium
Price: $5.50
Pairing: Brouwerij Huyghe Delirium Argentum (Belgian IPA 7% ABV)

Prelight:

The Charter Oak Shade starts out with a very light, almost orangish-brown wrapper that’s incredibly consistent in color from the cap down to the foot. The cigar’s texture is silky smooth with a good amount of oil and almost no tooth while the wrapper feels extremely thin and delicate. The cigar as a whole its packed perfectly and there are no soft spots located throughout the cigar. There are a few smaller veins running the course of the cigar’s body up to the round triple wrapped cap. The cigar also features a covered foot where the wrapper is laid carefully over the exposed filler tobacco at the foot of the cigar. The cigar is polished off with the same manilla and black Charter Oak Band that we found on the Maduro version.

The wrapper on the Charter oak gives off a good amount of honey and cashew aromas while the foot of the cigar carries some cedar, honey, and dirtiness. The cap cut very clean and like butter using my Xikar double bladed cutter. The cold draw produces some soft honey, sweetness, soft spice, and a ton of cedar with other natural tobacco flavors.

First Third:

The Charter Oak Shade started out with a huge pepper blast that completely caught me off guard. After the pepper began to fade out a bit I was greeted with some great cedar, honey, and spice with a great floral and piney aftertaste. I wasn’t expecting this cigar to start off in the medium/full range, but it did. The draw is fantastic. Each puff kicks out a desirable amount of thick white smoke while the Charter Oak gives off a good amount of stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is pretty rough with quite a few waves and one large crevice that is burning much faster than the rest of the cigar. I haven’t had to reach for my lighter yet so I’m ok with that. The ash left behind is very dark and very flaky. It only held on for a little over a half inch before falling in my ashtray.

Second Third:

The pepper has completed it’s exit in the Charter Oak Shade’s flavor profile and all the flavors have really began to simmer down while the cigar falls solidly into the medium-body range. The main flavor is still the sweet honey and cedar backed by floral, cashew, very light spice and a real subtle creamed coffee. The retrohale helps add a bit to the body as it still carries some of the pepper with a good amount of cedar. The burn line has really started to clean itself up without any extra attention from my torch. I close out the second third of the Carter Oak with no signs of any nicotine at all. A note, the ash if very light and flaky on this cigar and fell more often then expecting. That’s not a bad thing, and changes almost nothing with the experience. Just something to keep in mind if you’re wearing black pants like I was.

Finish:

As I venture into the final third of the Charter Oak Shade, not much has changed. The flavor profile still carried much of the cedar, honey and cashew with a bit of natural tobacco flavors, but that’s about it. Everything else has really dropped out. The burn line completely corrected itself and I never one had to touch up the cigar despite the issues at the start. It took me an hour and a half to take this cigar down to the nub. I experienced no harshness at all, not an extra heat build up however, a bit of sap/tar began to build up toward the very end of the experience so it didn’t really bother me as I was just about to put the cigar down anyhow.

Overview:

I’ve been very big on a lot of the new-style Shade cigars released lately and hoped that the Charter Oak would be the next hit on my list. While I enjoyed the cigar, and can find myself going back to it, it seemed like it was just missing something after the incredible flavors in the first third. After the first third the flavors just kind of fizzled out. It wasn’t a bad cigar by any means, I think I just got a bit excited and then was slowly let down a bit. Maybe a smaller ring gauge will help solve that issue. I plan on trying a few of those out then returning to this review. Either way, for the price, this is a great cigar to have around for this times you’re craving a milder smoke.

Pairing:

Delirium Argentum is a limited edition 7% ABV IPA brewed only once in 2014 by the Brouwerij Huyghe brewery in Belgium. One thing I have always loved about Belgian IPAs is they keep the bitterness while introducing a much more malty, sweeter flavor profile with less hops. Not that I don’t love me some hops, but Belgian IPAs usually make for much better cigar pairings since you aren’t overwhelmed by them. The Argentum leads with a great malty character with lots of sweetness, pear, and citrus with some slight hop and a very light mouthfeel before finishing crisp with more citrus and hop over a ton of malt and sweetness. This pairing was incredible and actually really helped add a bit of the missing elements to the cigar itself.

The post Foundation Cigar Company Charter Oak Shade appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff:

Starting last year, the Crowned Heads have released “Angel’s Anvil” which is a cigar created exclusively for TAA retailers. As with last year’s release, the 2015 Angel’s Anvil is rolled by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr. at the Tabacalera La Alianza S.A. factory in Dominican republic and will only be available at TAA, or Tobacconists’ Association of America retailers across the United States. The Angel’s Anvil 2015 is based off of one of my personal favorite Crowned Heads releases, the Mule Kick (see my quick draw here) and features more body and strength than last year’s release. The cigar features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan Fillers. The Crowned Heads Angel’s Anvil 2015 is only offered in a single 6 x 52 toro format which differs form the 7 1/8 x 49 churchill offered for the previous release. Like the 2014 release, the Angel’s Anvil 2015 will coming in boxes of 20 with only 1,000 boxes released. Again, you can only get these at TAA retailers. I purchased a nice handful over from our friends at Smoke Inn who still had some in stock last time I checked.

Size: 6 x 52
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium/Full
Strength: Full
Price: $10.50
Pairing: Adelbert’s The Traveler (Belgian IPA 7% ABV)

Prelight:

The Crowned Heads Angel’s Anvil starts out with a beautiful, medium brown wrapper. The color on the wrapper is insanely consistent while the texture features some slight tooth, slight oils, and a whole lot of silky smoothness with some smaller veins, and a round double cap. The Angel’s Anvil feels very, very hard and firm in the hand and has absolutely no give as I squeeze it between my fingers. This is a heavy cigar. The cigar is polished off with a band similar to what we found on the 2014 version with a color tweak which now carries red, black, gold and manilla ink.

The wrapper on the Crowned Heads Angel’s Anvil gives off a great molasses and brown sugar aroma while the foot of the cigar carries a very earthy, grassy, natural tobacco mixture of scents. The cap cut very clean, and extremely easily using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw produced a spicy, dirty, musky flavor mixture.

First Third:

The Crowned Heads Angel’s Anvil 2015 starts out with a strong black pepper blast that I wasn’t quite expecting. The pepper was strong enough to leave my lips and tingling a bit, but quickly started to fade out leaving behind some great musky flavors with some honey, molasses, a bit of sweetness and lots of grassy/earthiness. The draw is slightly tight on this particular cigar, but not enough to really damper the experience. As I continued towards the second third of the cigar the draw really started to open up as it pumped out some pretty decently thick, white smoke. The burn line has some slight waves, but nothing concerning as it leaves behind a tightly compacted, bright white and light gray trail of ash which held on for a little over an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Crowned Head’s Angel Anvil 2015 and I’m surprised that the black pepper is still holding on in the flavor profile. It’s not very bold, but it’s still present as it backs the molasses, honey, cedar, musk, and earthiness. The flavors haven’t switched up a whole lot but they have continuously ramped up since I lit this bad boy up. The retrohale is very bold pepper/spice and musk which is a bit too sharp for me to continue doing. The burn line is completely solid and razor thin now, the draw is absolutely perfect, and I am feeling only a slight nicotine kick as I close out the second third.

Finish:

As I venture into the final third of this Crowned Heads Angel’s Anvil both text body and strength have really jumped up to a whole new level as it kicks out strong cedar, spice, and musk flavors backed by the molasses, honey, and soft sweetness. Towards the final inch the black pepper had made a full force return and carried through down to the nub. It took me about an hour and a half to take this guy down to the nub and I experienced absolutely no harshness nor unwanted heat. It did however leave me with a nice little nicotine kick.

Overview:

Has Crowned Heads made a bad cigar? Seriously. Every cigar I’ve had from them has been exceptional, they are on a roll, and I don’t see them stopping any time soon. The Angel’s Anvil 2015 is a bold, strong, and solid cigar which had good dimension, without being overly complex. This cigar is great for the seasoned cigar smoker who wants a bold/strong experience that isn’t overruled by the strength in the cigar, and it’s great for the novice smoker who is looking for a solid, strong cigar with great flavor. The price is a bit steep, but I didn’t mind paying for it especially knowing that it helps support the TAA retailers who support our cigar rights. I haven’t had a chance to review the 2014 Angel’s Anvil so I can’t give a strong comparison between the two but I do still have some hanging out in my humidor a promise to pull them out and give them a go soon.

Pairing:

I don’t often pair cigar with IPA’s as it’s a bit tough to find one that marries up well, but the first time I smoked the 2015 Angel’s Anvil I knew this beer would fit the bill perfectly. Brewed in Austin, Texas Adelbert’s The Traveler is a Belgian inspired IPA. Coming in at 7% ABV this IPA leads with some soft hop, sweetness, citrus, and caramel before finishing a bit malty with more sweetness and a sharp bitter aftertaste. The citrus and sweetness is what drew me to this pair as they added a great extra layer of complexity with the existing flavors in the Angel’s Anvil. I think this cigar would also pair great with some strong, black coffee, A malty porter, or some sweet black tea.

The post The Crowned Heads Angel’s Anvil 2015 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.