Master Blenders Pt. 2: Nick Melillo, Founder of Foundation Cigars
The last time Cigar Advisor had a chance to sit down with Nick Melillo was 2018. At the time, Foundation Cigar Company had only been in business for three years. It was a very good year for Foundation, too. Their 95-rated The Wise Man Maduro Robusto made the Top 25 again as the #3 Cigar of 2018, and the 93-rated Charter Oak Connecticut Shade Rothschild made the “Best Buys of 2018” list, and the hits have just kept on coming.
In this, our second Master Blenders sit-down with Nick Melillo, Nick dives into the cultural influences that have inspired him to create cigars like El Güegüense, which stems from a centuries old Nicaraguan cultural tradition. (Earlier this year, Nick crafted a custom El Gueguense Exclusivo box-pressed Toro for Famous Smoke Shop, something he has rarely, if ever, done for a retailer.) Then there was the release of Olmec, which stems from the history of an ancient people, now extinct, who lived in what is now Mexico. Nicaraguan culture is also front and center for Foundation’s new Metapa cigars, inspired by the legendary Nicaraguan poet, Rubén Darío.