Nick Melillo is back in the premium cigar game with his new company, Foundation Cigar Company, and its debut cigar, El Güegüense (pronounced gweh-GWEN-seh). It’ll make its first official appearance at the upcoming IPCPR trade show in New Orleans.
The brand is named for the first literary work of post-Columbian Nicaragua, a satirical play about corruption and Spanish colonial rule. In a press release issued by Foundation Cigar, Melillo describes the cigar, a Nicaraguan puro, as “a tribute to Nicaragua, its culture, people, land and the bridge between the old world traditions and the new.”
El Güegüense’s blend comprises Nicraguan Corojo 99 in the wrapper and binder, along with criollo and corojo fillers. They’ll be available in 25-count boxes and five vitolas: Robusto (5 ½ x 50), Corona Gorda (5 5/8 x 46), Toro Huaco (6 x 56), Churchill (7 x 48), and Torpedo (6 ¼ x 52). Retail prices will range from $9 to $13.