Stuck for a gift idea? – We do gift vouchers! Call us on 0115 911 0555 for more details or email eann@gauntleys.com
Stuck for a gift idea? – We do gift vouchers! Call us on 0115 911 0555 for more details or email eann@gauntleys.com
Nestled in the heart of the Connecticut River Tobacco Valley, the world’s premier tobacco-growing region, there’s a building in a tobacco field.
This isn’t another curing barn; this isn’t another fermentation warehouse; this is the world’s only corporate cigar office based on a farm – the office of the Foundation Cigar Company.
Nick Melillo may not be a name that you are familiar with, but one of the brands that he helped create might possibly be, and that would be Drew Estate.
It was Nick, along with Jonathon Drew, that helped set up Drew Estate in the late 90’s and created one of the biggest cigar producers on the planet. In 2014, Drew Estate got sold to Swisher and Nick decided to start again on his own, creating Foundation Cigars.
Ask any cigar maker and invariably they will say the thing, Connecticut Broadleaf is very difficult to work with. Nick’s passion was Connecticut Broadleaf and especially the leaf grown in the Connecticut River Tobacco Valley, as it’s considered to be the best in the world.
The tobacco itself can be brittle if not handled carefully, so every part of the process needs to be carefully controlled. If done well, the results, as Nick has proven, can be phenomenal. Connecticut Broadleaf cannot be grown or replicated elsewhere in the tobacco growing world – these conditions are unique.
Unlike Connecticut Broadleaf, this variety and technique can be replicated elsewhere in the tobacco growing world and nowadays nearly all Connecticut Shade tobacco is grown in Ecuador. This is due to a high demand for sun grown Broadleaf and low labour costs in Ecuador.
If there is one company or indeed, one man, who can bring Connecticut Shade back to it’s crowning position it is Foundation and Nick Melillo – a feat we are sure to see in coming years.
Gift Ideas & Vouchers
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Mixed Cigar Sampler Packs
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