Video review HERE.
(Description taken from Cigar-Coop.com website)
Nick Melillo’s El Güegüense brand now has a maduro offering. At the 2017 IPCPR Trade Show, Melillo’s Foundation Cigar Company launched “The Wise Man” Maduro. The cigar becomes the first Mexican San Andres cigar to be released by Foundation Cigar Company.
In addition to the Mexican San Andres wrapper, The Wise Man uses a blend of Nicaraguan tobaccos from Condega, Estelí, and Jalapa. The line will feature the same original five vitolas as El Güegüense: Robusto, Corona Gorda, Toro Huaco, Churchill, and Torpedo. As with the original El Güegüense, the cigar will be made at the TABSA factory in Estelí, Nicaragua.
“We are overwhelmed with how El Güegüense has been received in the marketplace. It is an honor for people to recognize a project that personally means so much to me and the Nicaraguan people,” says Melillo. “I was looking to create a line extension with a whole different level of complexity and the San Andrès wrapper brings just that. The blend encompasses bold flavors of black pepper, dark roast espresso and cacao. Medium plus in body and strength and rounded out with a nutty finish. I have always been drawn to San Andres, Mexico and have been buying tobacco there since 2003. The wrapper is one of my favorites, not to mention one of the oldest seed varieties in the world, which predates even Cuban seed. The combination of this unique capa and Nicaraguan fillers makes for an amazingly flavorful smoke”.
The original El Güegüense translates to “The Wise Man”. It also represents one of the oldest literary works in Nicaragua. The new Maduro offering does feature the name “El Güegüense” on the packaging, but the English translation is emphasized.
Pricing will be $9.00 to $13.00 SRP.
Blend Profile
Wrapper: San Andres Mexican
Binder: Corojo ’99 (Jalapa)
Filler: Nicaragua
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (Tabacos Valle de Jalapa S.A. – TABSA)
Vitolas Available
Robusto: 5 1/2 x 50
Corona Gorda: 5 5/8 x 46
Toro Huaco: 6 x 56 REVIEWED TODAY
Torpedo: 6 1/4 x 52
Churchill: 7 x 48
The cigar lacks nothing in beauty. It looks like a large piece of dark chocolate. It's very well made and has a decent feel in the hand.
The test draw after cutting the cap was very good. The initial flavors were a tangy, sweet orange citrus surrounded by blackberry notes, dark chocolate, and espresso. There was black pepper in an average amount. I rated it a 7. The espresso and dark chocolate are your main flavors, followed by the blackberry notes and then the citrus.
2 inches in (31 minutes) you no longer have any orange citrus notes. You now have cedar, nutmeg, blackberry, unsweetened dark chocolate, and espresso. The cedar, nutmeg, and blackberry form a very unusual flavor. The espresso continues to be very prominent. The dark chocolate is also quite noticeable. The cigar is medium bodied at this point. The finish is one of unsweetened dark chocolate with a decent amount of lingering black pepper. The finish does not stand out very much. 
A little past the midpoint (51 minutes) the nutmeg notes are starting to be the dominant flavor. The blackberry notes are almost an afterthought. The dark chocolate and espresso remain quite high. The black pepper is up a bit. The finish is unchanged. The lingering pepper is up a little also. The cigar is medium to full bodied now. The cigar is low in sweetness. The sweetness the cigar has comes from the blackberry notes. The cigar is now very dark noted with little sweetness.
The cigar lasted 1 hour 30 minutes. I expected it to last longer based on the initial look and feel. By the end the cigar reached full bodied. The espresso and unsweetened dark chocolate notes are very prominent, followed closely by the nutmeg notes, and the blackberry notes are almost undetectable. The pepper seemed to get better as the cigar went along. The finish did not change at all; unsweetened dark chocolate. But, the lingering black pepper did move up somewhat. I purchased this cigar at my local shop and it has been doing well there as the box was missing quite a few cigars. For me, it would have been a fantastic cigar if it had a large amount of sweetness to go along with those massive dark notes. Many people like dark noted cigars with minor sweetness so if that sounds like something you would like give these a try. You can purchase these cigars HERE.
Score: 89
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