Today, we review the Charter Oak Pasquale from Foundation Cigar Company. Nicholas Melillo founded the Foundation Cigar Company. Over the years, the branding of Foundation has paid homage to different cultures. This includes Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Egypt, Jamaica, England, and Melillo’s home state of Connecticut. Charter Oak is one of the brands that pay homage to the state of Connecticut. Charter Oak was the name of an enormous white oak tree in Hartford that was close to 1,000 years old when it fell down during a storm. Melillo decided this was essential to his home state’s history and created a core brand known as Charter Oak.

Charter Oak is one of the core premium brands in the Foundation Cigar portfolio. The Charter Oak, Maduro, and Habano blends have very approachable price points. In 2023, Melillo created a couple of limited production offerings that round out the story. These would be more premium blends, and each would extend the story of Melillo’s Connecticut heritage even more. Known collectively as Charter Oak Especiales, two blends were created. They are named after Melillo’s grandfathers, and each features a preferred wrapper of choice of the namesake.

• Pasquale (Connecticut Broadleaf)
• Pegnaturo (Connecticut Shade)

Charter Oak Pasquale by Foundation Cigar Company – Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaraguan (Jalapa)
Filler: Nicaraguan (Estelí, Jalapa)
Country: Nicaraguan
Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.

Vitolas Offered

The Pasquale is offered in one size—a 5 1/2 x 48 soft box-pressed vitola. The cigars come in 12-count boxes. Foundation Cigars has said production is limited to 500 boxes per quarter. The Charter Oak Pegnaturo is the same size and has the same production numbers as the Pasquale.

Appearance (*)

The Pasquale has a very old-school rustic Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. This wrapper has a medium to dark roasted coffee bean color. There wasn’t much in the way of oil on this wrapper. There were some visible veins and seams. The Pasquale has a slight soft press and is finished with a pigtail affixed to the cap.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw (*)

Instead of removing the pigtail of the Pasquale, a straight cut was employed to remove both the pigtail and the cap at the same time. Once the cap was removed, it was on to the pre-light draw experience. The pre-light draw delivered a combination of mocha and cedar. Mocha is a term that I use to refer to a combination of coffee and chocolate. Overall, this was a satisfactory pre-light draw experience. At this point, it was time to toast up the footer of the Pasquale and move on to the smoking experience.

Tasting Notes

The Pasquale opened up with a combination of mocha, cream, fruit sweetness, and earth. The mocha notes settled in the forefront as the cigar moved through the first third. A black pepper note surfaced in the background, joining the cream, fruit, and earth. This black pepper note provided a “bite” to the cigar. In addition, there was an extra layer of black pepper on the retro-hale. As the cigar progressed through the first third, the coffee component of the mocha became more dominant than the chocolate component.

By the start of the second third of the Pasquale, the coffee note had displaced the mocha note in the forefront. In the background, there were notes of fruit, earth, and pepper. The pepper notes gradually increased. Meanwhile, by the second half, most of the creaminess had subsided.

The final third saw the coffee notes remain grounded in the forefront. The pepper now emerged as the most prominent of the background flavors. There were still notes of fruit and earth present. This is how the Pasquale came to a close. The resulting nub was slightly soft to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn

When it came to the burn, the Pasquale scored quite well. This cigar had little difficulty maintaining a straight burn path and a straight burn line. The resulting ash wasn’t overly firm, but it wasn’t loose. There was some minor flaking from time to time. This was a silver-gray ash. Meanwhile, the Pasquale had an ideal burn rate and ideal burn temperature throughout the smoking experience.

Draw

Overall, the Pasquale delivered an excellent draw. This draw had a touch of resistance to it. If you follow my cigar assessments, you know this is the sweet spot for me with the draw. At the same time, this was a low-maintenance cigar to derive flavor from.

Strength and Body

The Pasquale started out with medium strength and medium-bodied flavors. Along the way, both attributes slightly increased in intensity. In the end, strength and body remained in the medium range of their respective spectrums from start to finish.

In terms of strength versus body, both attributes balanced each other nicely, with neither overpowering the other.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES (*)

The Charter Oak Especiales (Pasquale and Pignaturo) are based on the existing Charter Oak packaging but are slightly different. The cedar boxes use a Charter Oak logo on both the box and the band. In addition, the bands are more embellished and have gold foil on them. I would say both the Especiales packaging is better than the original Charter Oak. At the same time, the Charter Oak Pasquale is very much an old-school cigar in appearance and profile, so while the packaging is a step up, it still fits the vibe of this cigar.

 

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

One thing I mentioned above in the packaging notes is that the Pasquale has an old-school vibe – from its rustic wrapper to its cedar box packaging to its flavor profile. There were times when this cigar had a gritty Broadleaf taste to it – and there were other times when it was refined and smooth. One important observation is that this cigar really responds nicely to aging. The samples smoked had about seven to eight months of age on them and may be peaking very well at this time. Ultimately, the Charter Oak Pasquale is a cigar that I would recommend to any enthusiast. As for myself, it’s a cigar I would buy and smoke again. I’d be curious to see how it would smoke in other sizes (currently, there is only one size). Coming in at 90 points, the Pasquale earns the Cigar Coop Standard of Excellence designation.

Summary

Key Flavors: Mocha (Coffee, Chocolate) Earth, Fruit, Cream, Pepper
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Very Good

Rating

Value: Buy One
Score: 90
Cigar Coop Standard of Excellence

Let’s Get Pairing

On Episode 13 of Let’s Get Pairing, Tripp, and Denis tackled pairings with the Charter Oak Pasquale (Due to age restrictions, please click Watch on YouTube below)

REFERENCES

News: Foundation Cigar Company Adding Charter Oak Pegnataro and Pasquale
Price: $13.00
Source: Purchased
Brand Reference: Foundation Cigar Company

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop

(*) Indicates this is not factored into the score or value rating

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