Foundation Aksum Claro Prelight
Foundation Cigar Company is founded by the prolific Nicholas Melillo. Melillo got his start at a cigar shop in his home state of Connecticut before signing on at Drew Estate. After leaving Drew Estate Nick started Foundation in 2015.
The Aksum was originally released as the Metapa, but had a rebranding in February 2024. The Aksumite Kingdom was an ancient civilization in Ethiopia. Legends say this was where the Ark of the Covenant was brought after the Israelites escaped from Egypt. The blend is made of Nicaraguan fillers, CT Broadleaf binder, and an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper. This is the Toro at 6″ x 52.
Visually this example is very nice. The wrapper is immaculate and it’s capped with circled pigtail. A punch cut reveals a great draw, if anything it’s a bit on the open side. The cold draw is predominantly cinnamon. Lets get this one lit up!
Foundation Aksum Claro First Third
The first light is starting off very mellow. Notes of bread, and cocoa powder but not much else yet. Black pepper, caraway seeds and chocolate are slowly starting to ramp up. The palate is all malt and bready notes. The retro is showing caraway seeds, rich chocolate, and black pepper. The profile could pretty much be summed up as rye bread and chocolate here which is pretty interesting. I’m also starting to pickup on some coffee bean notes as we approach the second third. The flavors here are clear, but don’t seem totally cohesive yet. Construction is top notch so far, which is what I’ve come to expect from Foundation.
Foundation Aksum Claro Second Third
The flavors are starting to marry a bit more than they were in the first third. The palate is coffee beans and toast. The retro is leaning much sweeter with rich chocolate, milky coffee, black pepper, and a mix of caraway and fennel seeds. Foundation does chocolate flavors really well, I almost always get this deep chocolate syrup flavors from the CT Broadleaf blends. I’m also starting to pick up on some toasted hazelnut notes on the retro. The dominant tones at the end of the second third are the chocolate, black pepper, and caraway.
Foundation Aksum Claro Final Third
The overall flavor profile here has gotten a bit more dry. The palate is all toast, coffee bean, hazelnut and bit of baking spices. Retrohale is showing black pepper, dark chocolate, and caraway with a undertone of coffee bean. The sweetness is slowly dwindling as we approach the band. The black pepper and caraway are taking over, but not in an overly spicy way. Past the band the flavors are all cocoa powder, black pepper, and caraway. I put this one down with about an inch left.
Foundation Aksum Claro Conclusions
The Aksum is a very well made cigar. Construction was near perfect for the duration of the smoke, combustion, draw, smoke output and visuals were all on point. The flavors were pronounced and well executed, and the caraway notes were something I’ve not experienced in a cigar before. Foundation has some really top notch blends, and this is no exception. There were times where I felt the blend wasn’t fully cohesive, especially in the first third and in parts of the second. The chocolate notes and the caraway/black pepper didn’t clash exactly, but it felt like they were both fighting for the dominant tone at times. I’d say pick one up and see how you like it. Personally I’d be very interested in trying the Maduro on this blend, and I’m really looking forward to trying more new releases from Foundation.
