Foundation Charter Oak Especial Pegnataro (5.5×48)

I enjoyed this by the fire with a cup of coffee tonight. It is incredibly clean and smooth with a light, sweet finish. Notes of nuts, cedar and other classic Connecticut flavors. Honestly, not worth the extra cost from the core line Charter Oak shade… Good cigar to try but not as “wowing” as I was expecting. Love and peace my fellow cigar nerds!

I’ve been waiting on these since they were first announced back in the summer. The box is a beautiful presentation and has nice rounded edges and comes with a foundation stamped cedar plank to cover the cigars. The box is actually pretty small, it’s smaller than a box of Charter Oak Rothschilds. The wrapper on these feels amazing. It’s oily like an expensive habano or Maduro. I’ve never felt a wrapper this smooth and silky especially on a Connecticut. The band on the cigar even comes slightly raised so that when you peel it, it doesn’t stick to the wrapper. My biggest complaint on any of the Charter Oak line is half the time the band comes off very poorly. The overall construction of the cigar is as good as a cigar can be. The burn is fantastic, it’s even and there’s no touch ups required. The draw is the easiest and best of any cigar I’ve ever smoked including Cubans or any expensive new world cigar. You barely need to inhale to get a full mouth of smoke. It’s a flavorful smoke with notes of pepper, but by no means is it spicy or harsh. It doesn’t leave an ash try taste in your mouth whether you smoke it fast or slow. The one downside or upside of this cigar depending on your view point is the flavor unfortunately. For me this taste exactly like the Charter Oak Shade Rothschild. Maybe it’s a little bit smoother, but it’s debatable. That is my favorite cigar, so having that taste in a larger sized cigar with a better build quality is a plus to me. Considering the toro of the Charter Oak Shade isn’t as flavorful or as well constructed as the Rothschilds in my opinion. If you don’t like it he Rothschilds, I don’t think you’ll like this cigar. I think these are fantastic if you’re a fan in general of the Charter Oak series. Even if you’re not, the construction and execution of these is so far above most cigars in the $15-$20 range they’re worth a try.

Really consistent and smooth smoke, the construction was amazing and great draw. Right off the bat you get small amounts of white pepper and almonds all the way thorough the second third. The Retrohale is more spicy than the palate but manageable. The last third you start to get some blackened cherries with less sweetness and more body. Still nubable, id say it lacks a bit of character but for a CT it performs very well.