Foundation 10 Year Aniversario Salomon Review

2026-08-10  Box Buy · 4/4 My Money · Steal · by Eric

Filed under: Wedding Cigars · CT Broadleaf · Figurados · Tight Draw · Habano · Nicaragua · Retrohale

Verdict: Box Buy (4/4)... a Mexican hot chocolate of a cigar that stays excellent start to finish, and that's rare. Thirty-five bucks is a lot of money for a cigar, and it still earns the tier. Chocolate, baking spice, peanut, leather, and a creaminess on the retro that coats your whole palate... and unlike most cigars, the final third never takes that dip. It's limited, so grab a 10-count box while you can... and don't sit on them waiting for a special occasion that never comes. Make one.

Foundation released the 10 Year Aniversario in late 2025 to mark ten years since Nick Melillo started the company, and I like what he's been doing with the brand and the passion he brings to it. It's a double-tapered Salomon rolled at A.J. Fernandez in Nicaragua: a Connecticut River Valley wrapper that's a hybrid of Broadleaf and Habano seed, over a Brazilian Mata Fina binder and Nicaraguan fillers from Estelí, Jalapa, and Condega. Limited run... 2,000 boxes of ten, plus 750 collector boxes of twenty, all wearing the band of St. George slaying the dragon.

The Setup

• Cigar: Foundation 10 Year Aniversario, Salomon (7 x 58)... hybrid Connecticut Broadleaf/Habano-seed wrapper, Brazilian Mata Fina binder, Nicaraguan fillers from Estelí, Jalapa, and Condega. Made at A.J. Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua.
• Street price: $35 a stick, $350 for the 10-count box
• What I paid: about $21 a stick... a box of ten from an online special with a coupon back in March, my own money. The verdict rides street price, not what I got away with.
• Storage: out of my humidor at 69% RH, where it's been resting since March
• When/where: started at 3:50 in the afternoon on my back deck, in the shade... 86°, feels like 87, 64% humidity, mostly cloudy, no breeze at all. Later on there was lightning off in the distance and you could watch the rain work its way over the mountain.
• Food beforehand: leftover Applebee's quesadillas, a couple mozzarella sticks with marinara, and a glass of whole milk about two and a half to three hours earlier... then a San Pellegrino a half hour before and some water crackers to clean the palate.
• First cigar of the day, paired with water

Cold Draw and Light Up

This is a rustic, veiny-looking cigar. One small crack up on the cap... I was cutting there anyway, so no concern... and a tiny bit of cracking down where the wrapper closes over the foot, which was going to burn through in the first minutes regardless. The rest of it looked good, and I enjoy Foundation, so I was looking forward to this one.

The cold draw was a little snug, which is what you expect from a mostly-closed Salomon foot. Nice tobacco sweetness on the cold draw, nothing tingling on the nose... but it left my lips a little tingly, and when I licked them after the cold draw it was definitely spicy. I figured I was in for a spice bomb.

I wasn't. On the light you get chocolate, baking spice, a little pepper, a bready note, leather, and something like a light-roast black coffee. The retro isn't spicy at all... it's like a Mexican hot chocolate. That dark-chocolate bitterness with the warmth of the chili peppers they put in there... that's this cigar on the light up, plus a bready note no hot chocolate ever had. I had room on the cap, so I clipped a little more off looking for a better draw before reaching for the draw tool.

First Third

About a half inch in, bready is the main flavor with that baking spice right behind it... still that Mexican hot chocolate thing going. Retro the whole draw and you get a little more spice, but not much... and a surprisingly strong peanut that I wasn't getting anywhere else. That was unique.

The draw stayed tighter than I wanted through the widest part of the cigar... I was watching smoke come off the foot even while pulling, which you normally don't see... so about an inch to an inch and a half in I used the draw tool, just enough that the spikes disappeared. Not perfect after, but much better. Smoke production had been a touch thin for a Foundation up to that point... they usually pump out smoke... and after opening the draw it came up to average or a little better.

By the end of the first third, this is a great cigar and I was wicked happy I picked it. I'd had a couple new cigars recently that didn't hit my palate the way I wanted, and it discourages you when you're trying new stuff... this one is phenomenal. On the draw it's chocolate, leather, light-roast coffee, a bit of nuttiness, baking spice, and basically no bitterness at all... even the leather isn't a bitter leather. And on the retro... man. Baking spice, chocolate, a hit of peanut, and behind it some kind of dark fruit sweetness I couldn't put my finger on. Cherry, maybe. I know that sounds crazy... it's what I got.

The ash held on so tight I finally ashed it myself rather than wear it... took three or four taps to drop, and it left that Nicaraguan point, as I call it, in the middle of the cigar. The burn line was a touch wavy but didn't even need a touch-up after the ash, which I'm not used to... usually the ember needs help after losing its jacket. Ashing usually costs you flavor, and this one lost nothing... if anything it picked up a little minerality in the background, showing up after the primary notes and sliding into a chocolatey, minerally finish. Strength at this point: medium. And you don't hunt for the flavors on this cigar... they're right there.

Second Third

About halfway through the second third, that peanut that lived only on the retro moved out front... you get it now just blowing the draw out of your mouth, along with the baking spice. The chocolate is a little more subdued but still there, the leather hasn't ramped up, and the light-roast coffee is steady. The cherry is gone. On the retro the spice has come up some... about what a full mouthful gave me in the first third... with more of that breadiness and a creaminess like whole milk coating your palate. It's phenomenal.

One thing I noticed playing with it: a lot of cigars change character between a single draw and a double draw. This one doesn't... the double draw just makes the same flavors more intense. That's relatively unique in my experience.

Toward the end of the third the leather stepped up to the front, peanut right behind it, chocolate very light now, baking spice hanging around. The strength is climbing... a little more than medium-full, and my guess was it'd reach full by the end. In between draws the finish is a light leather with none of the bitterness that usually rides along with leather and coffee. The burn got a little wavy, so I'd been rotating the slow side down... when I ashed it near the end of the third, I gave it a light touch-up to get back to a razor-sharp line, mostly because the flavor was too good to risk. That second ash came off much cleaner... still a Nicaraguan point, but smaller... and this time there was no minerality after, no flavor change at all.

Final Third

Early in the final third: leather in front, peanut right behind it, that baking spice still hanging on... I kept being surprised it never switched over to pepper... and the coffee has darkened to more of a medium roast. There's a light bitterness on the palate now, the first of the whole cigar, and it's mild. On the retro the chocolate has gone dark... not sweet anymore, right at the edge of bitter without crossing... and that creaminess still coats your entire palate. It's strange, because it only does that on the retro... but when it does, it's the whole palate. This cigar loves the retro. It's good both ways, but I retroed this thing way more than I do any other cigar.

The band came off totally clean, but it was definitely stuck to the wrapper... this is where waiting until the burn line gets close pays off, because the warmth softens the glue. Try that band at room temperature and I think you tear the wrapper. No imperfections underneath. After the band I gave it one more light touch-up... a quarter of the cigar was burning slightly slow... and the smoke production, which had dipped back under average, came back to normal.

Near the end, the retro spice finally turned... more of a red pepper, maybe almost a white pepper, a very clean spice, not sweet anymore. The nuttiness stopped being specifically peanut and became a roasted nuttiness, where up to this point it had been clean with no roast on it. Leather, medium black coffee, a leather linger with a slight bitterness way in the background. I ashed and retouched one last time when the burn went wonky in the last quarter inch, and the flavor came right back with the smoke. Retro a quarter of the draw at this point and it's a heavy spice, but with that nutty sweetness, leather, medium-roast coffee, and just a touch of the creaminess left. And here's the crazy part... it's not drying at all. My mouth was salivating every time I took a draw, right down to the nub.

I put it down when I physically couldn't hold it anymore... you can hold this thing an eighth of an inch below the burn line without your fingers complaining. Total smoking time: just over an hour and fifty minutes.

Construction

• Wrapper: rustic and veiny, dark. One small crack on the cap (cut away) and a tiny bit of cracking where the wrapper closes over the foot (burned through immediately). No issues from either.
• Draw: snug cold and tight through the widest part of the Salomon... clipped extra cap, then used the draw tool an inch to an inch and a half in. Much better after, better still by mid-cigar, and by the final third a really good draw... a touch snugger than perfect.
• Burn: good with a light wave to it. Rotating handled the first two thirds; one light touch-up after the second-third ash, one after the band came off, one at the nub. Never went out, no relights.
• Ash: tight and just a touch flaky. First ash needed three or four taps to drop and left that Nicaraguan point; second ash came off cleaner; final third held an inch and a half.
• Smoke output: a touch thin for a Foundation until the draw tool opened it up, then average or better the rest of the way, with one dip after the band that a touch-up fixed.
• Band: stuck to the wrapper but released totally clean once the burn line warmed it. Take it off early at your own risk.

Bottom Line

This is the rare cigar that's excellent start to finish. Usually you get two phenomenal thirds and then the final third takes a dip... this one changes, but it never drops. The Mexican hot chocolate act of the first half... chocolate, baking spice, that bready note... hands off to leather, roasted nuts, and pepper in the second, and the retro creaminess ties the whole thing together. Construction matched the flavor: one draw-tool assist early, a couple of cosmetic touch-ups, and an ash that behaved for almost two hours. You can sit and focus on just this cigar, which is what I did, or smoke it through a conversation and not worry about it once. Strength lands on the fuller side of medium-full, and it never dried my palate out.

Would I smoke it again? Box Buy... and I say that judging it at the $35 street price, which is a lot of money for a cigar when you can find phenomenal ones for $15 or less. The Tabernacle Havana Seed No. 142 is one of those for my palate... street price around $14.50-15.50 a stick, an easy box buy, and you can get them anytime. This is a different thing... a limited cigar this good start to finish. If it were regular production I'd call it a very solid Five-Pack at minimum; because they made 2,000 boxes of ten and that's it, get the box, stick it in your humidor, and smoke them... sparingly if you have to, but don't wait for the special occasion that never comes. Make a special occasion for it. I bought my box before I'd ever smoked one, partly on faith in what Nick Melillo builds, and I am very happy about that box.

Best for: a celebration, a milestone, or handing to a good friend who already loves cigars... not for someone just trying the hobby out. Give it the time it deserves... this is a two-hour cigar that earns both hours.

My rating scale, one question only... would I spend my own money on this again? 4 Box Buy (box on hand, always) / 3 Five-Pack (yes, a few live in the humidor) / 2 Hand-Me-One (wouldn't buy it, wouldn't turn one down) / 1 Not Even Free (I'd rather smoke nothing).

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