Foundation Cigar Co.’s event-only cigar will now be offered for sale.

The Menelik—a 4 1/2 x 52 pigtail capped, pressed short robusto—uses a Mexican San Andrés wrapper over a Jalapa corojo 99 binder and fillers Condega, Estelí and Jalapa. It debuted in April 2017.

According to Cigar Aficionado, the cigar will now be offered for sale in a somewhat limited basis. Each quarter, Foundation will release 1,000 boxes of 12 cigars, priced at $13 per cigar.

The cigar is named after the ancient ruler of Ethiopia who is said to be the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Menelik also went by the name Ebna la-Hakim, which is Arabic for Son of the Wise, which relates to Foundation’s El Güegüense and The Wise Man Maduro releases.

Menelik is produced at the Tabacos Valle de Jalapa S.A. (TABSA) in Estelí, Nicaragua.

Nicholas Melillo, Foundation’s founder, did not immediately respond to a message seeking further details.

Images courtesy of Foundation Cigar Co.

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.