Metapa Claro Corona Gorda

Foundation Cigar Co. was quite busy this year: in addition to opening a new office located on a 300-acre farm in Ellington, Conn., the company released two blends honoring Foundation founder Nicholas Melillo’s grandfathers, shipped a release that is named after a notable honor Melillo was awarded last year by the Crown Council of Ethiopia and rereleased the Highclere Castle Senetjer.

One of the more interesting creations is Metapa, a blend that was created to honor one of Melillo’s favorite Nicaraguan poets, Rubén Darío. Metapa was once the name of the hometown of the famed poet, although that town has since been renamed to Ciudad Darío, Spanish for Darío City. Darío is considered the founder of modernismo, a Spanish literary movement focused on poetry that also included the Cuban poet José Martí.

“Metapa is a tribute to the poetic soul of Nicaragua,” said Melillo in a press release. “The image of Rubén Darío is iconic; he is considered one of the greatest poets in the Spanish language. I have always wanted to make a brand in his honor, and I have always wanted to introduce a blend around Sumatra Ecuador wrapper. Metapa is the result.”

Blend-wise, the new blend is made with an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper covering a Connecticut broadleaf binder as well as filler tobaccos grown in Nicaragua. Interestingly, there are actually two versions of the Metapa, a claro and a maduro, both of which use the Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper.

Metapa launched with four box-pressed vitolas for both versions of the cigar, all of which are packaged in 10-count boxes:

• Metapa Claro/Maduro Robusto (5 x 50) — $15.50 (Box of 10, $155)
• Metapa Claro/Maduro Corona Gorda (5 1/2 x 48) — $14.50 (Box of 10, $145)
• Metapa Claro/Maduro Toro (6 x 52) — $16.50 (Box of 10, $165)
• Metapa Claro/Maduro Double Corona (7 x 54) — $18 (Box of 10, $180)

Like many of Foundation’s other lines, Metapa is being made by AJ Fernandez at the Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A. factory located in Estelí, Nicaragua, and boxes started shipping to retailers “in regional batches” on October 20.

• Cigar Reviewed: Metapa Claro Corona Gorda
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.
• Wrapper: Equador (Sumatra)
• Binder: U.S.A. (Connecticut Broadleaf)
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Length: 5 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 48
• Vitola: Corona Gorda
• MSRP: $14.50 (Box of 10, $145)
• Release Date: Oct. 20, 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

From a visual standpoint, the Metapa Claro Corona Gorda is an attractive-looking cigar with a milk chocolate brown wrapper that has no overt veins and a small pigtail on the top of the cap. The wrappers are silky smooth to the touch—if there were more oil present, I would say almost slimy—with almost no tooth that I can discern and all three cigars are nicely firm when squeezed. Aromas from the wrappers include dark chocolate, woodiness, earth, barnyard and generic nuts. However, the notes from feet are both sweeter and creamier, with creamy oak leading baker’s spices, dry straw, espresso beans, and a dark, fruity sweetness. Finally, after pulling the pigtails off of the cap—more on that below in the Final Notes—the cold draws bring flavors of cinnamon, milk chocolate sweetness, creamy oak, peanuts, brewed coffee, and leather tack.

Aggressive spice and bitter espresso start the Metapa Claro Corona Gorda off immediately after I light the feet, but the espresso note is quickly replaced by an almond flavor at the top of the profile. Secondary flavors include gritty earth, leather, lemongrass, and oak, along with a fleeting vegetal note that shows up on the finish, albeit for only two of the three cigars. Flavor ends the first third at medium-plus, but both the strength and body lag a bit behind at a solid medium. All three cigars give me no issues whatsoever when it comes to construction, as the razor-sharp burn lines, excellent draws, and plentiful smoke production all work together in harmony.

The spiciness has become a bit less aggressive during the second third of the cigar, which allows a creamy oak flavor to join the almond note at the top of the profile. Additional flavors of sourdough bread, leather, gritty earth, cocoa nibs, and cinnamon flit in and out at various points, while the fruity sweetness on the retrohale has now become distinct enough to remind me of blackberries. In addition, although the generic vegetal note that I noted in the first third completely disappears from the finish on one cigar, there is still a small amount noticeable in the second one, albeit not strong enough to make any real impact on the profile as a whole. The body remains at a solid medium, but the flavor and the strength both increase slightly to land at medium-full and a point just over medium, respectively. Construction-wise, one cigar runs into some minor trouble that necessitated two quick corrections, but the other two cigars feature straight burn lines, and all three cigars gave no issues when it came to the smoke production or the draws.

As the final third of the Metapa begins, the spiciness in the profile continues to recede, allowing new main notes of cocoa nibs and hay to emerge. Those flavors are followed by notes of generic nuts, toasted bread, pencil shavings, leather and light anise, but there is almost no change in either the amount or strength of black pepper and blackberry sweetness on the retrohale. The flavor increases enough to cross into full territory while the body bumps up slightly to just over the medium mark, and the strength hits medium-plus by the time I put the nubs down with an inch remaining. Finally, the overall construction returns to the excellent form it exhibited during the first third, meaning there are zero problems with the burns, draws or smoke production during the final thirds of all three cigars.

Final Notes

• Metapa marks the first time that Foundation has released a blend using Ecuadorian Sumatra tobacco.
• This is the second year in a row that one of Foundation’s new releases has been offered in both Claro and Maduro versions while using the same seed for the wrapper. Similar to the Olmec, you can tell the cigars apart based on the difference in wrapper color and a small label on the box.
• I photographed a portrait of Nicholas Melillo almost 10 years ago, you can see it here.
• While I used a straight cut on the first cigar, I just (carefully) pulled the pigtail off of the cap of the last two cigars I smoked for this review. The opening that was left over gave me a perfect draw.
• All three of the cigars did get a bit hot at the very end, but I was pretty much done with them by that point anyway.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time for all three cigars averaged out to one hour and 22 minutes.
• If you would like to purchase any of the Metapa Claro Corona Gorda cigars, site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Cigar Hustler, Cigars Direct and JR Cigar all have them for sale on their respective websites.