You all know by now that we love to hunt for and feature not only the best cigars in the world, but the ones with unique stories behind them. Unfortunately... we can't do that every time. And the story of Fratello Cigars founder Omar de Frias is just your typical story of the average cigar brand owner. Omar grew up in the Dominican Republic, where as a young boy he was drawn to the romance of cigars as he saw his grandfather always smoking them... (yada yada) "It was such a fine thing to do. It seemed so classy," he said. Later, he immigrated to the US (yawn), where at 6 foot 9 inches tall, he played professional basketball (wait, what). After basketball, he earned a master's in finance and then moved to Washington DC to work for... NASA (um?). Omar worked for NASA for several years as a project analyst. He did very well there and slowly rose through the ranks, initially earning $41k a year to making upwards of $200k a year. And that's when he decided to give it all up to, yep, start a cigar company. Just your typical cigar story! Omar is known for his hard work, persistence, business intellect and for being an overall good dude. The Fratello Navetta (Italian for 'shuttle'), is just as unique as it's creator. About the cigar, Omar said, "I wanted to translate the ultimate celebration our men and women of the space program felt after a successful mission. After being part of over 21 missions nothing beats the feeling of getting our astronauts home safe to their families. Colleagues of mine would get together and smoke a very special cigar to commemorate the occasion. This very special blend carries the ultimate feeling of innovation, duty, honor and success." As for how it performs, it is everything you want from a cigar: rich, complex, perfectly balanced and constructed, strong but not overpowering, with notes of sweet cocoa, almonds, espresso, spice, and one of our favorite cigars of 2020.
