Your Brother’s Cigar – Fratello

Fratello is the name of a new cigar brand launched recently by former pro basketball player Omar de Frias.  de Frias has been nicknamed ‘Fratello’ which means my brother in Italian grew up next to a cigar shop in the Dominican Republic.  This cigar, which we found at the recent IPCPR show is available in four sizes.  Many new brands debut at the show and we try to review them as we can. My stick for this review was a corona.

When you first look at the stick you’ll surely notice the band which stands out in a nice way.  It is a contemporary design with a nice look.  The stick itself was nice and oily with a medium to darker brown wrapper.  It punched and lit without a problem.

The construction of the cigar was good.  It had an open draw and held a nice tight and even ash.  The ash however dropped sooner that I might have hoped.  The cigar burned cool without any after taste. Flavors of the cigar were flat.  It had a nice flavor profile of coffee and cream throughout the smoke but changed hardly at all.  The manufacturer suggest that the wrapper should provide some spice or pepper, but I could hardly find it.  As the cigar smoked the flavor was consistent and mild.  I would rate this as a mild or ‘breakfast’ cigar. In the $7 range these cigars are priced in a group with several other well made and flavorful cigars.

While this is a nice 45 minute smoke, I’d like a little more flavor variation for my money.  As a first entry into the cigar business, Fratello is a good starting point.  Hopefully deFrias will add to his line with something more interesting.