Omar de Frias has made quite a name for himself these past few years in the cigar industry. Frias has an interesting story to tell. His original dream was to be a professional basketball player, yea he is like a 6′ 9″ Dominican, but his basketball dreams were grounded after a knee injury. He then went on to get his MBA and landed a job with NASA back in 2004. I am not sure if he was bored working for the Government, but we do know his true love was cigars.
It was back in 2013 when he launched his first cigar to the market, after tirelessly working for 2 years to create the blend. That cigar was a rated a success and opened the doors to dozens of shops around the country. For the previous NASA employee and man who wanted to be a professional basketball player, his cigar passion launched him to new heights as additional blends kept propelling him further. Now 4 years later, Omar and his Fratello brand are set to launch their latest creation, the Fratello Navetta, at this years IPCPR. The word Navetta is Italian and translates to “Shuttle”. It was his dream project while working for NASA.
In the company’s press release for the Navetta, Omar explains:
“Blending Fratello Navetta was special as 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”
The release goes on to explain the Navetta is blended with an Ecuador oscuro wrapper will be featured in 4 vitolas.
- Robusto Discovery (5 x 50) $10.50
- Toro Endeavor (6 ¼ x 54) $11.25
- Gordo Enterprise (6 x 60) $12.00
- The Boxer Atlantis (6 ¼ x 52) $12.50
Fratello Navetta will be manufactured at Joya de Nicaragua and will be available for shipment in September. Omar de Frias worked at NASA for 12 years prior to leaving to focus full-time on Fratello.