Fratello

Fratello Cigars is an American boutique cigar brand founded in 2013 by Omar de Frias, a former NASA employee who exchanged a career in aerospace for the cigar industry. Based in the United States, Fratello has established a distinctive identity through its innovative blends, unconventional presentation and collaborations with established cigar manufacturers.

The name Fratello means brother in Italian, reflecting the importance of friendship and personal relationships to the company's founder. De Frias spent more than a decade working at NASA before pursuing his ambition of establishing an independent cigar brand.

Fratello made its debut with the original Fratello blend, a Nicaraguan-made cigar that introduced the company's approach to combining tobaccos from different growing regions. The brand subsequently expanded its portfolio with ranges including Fratello Bianco, Oro and Navetta, each offering a different interpretation of strength, flavour and tobacco composition.

The company's aerospace heritage is particularly evident in its Lunar and Navetta collections. These ranges incorporate space-inspired names and distinctive packaging, drawing directly upon De Frias's professional background. The Lunar Cameroon, for example, is presented in an elaborate spacecraft-themed display box, making it one of the more recognisable presentations in the contemporary cigar market.

Fratello works with experienced cigar manufacturers to produce handmade cigars using carefully selected wrapper, binder and filler tobaccos. Across its portfolio, the brand explores a broad selection of tobacco origins, including Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Cameroon, with individual blends offering different flavour characteristics and strength profiles.

The Fratello Cigars collection at UK Tobacco brings together cigars from this independent American brand, offering an opportunity to explore its varied blends, distinctive formats and imaginative approach to modern cigar making.