Fratello Celebrates Upcoming Moon Landing Mission with The Lunar Line (Update)

Fratello Cigars is celebrating NASA’s historic moon landing mission with its newest cigar, The Lunar, a project developed in collaboration with Steve Altemus, the former NASA Deputy Center Director for Johnson Space Center and the founder, president and ceo of Intuitive Machines.

The Lunar line is made up of three blends, all of which are limited productions that are made at La Aurora Cigar Factory. The Lunar Connecticut uses an Ecuadorian Connecticut shade wrapper, Mexican binder and filler from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Cameroon-seed tobacco grown in Cameroon. It is offered in a 6 x 50 toro vitola priced at $14 per cigar.

The Lunar Cameroon uses a Ecuadorian Cameroon wrapper, Dominican binder, and fillers from Nicaragua and the United States. It also comes in a 6 x 50 vitola, but with pricing set at $15 per cigar.

Those two blends are offered in 15-count packaging that celebrates the Nova-C launch that is scheduled to happen in June, a project that seeks to place a lander on the crater rim of Malapert A near the south pole of the Moon. Production numbers have not yet been disclosed for The Lunar Connecticut and The Lunar Cameroon.

The third line in The Lunar collection is a Dominican puro that uses tobaccos that have been aged for six years, with the finished cigars packaged in an 18-count humidor designed to look like the lander. This version is limited to 175 humidors, which are priced at $450, which works out to $25 per cigar.

“I am incredibly honored to be part of this historic moment,” said Omar de Frias, founder of Fratello Cigars, in a press release. “When Steve approached me a few years ago to create a cigar to commemorate this momentous launch, I knew we were working on something truly special. The fact that the Fratello brand will be reaching the moon is a moment of triumph for Fratello fans around the world.”

de Frias notes that during his 12 years at NASA, successful missions were always celebrated with a premium cigar, and that this year, that cigar will be The Lunar.

Altemus founded Intuitive Machines in 2013 and is a leading participant in NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, having been awarded contracts for three missions to date, according to a press release. Each of these missions requires Intuitive Machines to design, build, launch, and land the company’s Nova-C lunar lander, which aims to deliver science and technology payloads to the Moon’s surface to help lay the foundation for human missions and a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface. Intuitive Machines’ first mission called IM-1, is scheduled to launch later this year.

“Capturing Intuitive Machines’ spirit of exploration in a brand on Earth is an exciting collaboration,” said Altemus. “This has been a unique and exciting experience, and Intuitive Machines is proud to be a part of creating a small piece of history.”

Fratello’s The Lunar line is scheduled to ship to retailers in June, with the company planning to hold launch events at 10 retailers. A spokesperson for the company said that there are plans to release more cigars based on future lunar landing mission schedules.

Update — Shortly after this story was published, Fratello clarified that the Cameroon tobacco in the The Lunar Connecticut’s filler was grown in Ecuador, which has been noted above.

Update (June 21, 2023) — While the company will be releasing The Lunar at a series of 10 launch events beginning today, it has not announced when the line will begin shipping to all retailers. A company spokesman said the company is currently working to solidify that date.

Image courtesy of Fratello Cigars.