Think of it as a cigar with a split personality — in the best possible way. In just a few months, Fratello Cigars will introduce Smooth & Strong, a true choose-your-own-adventure smoke.
Like Fratello’s 2022 Vice Versa, each of these cigars is finished on both ends, and the experience is entirely in your hands. Snip one side and enjoy a smooth, mild-to-medium-bodied journey. Flip it around, cut the other end, and you’re in for something bold, rich, and full of strength. Same cigar, two completely different paths—it’s all up to you.
“This project is easily one of the most challenging projects I have had the pleasure to work on,” says brand owner Omar de Frias. “We blended a cigar where the consumer decides if they want to start their smoking experience smooth and creamy or strong and spicy.”
Here at Chesapeake, we explored the original 2022 Vice Versa experience in depth. Like the Vice Versa, Smooth & Strong features a cap on both ends of the cigar — one end is Connecticut leaf and the opposite end is Maduro tobacco, however all the tobacco in between those two caps (the stuff that actually burns,) iis blended to transition to complement the cap on the end you choose to make the cigar’s head. The cap tobacco, which doesn’t actually extend further than the first inch of the cigar, guides you through the blend based on which one is touching your tongue. Those that have participated in this experiment are amazed that a little piece of tobacco just at the end of the cigar can change the experience so much.
Smooth & Strong will come in a generous 7 x 52 format — plenty of cigar to settle in and enjoy. It’s wrapped in a rich Ecuadorian Habano leaf, giving it that inviting, well-dressed look right from the start.
Here’s where the fun begins: one end of the upcoming Smooth & Strong is tipped with a dark, Maduro cap to signal the bold, stronger side, while the other end features a lighter (Connecticut) cap that promises a smoother, more easy going experience. It’s like the cigar is giving you a friendly wink and saying, “Your move.”
Beneath the wrapper, an Indonesian binder keeps everything in line, holding together a blend of Pennsylvanian and Nicaraguan tobaccos. And depending on which end you choose, the proportions throughout the body of the cigar shift — so each direction offers its own unique journey.
We expect Smooth & Strong to ship to us in June. It will come in boxes of thirty, separated into five six cigar packages. Based on advance information, we expect each cigar to retail at $19.99 here at Chesapeake.
One cigar. Two moods. Your call.
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