Fratello The Lunar Cameroon

Today, we review “Fratello The Lunar Cameroon.” The Lunar is a series of cigars that were introduced in 2023 that commemorates the NOVA-C IM-1 Lunar Landing Project. Fratello Cigars founder Omar de Frias spent many years working for NASA. In the past, he has incorporated space themes into his releases, including the Navetta, Navetta Inverso, and Space Fresh Pack. The Lunar is being done in collaboration with Steve Altemus, the former NASA Deputy Center Director for Johnson Space Center and founder of Intuitive Machines. Intuitive Machines designed, launched, and built the Nova-C Lunar Lander De Frias got to know Altemus when both were at NASA and this led to the collaboration. Today we take a look at one of The Lunar blends – the Cameroon.

Fratello The Lunar Cameroon Outer Packaging

After a series of delays, the NOVA-C IM-1 launched on February 15, 2024 and landed on the moon on February 22. The mission also had one other special thing for Fratello Cigars. The company’s logo was on the NOVA-C Lunar Lander. As a result, Fratello could lay the claim to be the first cigar company to have its logo on the moon.

Fratello The Lunar Cameroon Packaging

While the mission was delayed, Fratello had managed to reach stores. The Lunar Collection had already reached stores. The Lunar Collection consists of three blends: Cameroon, Connecticut, and Dominican Puro. The Cameroon and Connecticut units are packaged in units similar to the design NOVA-C IM-1 Lunar Lander. The Dominican Puro comes in a commemorative humidor also reminiscent of the NOVA-IM-1 humidor.

Fratello The Lunar Collection. Left to Right: Cameroon, Dominican Puro (Humidor), and Connecticut. Photo Credit: Fratello Cigars

Without further ado, let’s break down The Lunar Cameroon and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Fratello The Lunar Cameroon – Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The Lunar Cameroon is the first Cameroon wrapped cigar produced by Fratello Cigars. The remainder of the blend utilizes a Dominican binder and fillers from Nicaragua and the U.S. Production comes from the La Aurora factory, one of Fratello Cigars’ key manufacturing partners.

Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Nicaraguan, U.S.
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: La Aurora S.A.

Vitolas Offered

The Lunar Cameroon comes in one size – a 6 x 50 Toro. As mentioned the cigars are packaged in 15-count units. The Lunar Cameroon is a limited production cigar.

Opened packaging of The Lunar Cameroon

Appearance

The Cameroon wrapper of The Lunar Cameroon had a slightly weathered medium-brown color to it. There was some oil on the surface of the wrapper. When examining the wrapper, some mottling was seen on thee surface. In addition, there were some visible veins as well as some thin visible wrapper seams.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

A straight cut was used to remove the cap of The Lunar Cameroon. Once the cap was removed, it was time to move on to the pre-light draw. The pre-light draw delivered a mix of wood, cedar, and slightly sweet-floral notes. Overall this was not the most exciting pre-light draw. Given the pre-light draw is not scored, there was no loss of points here. At this point it was time to toast up The Lunar Cameroon and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The Lunar Cameroon opened up with notes of wood, cedar, citrus, earth, and assorted pepper spice. Early on the citrus and wood notes moved into the forefront with the cedar, earth, and pepper settling into the background. On the retro-hale, there was another layer of wood that was present.

As the Lunar Cameroon started the second third, the wood notes remained grounded in the forefront. The early stage of this third saw the citrus notes also grounded in the forefront. As the cigar moved through this third, the citrus notes gradually receded into the background while the cedar notes gradually increased. By the second half, the notes in the forefront were wood and cedar. These were rounded off by the earth, citrus, and pepper notes.

The final third saw the wood and cedar notes still in the forefront. The pepper notes increased and became the most prominent note. There still were notes of pepper and citrus present, but these did not round out and balance the flavor profile very well. As the Lunar Cameroon cigar experience came to a close, the cigar finished with a slightly soft and cool nub.

Burn

The burn of each sample of the Lunar Cameroon started out straight, but as the cigar experience progressed, the burn required more touchups to maintain a straight burn line and path. While the touch-ups did the trick, there are more touch-ups than I preferred. The resulting ash was skewed toward the firm side. This was an ash that was silver-gray in color. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both maintained ideal levels.

Burn of the Fratello The Lunar Cameroon

Draw

The draw of the Lunar Cameroon performed quite well. This was a draw that had a touch of resistance to it – which is something that I like. At the same time, this was a low maintenance cigar to derive flavor from.

Strength and Body

The Lunar Cameroon opened up with medium strength and medium to full-bodied flavors. Along the way there was a nominal increase in the intensity levels of both attributes. There was more strength and body at the end of the smoking experience, but the Lunar Cameroon was still in the medium strength, medium to full-bodied range. In terms of strength and body, the body maintained a slight edge.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES

I really liked the packaging of the Lunar Dominican Puro humidor because it had the lunar lander legs. That being said, I also liked the packaging of the Lunar Cameroon. The units might not be very friendly to retailers, but I do think they are a nice keepsake for consumers.

Another view of the Fratello The Lunar Cameroon

The bands of the Cameroon feature a holographic center. The rest of the band keeps to the spirit for Fratello’s signature zig-zag effect.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

In terms of the overall cigar experience of the Fratello Lunar Cameroon, I liked the way the cigar started off. By the second third, the experience became average and mundane. The last third was unbalanced with too much wood and cedar notes. Yes, the packaging is really nice and I really love the fact that Fratello is paying homage to the Lunar Landing missions, it just doesn’t factor into the smoking experience itself. In the end, this is a cigar I would recommend trying a sample of and seeing what you think.

Summary

Key Flavors: Coffee Bean, Wood, Earth, Cedar, Dark Chocolate, Pepper, Cream
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Very Good