So, who is Frank? Well, let me be frank with you. 🙂
I spent the last 12 years as a drummer for several different country and rock artists, touring the country on a tour bus and takin the music to the people. I still tour occasionally but only a couple times a month.
In 2003 when I was on the road, I started really getting into cigars. One of my favorite things to do after playing a show was getting together with some of the guys from the band, open a bottle of wine and light up a good cigar while sitting in lawn
chairs outside of our tour bus.
From then on, my passion grew and I really started getting more into cigars, the history, the process and learning about what I liked and disliked. I found that I love cigars with a lot of flavor. More importantly, I just love cigars and really feel that they are the universal bond. Whether you’re sharing time with family, doing a business deal or being in a room with young or old strangers, the cigar can bring it all together. I love that!
In early 2012, I was fortunate enough to go with a friend to Honduras and Nicaragua who’d won a cigar trip. We visited several farms and factories and smoked about 12 cigars a day (no joke!). We saw every single process from planting the seeds all the way up to sealing the boxes with cellophane before shipping. We even got to meet the legendary Nestor Plasencia and got to have lunch with him on one of his farms in Honduras. It was truly the trip of a lifetime, getting to see everything that goes into making cigars as well as seeing some of the culture from the countries where they’re made.
As I said, I like cigars that have a lot of flavor, medium to full bodied (more ligero, please!) and I love retrohales with some umf! Like you’re eating a fat, juicy pot roast with horseradish and you feel it go right up your nose cavity! That being said, I also like mild cigars and the balance they give, depending on what time of day you smoke them.
As much as I like smoking cigars with rare or expensive spirits, I love pairing cigars with inexpensive (but very tasty) bourbons and wines. That’s something I’ll be doing in my reviews; pairing with a cheaper bourbon or a box wine. I’m not above that. Good taste is good taste.
I’m honored to be a part of the Stogies On The Rocks team and I hope you enjoy reading these cigar reviews as much as we enjoy smoking them!