Classically-trained musician Rafael Nodal left Castro's Cuba and made it to the United States in 1980 during the Mariel boatlift. Shortly afterwards he made his way to New York where he played classical piano and violin for a living. After New York he made the long trip south to Florida where he ended up working in a hospital. From humble beginnings as a porter at a Miami hospital he worked his way up to become an assistant director of a psychiatric company before turning a new-found cigar hobby into a lifelong passion. Now firmly established in the Dominican Republic he set up business with his former colleague of the psychiatric hospital, Hank Bischoff. Aging Room specialize in small batch, hand made cigars and have recently been getting huge scores in the likes of Cigar Aficionado magazine.