I would not have thought of maple as an "exotic wood" and while the flaws in maple can be quite beautiful. I was a bit surprised to see a knot in the butt of the cue in their own logo.
maybe there are different species of maple but Ive never heard of a "hard rock maple" as being a species. True that maple is harder near it's knots. I have no knowledge of their quality standards.. Is this term "hard rock" just a common a misnomer? most rocks are a lot harder than maple, even the ones in my head ;-)