House of Emilio’s longest tenured employee is leaving the company, Nate McIntyre has resigned as national director of sales effective Aug. 1. in order to become the eastern U.S. sales manager at Cubanacan.

“There is a fantastic atmosphere of family and collaboration around the entire company,” said McIntyre in a statement provided to halfwheel. “You can not miss their attention to detail in not only manufacturing cigars, but also in building relationships.”

In his new role, McIntyre will report to Spence Drake, while overseeing the management of the company’s salesforce east of Mississippi as well as representing the product in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. He is the first of a series of full-time hires expected from Cubanacan as the company undergoes a transformation in the U.S.

The company was previously known as Mederos, the name of the family that owns the company. Over the last few years it has undergone a substantial rebrand, including this past year where it has begun to add personnel.

McIntyre worked for the Emilio part-time, before being brought on full-time in November 2012. At that time, the company distributed the namesake Emilio brand, along with Global Premium Cigars (1502), Guayacan, Herederos de Robaina and Rodrigo. Since then, it has added Bodega Premium Blends, Epicurean Cigars, Ezra Zion, and Nomad Cigar Co. to its distribution roster with each brand greatly expanding its portfolio.

In a message posted on Facebook, McIntyre thanked Gary Griffith, head of House of Emilio, and the rest of the company.

“The people at House of Emilio have been very supportive, and I’m proud of what we have accomplished together. I could not have made it without Gary’s guidance, who hired me when I was completely unproven, and taught me so much along the way. It has also been thrilling to watch the brands in House of Emilio all grow and reach retailers and customers around the country. All I have ever wanted to do was introduce great cigars to great people. I will always be a fan of the House of Emilio mission.”

Update (July 29, 2014): Added info about McIntyre’s move to Cubanacan.

Featured image via Instagram.

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.