601 & Murcielago Production Move to Two New Factories

It’s been three months since Erik Espinosa took control of the 601 and Murcielago brands after the dissolution of EO Brands, and he’s now confirmed to halfwheel that the popular 601 and Murcielago brands will now be made at his La Zona Factory in Estelí, Nicaragua, as well as Tabacalera Villa Cuba S.A. (TAVICUSA), the factory owned by Amilcar Perez Castro and Rocky Patel.

When asked if Espinosa was still making thing at the García’s My Father S.A. factory, the place where EO Brands was made through its rise in popularity over the last five years, he replied, “no.”

601 and Murcielago are now being produced at both factories because Espinosa says his La Zona factory has reached capacity at 6,000 cigars per day. Before opening the joint Estelí factory with Patel, Castro worked as the factory manager for the García family when the EO Brands lines were being produced.

As for the cigars themselves, Espinosa says the blends and pricing are the same and he’s continuing to fill orders.

Espinosa also said he is in talks to begin producing more client brands, with one client having already been announced: Arandoza Cigars. However, factory capacity issues might be limiting, as Espinosa acknowledged he has already begun searching for more space to produce cigars.

In addition, Espinosa indicated an Espinosa Maduro with a San Andrés wrapper is on the horizon, but gave no timetable for release.

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.