Robert Wright and his Pura Soul brand will no longer be part of CLE Cigar Company.

The news comes only weeks after Grace Sotolongo departed CLE, although she did it without taking the Hechicera brand with her. Wright will now sell his brand independently, which according to Christian Eiroa will still be made at Eiroa’s El Aladino factory in Honduras.

“Everything is very friendly,” said Eiroa to halfwheel. “Pura Soul was having trouble breaking out of the Asylum umbrella.”

At last month’s trade show, Wright showed off the Pura Soul Honduras, the company’s second line following the eponymous Pura Soul line.

Hechicera and Pura Soul were believed to be the two least performing brands in the CLE portfolio which still includes Asylum, CLE, EH Cigars, Eiroa, Gentili, Hechicera, Patoro and Wynwood.

News of Wright’s deprature was first reported by The Cigar Authority.

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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.