Terry Johnson has announced that his T.L. Johnson brand has split from Cuban Tradition Cigar Group/La Tradicion Cubana and its Tabacalera LTC S.R.L. factory. Johnson told halfwheel that he plans a new Dominican factory of his own, Tabacalera TLJ, which will produce T.L. Johnson Cigars and others.

The statement on Facebook reads:

Press Release: T.L. Johnson Cigars is no longer part of the Cuban Tradition Cigar Group. We have decided to part ways with the Cuban Tradition Cigar Group and open our own factory in the Dominican Republic. We will be rolling all T.L. Johnson Cigars as well as Counsellor Cigars and will be taking on producing private label cigars as well. We are exciting about our new endeavor and producing the best quality cigars as you have come to expect from T.L. Johnson Cigars.

Counsellor Cigars was announced late last year as a join project between T.L. Johnson and Cuban Tradition Cigar Group and its head, Luis Sanchez. In 2013, the pair also teamed up for Compañia de Siembra Hojas de Tradicion, a farming operation in the Dominican Republic.

A representative of La Tradicion Cubana emailed the following statement:

After 3 -years working with Tabacalera LTC in Dominican Republic and La Tradicion Cubana in Miami and being part of The Cuban Tradition Cigar Group., TL Johnson Cigars has decided to branch out and open its own cigar factory.

We at Tabacalera LTC, La Tradicion Cubana and The Cuban Tradition Cigar Group are happy that as a result of the great product we produced for TL Johnson Cigars, and the market exposure we provided, they are now able to go out on their own.

Just like a parent is proud and wishes only the best for their child, so we at Tabacalera LTC, La Tradicion Cubana and The Cuban Tradition Cigar Group wish TL Johnson Cigars ‘long ashes’.

Update (May 11, 2015) — Added statement from La Tradicion Cubana.

This article was originally published on May 9, 2015.

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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.