La Corona Factory Parts Ways With Cubanacan

Only 48 hours after it was announced that Hirochi Robaina was ending his relationship with Cubanacan, the Nicaraguan factory responsible for producing the company’s lines has announced that it is no longer working with the company.

The La Corona Factory in Estelí, Nicaragua is owned by Omar González-Alemán. It was there that Cubanacan made its eponymous Cubanacan lines, as well as its Mederos brand. Also made there is HR 1845, a brand owned by Hirochi Robaina and previously distributed by Cubanacan, and Soneros, a brand owned by the González family and previously distributed by Cubanacan.

According to Luiz González, who works with his father at the factory, the La Corona Factory hasn’t produced cigars for Cubanacan in over a month and has ended its production and distribution agreements with Cubanacan.

An email sent to Cubanacan owner Robert Mederos was not returned.

González said the company will continue to produce the HR 1845 brand for Robaina, as well as Soneros, although he did not say what the distribution path is for either. Robaina indicated that he would begin with working La Palina to create a Nicaraguan cigar, which will be made at La Corona.

For Cubanacan, this marks the third major shake-up in two months. It started when Spence Drake announced that he was resigning as vp of sales in mid-May. On Friday, Hirochi Robaina—the most prominent figure attached to Cubanacan and the centerpiece of its rebranding efforts—announced he had ended ties with the company. Now the company will need a new factory.

The news also comes a week before the cigar industry will gather for the annual IPCPR Convention & Trade Show.

Like Robaina, González is from Cuba and worked in the Cuban cigar industry. His bio indicated that he was the general manager of the La Corona factory in Havana, which is known as Miguel Fernández Roig.

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.