RoMa Craft Tobac Gains U.S. Mombacho Cigars S.A. Distribution

Soon, you will be able to find cigars from Mombacho Cigars S.A. on the shelves in the U.S., only it won’t be called that. Mombacho Cigars S.A. and RoMa Craft Tobac have announced the two companies have entered a distribution agreement that will see RoMa Craft distribute cigars made by Mombacho in the U.S., starting with the company’s Tierra Volcán line.

This is the third company RoMa Craft Tobac will handle distribution for, including its own brands—Aquitaine, CroMagnon, Intemperance and the soon-to-be-released Neanderthal—and Adrien’s, a brand created by co-founder Michael Rosales.

“Our vision is to provide the world’s most memorable cigar experience for consumers,” said Markus Raty, presidente of Mombacho, in a press release. “RoMa Craft’s supply chain and logistics expertise, combined with their technical execution has consistently resulted in efficiently delivering a high level of service to retailers. We believe both are key components in the realization of this vision.”

In April, the Canadian-based company announced that it would debut Tierra Volcán for the U.S. market at the 2014 IPCPR trade show, which begins July 19 in Las Vegas, Nev. The two companies will share a booth at the trade show.  RoMa Craft Tobac is the distribution arm co-owned by Michael Rosales and Skip Martin. Mombacho produces its own cigars at Casa Mombacho in Granada, Nicaragua.

Because of trademark concerns, the company cannot use the Mombacho name in the U.S. That being said, Tierra Volcán is described as an entirely new line, blended specifically for the U.S. market in mind, as opposed to just a label change. Casa Fernández/Tabacalera Tropical owns the rights to the Mombacho name in the U.S., although the brand is currently dormant. Absent a change in ownership of that trademark, cigars made at Casa Mombacho cannot be marketed or sold in the U.S. as “Mombacho.” 

Update (July 5, 2014) — The original version of this story was unclear that the distribution agreement only extends to the U.S. Mombacho will continue to distribute its own brand in other markets.

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.