Roy MacLaren, a cigar industry veteran, has joined El Septimo Cigars as the company’s executive vice-president.

MacLaren is best known for his time at Gurkha, a nearly nine-year run that saw him serve as vp of sales and marketing. After that, he spent three years as Villiger Cigars North America’s president. He has since had similar roles at Avanti Cigar Co., Crux and most recently, Bahama Mamas.

“I’m excited to join El Septimo Geneva as the Executive Vice President and to be part of a worldwide luxury brand,” said MacLaren in a statement. “Zaya Younan and his team are doing amazing things in the premium cigar industry and will be a new and fresh force moving forward in the US market. We are eager to spread the word on the growing brand, and will be in attendance at the PCA show this July.”

El Septimo was established in 2005 by Gilles Botquin. A year ago, the company was acquired by Younan Collection. El Septimo makes cigars in Costa Rica.

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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.