Selim Hanono is the new chief operations officer of A.J. Fernández Cigar Co.

The company announced it has hired the longtime industry executive best known for his tenures at Camacho and Drew Estate, the latter of which he left this summer after almost a decade of performing a wide range of duties for the companies, notably handling its large events and trade shows around the world.

“I want to thank AJ and the Fernandez Family for this wonderful and exciting opportunity,” said Hanono in a press release. “It was important to me to join another company rich in values and tradition as well as with great leadership. It was also very important for it to be based in Nicaragua. Nicaragua’s tobacco, its culture and its people have made it my second home. We will accomplish many great things together.”

Earlier in his career, Hanono worked for Mike’s Cigars, Aficionados and Absolute Cigars, three Miami-based retailers.

“We have full confidence that he will help lead our company and take us to the next level,” said Abdel Fernández, founder of A.J. Fernández, in a press release. “He will have our full support in order to accomplish our company’s exciting goals moving forward.”

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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.