West Tampa Tobacco Co. Adds European Distribution

Over the last few weeks, cigars from the newly-formed West Tampa Tobacco Co. have begun to arrive at stores in Europe.

West Tampa Tobacco Co. is the new company of Rick Rodriguez and Gus Martinez, both former General Cigar Co. employees. Its two debut lines launched earlier this year in the U.S. and now the cigars are on sale in Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden.

In Belgium, it is distributed by GDV Consult, in Germany by Kleinlagel, in The Netherlands by Small Batch Traders B.V. and in Sweden by Kind Cigar.

“Stijn Elbersen leads our global expansion and we’re very happy that we are available in the mentioned European markets,” said Rodriguez in a press release. “It gives me the opportunity to have my cigars available to the consumers I love and care for. I’m very happy that they are able to taste what I’ve been working hard for lately. Gus, Stijn and myself have chosen these importers as they have the same values as ours; passion for handmade cigars and respect for people. We are confident that they will make the difference, together with us.”

West Tampa Tobacco Co. debuted with two lines—Black and White—earlier this year. Both lines are made at Garmendia Cigars Co. in Estelí, Nicaragua.

Correction — The original version of this article contained a misspelling of Rick Rodriguez’s name; it has been corrected and we regret the error. 

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.