The Story of Wacota
Wacota was not born from a business plan or a market trend. It was born from a life journey, from relationships built over time, and from real knowledge that existed long before the brand had a name.
Creative origins and early professional background
The origins of Wacota are linked to an uncommon profile in the world of cigar humidors. Its founder, Marco Torres, began his professional career in the creative field. Trained as a photographer, he worked for many years with national newspapers and magazines, including ABC and several major publishing groups. This period provided a solid foundation in image, narrative and production, while also revealing the limitations of a sector in which he never felt entirely comfortable.
After a period working in advertising, which offered valuable human and strategic experience but also a sense of disillusionment with a lack of authenticity, his path became firmly rooted in graphic production. For many years he developed projects involving catalogues, magazines and editorial and advertising materials, coordinating design, production and execution. This experience proved decisive, shaping a very specific way of understanding projects from the inside.
In 2000, he founded his own company, Wanagu, conceived as a flexible structure dedicated to graphic production, communication and the comprehensive management of editorial and advertising projects.
Contact with the premium cigar world
Alongside his professional activity, in the late 1990s Marco began collaborating with Fosforera Española, later Swedish Match and subsequently Scandinavian Tobacco Group. Not as an enthusiast, but as a professional supplier. This work allowed him to gain direct insight into the premium cigar world, its brands, its dynamics and, above all, the people behind it.
Within this context, a key relationship was formed with Gustavo Velayos, then at the beginning of his career and today Marketing Director at La Aurora Cigars. When Gustavo was transferred to the group’s headquarters in the Netherlands to develop Casa del Oro, a master brand for premium cigar accessories, he proposed that Marco take charge of logistics and supplier coordination.
During this period, Marco worked directly with European manufacturers of cutters, ashtrays and humidors. It was then that he met Juan Carlos and his father, Calixto Roncero, master carpenters running a well-established workshop in Madrid, dedicated to the manufacture of various wooden products and, for many years, cigar humidors. With Juan Carlos, a relationship soon developed that went far beyond the professional sphere.
An existing craft and know-how
Calixto Roncero had been manufacturing cigar humidors since the early 1980s. A carpenter by trade, he was among the first in Spain to work directly for Habanos, at a time when the cigar market was only just beginning to take shape. From his workshop came historic models such as the Monarca and the Presidente, developed in collaboration with the brand in an era with very few existing references.
This know-how was not new. It represented decades of experience, proven solutions and a direct relationship with the professional cigar world. What it lacked was a distinct identity, a brand capable of structuring it and presenting it clearly to the world.
The birth of Wacota
Following the disappearance of Casa del Oro, due to legislative changes affecting tobacco promotion, the relationship between Marco and Juan Carlos continued. Around 2003, a simple and natural question emerged: why not create a proprietary brand and commercialise the humidors directly?
Thus, in 2004, Wacota was born as a humidor brand. Not as a radical change of direction, but as a logical consequence. The manufacturing already existed. So did the experience in product, design, communication and market understanding. Wacota came to bring all these elements together.
The name was not chosen by chance. It derives from the universe of Wanagu, a personal reference linked to classic comics that shaped the childhood of Raúl, Marco’s father, and to the values he passed on. Wacota does not exist as a real place, but as a symbolic territory.
Steady growth and first international markets
During its early years, Wacota coexisted with other professional activities. Sales grew gradually, without haste. The true turning point came after the 2008 crisis, which severely affected the graphic arts sector in Spain. From that moment on, Wacota evolved from a parallel activity into the core of the project.
The first significant international market was France, through Scandinavian Tobacco Group France. One of these early commissions gave rise to the Aficionado model, named by a client and today one of the brand’s most representative humidors.
Over time, Wacota expanded into other European markets and later into the Middle East, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Americas, always in a progressive manner, without mass production or shortcuts.
More than forty years manufacturing cigar humidors
The company was founded in 2000. The brand itself began to take shape in 2004. However, the manufacturing behind it dates back to the 1980s and has never ceased.
Today, Wacota represents the international expression of that journey. A Spanish manufacturer of cigar humidors that combines design, craftsmanship, technical knowledge and a way of working based on trust, proximity and respect for the product.
This is not a story of rapid growth. It is a story of time, people and carefully considered decisions. And that is precisely why it continues to make sense.