The Story of Wacota
Wacota was not born from a business plan or a market trend. It grew out of a life journey, long-standing relationships, and genuine technical knowledge that existed long before the brand itself had a name.
Creative origins and professional background
The origins of Wacota are linked to an uncommon profile within the cigar humidor industry. 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 publishing groups, including ABC. This period built a solid foundation in image, storytelling, and production processes.
After working in advertising, where he gained strategic and human experience, his path gradually became rooted in graphic production. For years he developed catalogues, magazines, and editorial and advertising projects, coordinating design, suppliers, and final execution. This experience shaped a very specific way of understanding products from the inside.
In 2000, he founded Wanagu, a flexible structure dedicated to graphic production, communication, and the comprehensive management of editorial and advertising projects.
Contact with the premium cigar world
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 provided direct insight into the premium cigar world, its brands, its dynamics, and the people behind it.
A key relationship developed with Gustavo Velayos, today Marketing Director at La Aurora Cigars. When Gustavo moved to the Netherlands to develop Casa del Oro, a master brand for premium cigar accessories, he invited Marco to manage logistics and supplier coordination.
During this period, Marco worked closely with European manufacturers of cutters, ashtrays, and humidors. It was then that he met Juan Carlos and his father, Calixto Roncero, master carpenters running an established workshop in Madrid dedicated, for decades, to the manufacture of wooden products and cigar humidors.
An existing craft and know-how
Calixto Roncero had been manufacturing cigar humidors since the early 1980s. A skilled carpenter, he was among the first in Spain to collaborate directly with Habanos at a time when the premium cigar market was just beginning to take shape.
From this workshop came historic models such as Monarca and Presidente, developed in collaboration with the brand during a period with very few references in the market.
This know-how was not new. It represented decades of practical solutions, real manufacturing experience, and direct contact with the professional cigar world. What it lacked was a structured identity and a brand capable of presenting it clearly to the international market.
The birth of Wacota
After Casa del Oro disappeared due to legislative changes affecting tobacco promotion, the relationship between Marco and Juan Carlos continued naturally. Around 2003, a simple idea emerged: why not create an independent brand and commercialise the humidors directly?
In 2004, Wacota was officially born. Not as a radical change of direction, but as a logical evolution. The manufacturing already existed, as did the technical knowledge, design understanding, and communication experience. Wacota brought these elements together under one clear identity.
The name derives from the universe of Wanagu, a personal reference linked to classic comics that shaped Marco’s childhood and the values passed down by his father. Wacota is not a real geographical place, but a symbolic territory.
Steady growth and international markets
In its early years, Wacota coexisted with other professional activities. Growth was gradual and organic. The real turning point came after the 2008 financial crisis, which heavily impacted the graphic arts sector in Spain. From that moment onward, Wacota became the core focus.
The first significant international market was France, through Scandinavian Tobacco Group France. One of these early projects led to the creation of the Aficionado model, 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 progressively and without mass production or shortcuts.
More than forty years manufacturing cigar humidors
The company was founded in 2000. The brand took shape in 2004. However, the manufacturing expertise behind it dates back to the 1980s and has continued without interruption.
Today, Wacota represents the international expression of that journey: a Spanish cigar humidor manufacturer combining 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 expansion. It is a story of time, people, and carefully considered decisions. And that is precisely why it continues to make sense.