Protocol

Protocol is the brand of two policemen. Juan Cancel and Bill Ives were serving officers when they founded Cubariqueño Cigar Company in early 2015. The company name states their two origins: Cuban for one, Puerto Rican for the other.

The whole brand sits inside the vocabulary of their trade. Protocol first, then Probable Cause, Themis — the Greek goddess of justice — Official Misconduct, Confidential Informant. It is a rare choice in an industry that prefers family names and valleys.

They have no factory and never looked for one. They had spent years making Espinosa known on social media before starting out, and it was to Espinosa that they went: La Zona, in Estelí, with Hector Alfonso Sr. blending. Part of the production later moved to San Lotano, A.J. Fernández's factory. Both workshops have their own entry in this atlas.

In February 2026 the Florida retailer Smoke Inn bought the brand's intellectual property and assets — but not Cubariqueño, which stays with the founders. Juan Cancel remains with Protocol, and the two factories have not changed.

Range Depth

• Protocol

  Wrapper Nicaraguan blend, at La Zona · Strength Medium-Full

  The founding line, out of La Zona in 2015. The Lancero came later: a size few young brands attempt, because it forgives nothing in the rolling.

  Robusto · Toro · Lancero

• Probable Cause

  Wrapper San Andrés maduro · Strength Full

  The Mexican San Andrés wrapper, the one this atlas follows back to its valley. The name is a procedural term: the reasonable grounds that permit an arrest.

  Robusto · Toro

• Themis

  Wrapper Ecuadorian Connecticut · Strength Medium

  The mild side of the house, under an Ecuadorian wrapper. Themis is the Greek goddess of justice — the one who holds the scales.

  Robusto · Toro