Don Rolando, a legend in the world of premium cigars operated hand-rolling factories in Havana, the Dominican Republic, Miami and Honduras. Like many exiles from Cuba, Rolando’s cigar making experience can be traced back to well before Cuba’s Revolution, working as a cigar roller for H.Upmann, Partagas and Romeo y Julietta amongst others. The Aliados brand was produced in Havana from 1955 until his factory was confiscated by Castro’s government in the early 1960s. At the time, Don Rolando was producing nearly 6 million hand-rolled Aliados cigars per year. Uprooted and leaving the island in 1970, Rolando went in search of the same fertile soil and growing conditions he experienced in Cuba. The brand followed him through various moves, before choosing Honduras to be his new home in 1990.