A major distributor change is bringing Padilla Cigar Co. and Oliva Cigar Co. even closer together.

In an exclusive with Cigar Aficionado, president Ernesto Padilla said his company’s cigars will now be distributed by Oliva Cigar Co. The move, which will affect how Padilla cigars are sold in the United States and in international markets, should expand Padilla's distribution as well as its “sales, marketing and customer service.” Padilla is a rather small cigar company, while Oliva (no relation to Oliva Tobacco Co.) is considerably larger. In a 2010 story in Cigar Aficionado magazine, Oliva was described as making some 13 million cigars a year, all by hand.

Padilla says the partnership has been years in the making. “We’ve talked about this for many years, since Oliva was one of the original companies that I worked with when I started my brand," he said.

The announcement comes just a few months after Padilla cancelled many of his most popular cigar lines in a restructuring move that brought Padilla and Oliva together for manufacturing. Oliva now makes two Padilla cigar lines, the Padilla Reserva and Reserva Maduro. Both were introduced at this year’s IPCPR trade show.

Padilla says that both companies thought this was the right time to move everything under one umbrella. “All of these changes that you’re seeing at Padilla have been a build up to this moment,” said Padilla.

Last year, Padilla and Oliva’s Studio Tobac partnered together to create a limited-edition figurado, which was rated 93 in the April 2012 issue of Cigar Aficionado.

Said Padilla: “We are delighted to have reached this arrangement with the Oliva Cigar Co.”

Though Oliva will be distributing all Padilla products, lines such as Padilla Miami will continue to be produced elsewhere. Padilla has recently added two new lines to be produced at the Miami factory El Titan de Bronze, and he plans to continue producing those and other lines through non-Oliva factories.

Padilla says the changes are already under way, and that a transfer of distribution should be complete in the next two weeks.