Nelson Alfonso is the master blender behind Selected Tobacco S.A. and the luxury portfolio rolled at Tabacos de Costa Rica—including Atabey, Byron, Bandolero, and Alfonso. With Cuban family roots in tobacco and a reputation as one of the industry's foremost aging specialists, Alfonso helped transform Costa Rica into a credible address for ultra-luxury, long-aged cigars rather than a curiosity outside the Nicaragua–Dominican–Honduras core.
His Byron line explicitly channels 19th-century Cuban cigar culture; Atabey remains among the most allocated marques in the premium market. For the map, Alfonso is the person node connecting Selected Tobacco's brands to verifiable Costa Rican production—the human face of the factory's luxury reputation alongside boutique clients such as Lampert and Casdagli.