At the library bookstore, I happened to notice that the Dianetic books on the Spanish-language shelf all sported this somewhat more formal name for ol’ L. Ron. What up with that? Is “Ron” a goofy name in Spanish?
“Ron” means “rum” in Spanish.
I misread “escritor” as “excritor,” which also makes perfect sense and is actually more correct. 
Wha…? So Ron Rico Rum is named “Rum Rum?”
Tasty (or rich, or savory, other connotations of rico) rum rum. 
I assume that in Spanish the brand is just called “Ron Rico,” which means “delicious rum.”
The deal here is that the trademarked brand in this case IS the two-word phrase “Ron Rico” IIRC. So yes, it’s as if you produced a liquor in Scotland and trademarked it “Smoky Scotch”.
And really, Hubbard is a lot easier to read if you add rum generously. But yes, standard usage in Spanish is that Ronalds or Ronaldos do not get abbreviated to “Ron”
Just as it was written, only in the author’s case, the rum was just to wash down the pills.