Bolívar (cigar brand)

Bolívar is the name of two brands of premium cigar, one produced on the island of Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the other produced in the Dominican Republic from Dominican and Nicaraguan tobacco for General Cigar. Both are named for the South American revolutionary, Simón Bolívar.

The Cuban-produced Bolívar cigars are very full-bodied and said to be some of the strongest produced in Cuba.

History

The brand was founded (possibly in Great Britain) by José F. Rocha around 1901 or 1902, though the brand was not registered in Havana (Cuba) until 1921, under the ownership of Rocha's firm, J.F. Rocha y Cia.

During this time, the Bolívar brand produced the world's smallest cigar, the Delgado, measuring a mere 1 7/8 inches with a 20 ring gauge, and even had the honor of having a miniature box of its cigars featured in the royal nursery's dollhouse at Windsor Castle.

The brand was bought in 1954 by Cifuentes y Cia after Rocha's death and production was moved to the famous Partágas Factory in Havana (today known as the Francisco Pérez Germán factory), where many of its sizes are still produced today. During this time, under Cifuente's direction, Bolívar gained popularity in the world market and became a major export brand.

After tobacco was nationalized following the Cuban Revolution, the Cifuentes family fled to the Dominican Republic, where the patron of the family, Ramón Cifuentes, still produces Partágas and Bolívar cigars for General Cigar Company and the US market. Recently, the Dominican Bolívar brand was reblended to better match the strength of the Cuban-made brand.

The Cuban Bolívar has a reputation among cigar aficionados of being one of the strongest and most full-bodied cigars, with its Coronas Junior, Petit Coronas, and Belicosos Finos being famous examples of the marque. In 2002, when Altadis bought a controlling share in the Cuban government-owned cigar distributor, Habanos SA, a number of changes in cigar production were instituted. One of these changes was the decision to gradually turn the various brands of Cuban cigars to either all-handmade or all-machine-made lines. Bolívar, which has historically produced a variety of handmade and machine-made or machine-finished cigars, had severa of its "vitolas" cut from production, with only one remaining, the cigarillo-sized Chicos. It remains to be seen if this size will eventually cease to be produced as well.

In 2005, Wolters in Cologne, Germany, had a few thousand boxes of Bolívar Gold Medals produced by Habanos SA exclusively for their shop. The cigars are an older, discontinued Bolívar size in the Cervantes (lonsdale) format, wrapped in gold foil on one half with a special Bolívar band in the middle and come packaged in boxes of ten. The Gold Medal has since become a regular production cigar again.

The Bolívar brand has also been chosen several times for special sizes in regional releases.

"Vitolas" in the Cuban Bolívar Line

The following list of "vitolas" (sizes) within the Bolívar line lists their measurements in English and metric, their "vitolas de galera" (factory name), and their conventional name in American cigar slang.

"Hand-Made Vitolas"
* Belicoso Fino - 5 1/2" x 52 (140 x 20.64 mm) Campana, a belicoso
* Corona Gigante - 7" x 47 (178 x 18.65 mm) Julieta, a churchill
* Churchill - 7" x 47 (178 x 18.65 mm) Julieta, a churchill
* Corona Extra - 5 5/8" x 44 (143 x 17.46 mm) Francisco, a long corona
* Inmensa - 6 3/4" x 43 (170 x 17.07 mm) Dalia, a lonsdale
* Gold Medal - 6 1/2" x 42 (165 x 16.67 mm) Cervantes, a lonsdale
* Royal Corona - 4 7/8" x 50 (124 x 19.84 mm) Robusto, a robusto or rothschild
* Corona - 5 5/8" x 42 (142 x 16.67 mm) Corona, a corona
* Petit Corona - 5 1/8" x 42 (129 x 16.67 mm) Mareva, a petit corona
* Bonitas - 5" x 40 (126 x 15.87 mm) Londres, a petit corona
* Corona Junior - 4 3/8" x 42 (110 x 16.67 mm) Minuto, a tres petit corona
* Tubo No. 1 - 5 5/8" x 42 (142 x 16.67 mm) Corona, a corona
* Tubo No. 2 - 5 1/8" x 42 (129 x 16.67 mm) Mareva, a petit corona
* Tubo No. 3 - 4 7/8" x 34 (125 x 13.49 mm) Placera, a tres petit corona"Regional Releases"
* Colosal (Germany 2006) - 6 1/8" x 50 (155 x 19.84 mm) Doble, a robusto extra
* Libertador (France 2006) - 6 1/2" x 54 (164 x 21.43 mm) Sublime, a large toro
* Simon (Canada 2007) - 5" x 48 (127 x 19.1 mm) Hermoso No. 4, a robusto or rothschild
* Double Corona (Middle East 2007) - 7 5/8" x 49 (194 x 19.45 mm) Prominente, a double corona

See also

* Cigar brands

References

*Richard B. Perelman, "Perelman's Pocket Cyclopedia of Havana Cigars", Third edition (2005), ISBN 1-893273-06-7
*Bati, Anwer - "The Cigar Companion" (1997, Reprinted: 1998-2000, 2003), ISBN 1840924136
* Nee, Min Ron - "An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars" (2003, Reprinted: 2005), ISBN 3-9809308-2-3

External links

* [http://www.habanos.com Website of Habanos S.A.]
* [http://www.cigars-review.org/cigars/Bolivar.htm Reviews of Bolívar cigars]