Bolívar is the name of two brands of premium

cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...

, one produced on the island of

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

for

Habanos SA Habanos S.A. is a Cuban manufacturing company of tobacco that controls the promotion, distribution, and export of premium cigars and other tobacco products for Cuba worldwide. It was established in 1994. Ownership of Habanos S.A. is split equall ...

, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the other produced in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

from Dominican and Nicaraguan tobacco for

General Cigar Company General Cigar Company is the largest manufacturer of premium cigars in the world. It is a subsidiary of Scandinavian Tobacco Group with North American headquarters located in Richmond, Virginia. Company history In 1961 General Cigar, which was ...

, which is today a subsidiary of

Scandinavian Tobacco Group Scandinavian Tobacco Group is a manufacturer of cigars and traditional pipe tobacco. The city company is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is a publicly listed company on Nasdaq Copenhagen. History The company can trace its origin bac ...

. Both are named for the

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

n revolutionary,

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

. The Cuban-produced ''Bolívar'' cigars are very full-bodied, with considerable ''

ligero Ligero (pronounced "lee-HAIR-oh") is a type of tobacco leaf found near the top of each tobacco plant. Slower to mature than the seco and viso leaves found at the middle of the plant or the easy-burning volado leaves at the bottom, ligero leaves ...

'' in the blend and have traditionally been some of the strongest and most full-bodied Havana cigars.Bati, Anwer, ''The Cigar Companion''; Philadelphia, PA: Running Press, , 9780762401420 (1993), pp. 66-68

History

The brand was founded (possibly in Great Britain) by

José F. Rocha José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

around 1901 or 1902, though the brand was not registered in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. During this time, the ''Bolívar'' brand produced the world's smallest cigar called the ''Delgado''. Measuring a mere 1 inches with a 20 ring gauge, the Delgado had the honor of having a miniature box of its cigars featured in the royal nursery's dollhouse at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

. The company and rights to the brand name were purchased 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. The Cuban ''Bolívar'' has a reputation among cigar aficionados of being one of the strongest and most full-bodied cigars, with its ''Royal Corona'', ''Coronas Junior'', ''Petit Coronas'', and ''Belicosos Finos'' being famous examples of the marque. In 2002, when

Altadis Altadis is a Spanish-French multinational purveyor and manufacturer of cigarettes, tobacco and cigars. It was formed via a 1999 merger between Tabacalera, the former Spanish tobacco monopoly and , the former French tobacco monopoly. Through its ...

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 several 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 2004, Wolters in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, had a few thousand boxes of ''Bolívar'' Gold Medals produced by

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. Following this release the Gold Medal was reinstated in 2007 as a LCDH cigar but was then discontinued in 2011. The ''Bolívar'' brand has also been chosen several times for special sizes in regional releases.

''Vitolas'' in the Bolívar Line

The following list of ''vitolas de salida'' (commercial vitolas) within the ''Bolívar'' marque lists their size and ring gauge in Imperial (and Metric), their ''vitolas de galera'' (factory vitolas), and their common name in American cigar slang. ''Hand-Made Vitolas'' * Belicoso Fino moño- 5" × 52 (140 × 20.64 mm), Campana, a pyramid * Bolivar Tubo bareto No. 1 - 5" × 42 (143 × 16.67 mm), Corona, a corona * Bolivar Tubo No. 2 - 5" × 42 (130 × 16.67 mm), Mareva, a petit corona * Bolivar Tubo No. 3 - 4" × 34 (124 × 13.49 mm), Placera, a small panetela * Corona Gigante - 7" × 47 (178 × 18.65 mm), Julieta No. 2, a churchill * Corona Junior - 4" × 42 (111 × 16.67 mm), Minuto, a petit corona * Petit Corona - 5" × 42 (130 × 16.67 mm), Mareva, a petit corona * Royal Corona - 4" × 50 (124 × 19.84 mm), Robusto, a robusto ''Edición Limitada Releases'' * Petit Belicoso (2009) - 4" × 52 (125 × 20.64 mm), Petit Belicoso, a petit pyramid ''Edición Regional Releases'' * (Germany 2006) - 6" × 50 (156 × 19.84 mm), Doble, a robusto extra * Libertador (France 2006, 2007) - 6" × 54 (165 × 21.43 mm), Sublime, a double robusto * Simon (Canada 2007, 2009) - 5" × 48 (127 × 19.05 mm), Hermoso No. 4, a corona extra * Double Corona (Middle East 2007) - 7" × 49 (194 × 19.45 mm), Prominente, a double corona * Short Bolívar (Asia Pacific 2008) - 4" × 52 (110 × 20.64 mm) Petit Edmundo, a petit robusto * Armonia (China 2008) - 7" × 57 (184 × 22.62 mm) Salomónes I, a double perfecto * Petit Libertador (France 2008) - 4" × 50 (102 × 19.84 mm) Petit Robusto, a petit robusto * Legendario (Switzerland 2008) - 6" × 50 (156 × 19.84 mm), Doble, a robusto extra * Fabulosos (Benelux 2009) - 5" × 52 (135 × 20.64 mm) Edmundo, a robusto extra * 5at Avenida (Germany 2009) - 7" × 50 (184 × 19.84 mm) 109, a double corona * Especiales No. 2 (Germany 2009) - 7" × 38 (192 × 15.08 mm) Delicado, a long panetela * Greco (Grecia y Chipre 2009) - 5.6" × 50 (141 × 50 mm) Gorditos, robusto extra * B-2 (Canada 2010) - 6.1" × 52 (156 × 52 mm) Pirámides, a pyramid * Emiratos (Emiratos Arabes Unidos(UAE) 2010) 6.5" × 54 (164 × 54 mm) Sublimes, a double robusto * 108 (Spain 2010) - 5.6" × 46 (143 × 46 mm) Coronas Gordas, a corona gorda * 681 (Bulgaria 2011) - 6.0" × 53 (153 × 53 mm) Sobresalientes, a robusto extra * Distinguidos (China 2011) - 6.4" × 52 (162 × 52 mm) Romeo, a perfecto * Británicas (Great Britain 2011) - 5.4" × 48 (138 × 48 mm) Británicas Extra, a perfecto * Oryx (Qatar 2011) - 5.3" × 52 (135 × 52 mm) Edmundo, a robusto * Emperador (Russia 2011) - 6.2" × 48 (157 × 48 mm) Hermosos No.2, a grand corona * Redentores (Brazil 2013) - 4.5" x 52 (115 x 52) Magicos, a petit robusto * Presidente (Switzerland 2013) - 5.9" x 54 (150 x 54) Geniales, a robusto extra * Bosphorus (Turkey 2014) - 4" × 52 (110 x 52) Petit Edmundo, a petit robusto ''Edicion Limitada Releases'' * Petit Belicosos(2009) - 4.9" × 52 (125 × 52 mm), Petit Belicosos, a petit pyramid ''La Casa del Habano Releases'' * Gold Medal - 6.5" × 42 (165 × 16.67 mm) Cervantes, a lonsdale * Libertadores - 6.5" x 54 (164 x 54) Sublimes, a double robusto ''Habanos Collection Series'' * Gran Belicoso (2010) - 7.1" × 54 (180 × 54 mm) Rodolfo, a double pyramid * Gran Belicoso (2011) - 7.1" × 54 (180 × 54 mm) Rodolfo, a double pyramid (Released as part of the Colección Habanos 2011, which features all existing Collection Series) ''Recently Discontinued Vitolas'' * Bonitas(2009) - 5.0" × 40 (126 × 40 mm), Londres, a petit corona * Inmensas(2009) - 63/4" × 34 (170 × 17.09 mm), Dalia, a lonsdale * Corona Extra(2012) - 5" × 44 (143 × 17.46 mm), Francisco, a corona

General Cigar Company's ''Bolívar'' brand

After tobacco was nationalized following the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

, the Cifuentes family fled Cuba. In 1978, following a 17-year hiatus, Ramón Cifuentes licensed the ''Partágas'' and ''Bolívar'' brand names to

, best known as the maker of

White Owl White Owl is a brand of machine-produced cigars. The logo consists of a snowy owl perched on a cigar. The brand is owned by Swedish Match and was formerly owned by General Cigar Company. As of 2011, White Owl cigars that are imported into Aus ...

, which relaunched a completely new ''Bolívar'' branded cigar for the lucrative American market.James Suckling, "The Partagas Family: Cigar Smokers from Around the World Gathered in Havana and Orlando This Summer to Celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Partagas Cigars," ''Cigar Aficionado,'' vol. 4, no. 2 (Winter 1995/96), pp. 134–143. General Cigar's initial blend for their ''Bolivar'' branded cigars used mild Olor filler tobacco from the Dominican Republic, and bore little resemblance to the original Havana ''Bolívar'' in either body or flavor. In 2005, the Dominican ''Bolívar'' brand was completely reformulated with the addition of a Honduran San Agustin

wrapper and Nicaraguan filler tobacco in the blend to more closely approximate the full-bodied strength of the Cuban ''Bolívar''.

In popular culture

In the movie '' Black Hawk Down'', Somali warlord

Osman Ali Atto Osman Ali Atto (1940 – August 5, 2013), also spelled Ato, was a controversial Somali businessman, faction leader, and politician affiliated with the Somali National Alliance. Atto served as the primary advisor and financier of Mohammed Farah Ai ...

smokes Bolívar Belicoso cigars.

References

External links

Official website of Habanos S.A.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolivar (Cigar Brand) Habanos S.A. brands