Excelencias from the Caribbean & the Americas

THE STRENGTH OF A BRAND

STRONG TASTE IS WHAT ACTUALLY MAKES THIS HABANO STAND OUT, LET ALONE ITS SPICY, FRUITY AND ROASTED TOBACCO AFTERTASTE. THIS COMBINATIO­N TURNS IT INTO A CIGAR WORTH WORSHIPPIN­G

- BY / MAITE LÓPEZ PINO PHOTOS / EXCELENCIA­S ARCHIVES

The Bolívar brand has a strong history, with multiple layers like one of these cigars. Similar to a perfect puff, time has blurred and turned some details of this vitola's history into a legend and, it has also carved in the memory details linked to coincidenc­es, quality and the mystery that surrounds fine Habanos.

Bolívar are strong Habanos, with abundant light wrapper. Since day one, Bolívar has been described as one of the strongest Habanos brands throughout the whole catalog.

The brand was founded in Great Britain by Jose F. Rocha back in 1901-1902, although it wasn't registered in Havana (Cuba) through 1921, owned by Rocha's company, J.F. Rocha & Co., according to Anwer Bati in his book entitled The Cigar Companion.

During this time, Bolívar produced the smallest cigarette of the world: Delgados. With barely one and a half inches long and ring gauge 20, this vitola was honored with a miniature replica of its cigars at Windsor Castle's playhouse.

In 1954, the company and brand rights were bought by Cifuentes & Co. after Rocha's passing and the production was housed by famous Havana-based Partágas cigar factory. While managed by Cifuentes, Bolívar was acclaimed in the internatio­nal market and became an important export brand.

Bolívar was very successful among cigar aficionado­s and it was praised as one of the best Habanos characteri­zed by full and strong taste, which was the preference at the time.

In El Mundo de los Puros, Aurelio Pastor explains: “French writer Eugene Marsan strongly recommende­d Bolívar's Barons and Little Dukes, thus framing them in the irreproach­able cigar class. Bolívar cigars were ranked among the very best Habanos at the time, compared to such brands as Henry Clay, Flor de Cuba, Corona, or Villar y Villar.”

Bolívar is a successful and select Habano brand marked by abundance of light wrapper and by being from the very beginning one of the strongest-tasting cigars in the entire catalog

The brand has been traditiona­lly sought after by people who have been smoking good cigars for some time. In 2004, Wolters in Cologne, Germany, had thousands of boxes of Medallas de Oro de Bolívar exclusivel­y made by Habanos SA for his store –officially discontinu­ed in 1992, according to Mr. Adriano Martinez. These Bolívar come out in the Cervantes size (Lonsdale), wrapped in gold paper with a special Bolívar band in the middle, ten units per package. After this launch, Medalla de Oro was reestablis­hed in 2007 as a cigar for Casas de Habano, but it was later suspended in 2011.

Strong taste is what actually makes this Habano stand out, let alone its spicy, fruity and roasted tobacco aftertaste. This combinatio­n turns it into a cigar worth worshippin­g.

All Bolívar products are totally handmade with long filler made of leaves hailing from the finest tobacco plantation­s of Vuelta Abajo, Cuba's best tobacco-producing region, in the Pinar del Río province.

 ??  ??
 ??  ??
 ??  ??
 ??  ?? 2014 SUPER CORONA BOLIVAR BOX
2014 SUPER CORONA BOLIVAR BOX
 ??  ?? 1996 BELICOSOS FINOS BOLIVAR BOX
1996 BELICOSOS FINOS BOLIVAR BOX
 ??  ?? 1985 GOLD MEDAL BOLIVAR BOX
1985 GOLD MEDAL BOLIVAR BOX

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Spain