Bolivar is a very old name in the cigar industry. The first Bolivar cigars were made back in Cuba in 1901. Then in 1950, the famous cigar maker Ramon Cifuentes decided to open up a factory in the Dominican Republic. At that time he started making a Dominican version of the Bolivar cigar using the best tobacco he could find outside of Cuba. Along with the help of the General Cigar Company, another company was formed called General Cigar Dominicana with a promise to continue making fine quality premium cigars. The Bolivars I smoked for this review were the Churchill size measuring 7” long with a ring gauge of 49.
Flavor and Aroma
I was a little apprehensive lighting up this cigar because I heard that is contained ligero tobacco. Ligero tobacco are leaves just under the very top leaves of the plant and usually have the most flavor as well as being the strongest. Much to my surprise it was milder than I anticipated, containing nice coffee flavors and a hint of sweetness. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a bold smoking cigar and stronger that most beginner cigars. I discovered that there is a good reason for the strong coffee flavors and for the sweetness. The filler for this cigar comes from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Okay, that does not sound very unusual but the Nicaraguan tobacco comes from both Esteli and from Ometepe. Ometepe is an island in Lake Nicaragua, the largest freshwater lake in the world. Ometepe is a word in the Nahuati language, the indigenous peoples of that region and means ‘between two hills’. There are two volcanic mountains on the Island of Ometepe and between them is some of the most fertile land in the world for growing tobacco and coffee, both growing almost side by side. It makes for a very nice smoking experience, which I decided to compliment with some spiced rum.Draw and Construction
The only flaw in this cigar was the cap. It came off when I used my punch to open the cigar. Also the cigar did burn slightly unevenly. The draw is easy and I did have one re-light about half way through. The cigar is firm with a dark oily wrapper which is a ligero from the San Augustin Valley in Honduras. The binder is a Havana Media Tiempo which translates to Havana seed plants taking the ‘mid-term’ leaves from the very top of the plant. The ash held for 35 minutes and was 2” long when is finally fell into the ash tray. This cigar is a long smoke and will last you around 2 ½ hours.Value
I got my three Bolivar Churchills as a gift from my tobacconist, Larry Monte (Monte’s Pueblo Pipe Shop, nmCigars.com and the Albuquerque Cigar Club). Normally these sell as singles for about $6.30 a stick. The online shopping at pricegrabber.com shows them selling a box of 25 for $84.99 and a 5 pack for $23.99, which is $4.25 and $4.80 per cigar respectively. Obviously buying by the box or pack of 5 is much more economical than singles and in this case a great value for such a fine premium cigar.
