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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 Company, which is today a subsidiary of Swedish Match. Both are named for the South American revolutionary, Simón Bolívar. The Cuban-produced ''Bolívar'' cigars are very full-bodied, with considerable ''ligero'' 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, ISBN 0762401427, 9780762401420 (1993), pp. 66-68〕 == 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 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. 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.〔 During this time, under Cifuente's direction, ''Bolívar'' gained popularity in the world market and became a major export brand. 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 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, 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bolívar (cigar brand)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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