Bolivar

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History
The brand was founded (possibly in Great Britain) by Jose 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 Bolivar 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 Partagas Factory in Havana (today known as the Francisco Perez German factory), where many of its sizes are still produced today. During this time, under Cifuente's direction, Bolivar 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, Ramon Cifuentes, still produces Partagas and Bolivar cigars for General Cigar Company and the US market. Recently, the Dominican Bolivar brand was reblended to better match the strength of the Cuban-made brand.
The Cuban Bolivar 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. Bolivar, 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, a cigar shop in Cologne, Germany had a few thousand boxes of Bolivar Gold Medals produced by Habanos SA exclusively for their shop. The cigars are an older, discontinued Bolivar size in the Cervantes (lonsdale) format, wrapped in gold foil on one half with a special Bolivar band in the middle and come packaged in boxes of ten.

Vitolas in the Cuban Bolivar Line
The following list of vitolas (sizes) within the Bolivar 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
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
Machine-Made and Hand-Finished Vitolas

Chico - 4 1/8" x 29 (106 x 11.51 mm) Chico, a cigarillo
Special Bolivar Cigars

Gold Medal - 6 1/2" x 42 (165 x 16.67 mm) Cervantes, a lonsdale
 

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