Bolivar Toro 6 x 52

Dominican Puro

Wrapper: aged San Augustin Ligero

Binder: Havano Medio Tiempo

Filler: Dominican

Price paid: $ 5.95

The huge cigar conglomerate General Cigar, owns and operates the Dominican line of Bolivar Cigars.  The cigar is named after the famed liberator of Central America named Simon Bolivar who led wars of independence in several central and South American countries.  A bold cigar for a bold man…or so that is the general idea.

This line reemerged in the American market to much fanfare last year.  The line revokes thoughts of old Cuba so that added much to the general attitude to this cigar.  The cigar looks great.  The oily wrapper leads you to believe this is going to be a great smoke. The Bolivar wrapper band has a brown background that fades into the actual wrapper of the cigar outlined in gold leaf. It looks like an aged Cuban sitting there in the box.  It has the eye appeal, and for $6 a stick, it needs a little help to get people to go ahead and purchase one.

 The cigar is loaded with tobacco.  I found this out the hard way. I about never got that thing lighted.  At first, the cigar was plugged very tightly, so after I did manage to get the cigar lit, I rolled the cigar around in my hands a bit and squeezed the heck out of it.  I did manage to get a decent draw after that.  I still have to work on it, but it is drawing much better now.  As the construction goes, it is pretty and loaded with tobacco, but for that much money it should have a better draw on it.  Overall, the wrapper is beautiful and the tobacco inside the cigar is quite flavorful.

The cigar is holding it’s ash quite well which is a good thing because I don’t want it to drop on my laptop….wait, I could use that as an excuse to buy a new laptop…..

I am having a hard time getting a lot of smoke to come out of the cigar, which is due to the draw of course.  I love a good amount of smoke, so this is a bit aggravating to me.  The good thing about this is that the cigar doesn’t smoke harsh at all.  It can’t get hot enough to smoke harsh. That is the little nugget I am clinging to right now.

The cigar has a nice earth tone look to it.  The taste reminds me of the rich fertile soil of the Dominican Republic.  To the cigar newbi the thought that a cigar taste like “dirt” is quite astonishing that anyone would want to smoke it, but there is a distinct appeal to this type of cigar.  I have notice that Dominican Cigars, above all their contemporaries, tend to be very earthy and full of natural flavors. 

A Dominican cigar such as this one might take a person a while to learn to appreciate, but it is well worth the time and money it takes to acquire the taste.  This cigar, in particular, is full bodied, but not too bold that it requires you to smoke on a full stomach and sitting down.  As far as full bodied cigars go, I think this is more medium to strong than just a strong smoke.  The Flor De Dominicana double ligero is a much stronger Dominican cigar for about the same price if strength is what you are desire. 

I really do like this cigar.  The first time I smoked this cigar last year I was left with somewhat mixed feelings about the cigar.  The earthy nature of the cigar wasn’t what I was looking for, so I didn’t like it then, but it is starting to grow on me as my palette adjusts to the tobacco.  The fact that it is a bit difficult to draw  has actually led me to like it more due to the fact that since it doesn’t smoke hot, I get to taste the subtle nature of the leaves used in this puro.

I still think the price tag is a bit much for the cigar even after saying I like it.  Perhaps, General Cigar will come off the price a bit in the future.  I would recommend my readers to try this one out for themselves and tell me what you think about the cigar.  You can e-mail me at .