Bolivar Cigars: The Cofradia, Natural and Oscuro
Bolivar was created in Havana in 1902 and named for Simón Bolívar, the man who liberated six South American countries. The American brand is made in Honduras and built around one line, the Cofradia, in two wrapper expressions. It is one of the most underpriced cigars on our shelf.
Shop Bolivar cigars Browse the Forged portfolioThe Cuban Bolívar was created in 1902, a late arrival by Havana standards, and named for Simón Bolívar. Habanos S.A. still produces it, and the marque is housed at the Partagás factory in Havana. The band carries his portrait.
The American Bolivar is a separate brand under separate ownership, made in Honduras, and that is the one we sell. It has one core line, the Cofradia, which does not try to imitate the Cuban cigar at all. It is a Honduran-and-Nicaraguan blend built for a different palate.
1902, and the man on the band
Simón Bolívar led the independence campaigns that freed Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and Bolivia from Spanish rule. Naming a Havana cigar after him in 1902, four years after Cuba's own independence from Spain, was not a neutral choice. The Cuban brand became known for full-bodied, powerfully flavoured cigars, and it kept that reputation.
The American Bolivar took a different road. Like Punch and Hoyo de Monterrey, the US trademark ended up outside Cuba after the revolution and the brand was rebuilt with Honduran tobacco. Today the Cofradia is made at HATSA, the Honduran American Tobacco factory in Danlí, the same facility that produces much of the Honduran side of the group's portfolio.
Who owns Bolivar now
Bolivar is a Scandinavian Tobacco Group brand and sits at Forged Cigar Company. It has been there since Forged was created in February 2021, as one of the five founding brands alongside La Gloria Cubana, Diesel, Partagas and Chillin' Moose.
The 2 February 2026 reshuffle did not move Bolivar. It moved Cohiba, Punch and Havana Honeys into Forged, and moved Partagas, Room101 and Don Tomas out to General Cigar Company. This gets reported wrong constantly, so it is worth saying plainly.
Bolivar Cofradia, Natural
| Wrapper | Ecuadorian Sumatra |
| Binder | Connecticut broadleaf |
| Filler | Nicaraguan and Honduran |
| Made at | HATSA, Danlí, Honduras |
The blend is worth pausing on. Using Connecticut broadleaf as a binder rather than a wrapper is unusual. Broadleaf is thick, heavily veined and sun-grown, and most blenders ferment it long and put it on the outside as a maduro. Underneath a thinner Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper it does something different: it adds body and a dark sweetness without dominating the way it would on the exterior.
The line runs Robusto 5 x 54, Toro 6 x 54, Torpedo 6.25 x 50, Gigante 6 x 60, Churchill 7.5 x 54, and a 7 x 70 that arrived in July 2026.
We stock the Cofradia Toro 6 x 54, the Cofradia Gigante 6 x 60, the Cofradia Churchill 7.5 x 54, and a Cofradia Toro 5-pack if you want to try it before committing to a box.
Bolivar Cofradia Oscuro
Oscuro shipped in May 2024 and it is not simply a darker version of the Natural. The two wrapper leaves swap positions.
| Wrapper | Aged Connecticut broadleaf |
| Binder | Ecuadorian Sumatra |
| Filler | Dominican Habano seco, Nicaraguan Habano viso, Honduran Habano seco |
| Strength | Between medium and medium-full |
| Made at | HATSA, Danlí, Honduras |
Taking the broadleaf out of the binder position and putting it on the outside changes the cigar completely. Broadleaf on the exterior means the wrapper is doing the flavour work, and long fermentation converts its starches to sugar, so what you get is sweetness, cocoa and dark bread rather than the Sumatra's dry spice.
The filler is also more considered than the Natural's. Note the priming levels: seco from the Dominican Republic and Honduras for aroma and balance, viso from Nicaragua for flavour with weight. No ligero is specified, which is why it lands at medium to medium-full rather than heavy.
Sizes are Robusto 5 x 54, Toro 6 x 54, Gigante 6 x 60, plus the 7 x 70 added in July 2026.
We carry all three of the original sizes: Oscuro Robusto, Oscuro Toro and Oscuro Gigante.
Natural or Oscuro: which one
| Cofradia Natural | Cofradia Oscuro | |
|---|---|---|
| Wrapper | Ecuadorian Sumatra | Aged Connecticut broadleaf |
| Binder | Connecticut broadleaf | Ecuadorian Sumatra |
| Filler | Nicaraguan, Honduran | Dominican, Nicaraguan, Honduran |
| Character | Dry spice, cedar, leather | Cocoa, dark bread, sweetness |
| Best with | Rye, coffee, Highland scotch | Bourbon, port, espresso |
| Sizes we stock | Toro, Gigante, Churchill, 5-pack | Robusto, Toro, Gigante |
Cannot decide? The Toro exists in both. Buy one of each and settle it properly.
Shop Bolivar Browse every cigar we carryWrapper, binder, filler
Ecuadorian Sumatra
Sumatra seed originated in Indonesia and moved to Ecuador, where equatorial cloud cover acts as natural shade. The leaf comes out medium brown with a slight red cast, moderately oily, and it carries a dry, woody spice with a cedar note. It is milder than Habano seed and drier than Connecticut.
Connecticut broadleaf
A sun-grown American varietal, harvested by cutting the whole stalk rather than priming leaf by leaf. Thick, wide, heavily veined. Long hot fermentation converts its starch to sugar and turns it near-black, which is the standard route to an American maduro. Bolivar uses it both ways: as a binder on the Natural and as the wrapper on the Oscuro.
Primings: where the leaf grew on the plant
| Leaf | Position | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Ligero | Top primings | Most sun, most oil, most nicotine. Strength and depth. Burns slowest, sits at the core. |
| Viso | Upper middle | More flavor than seco, less weight than ligero. In the Oscuro filler. |
| Seco | Middle | Aroma and mid-palate. The balance leaf. Two of the Oscuro's three fillers. |
| Volado | Lower primings | Thin and mild. Its job is combustion. |
| Medio Tiempo | The crown | Two rare leaves above the ligero. Concentrated, used sparingly. |
Spelled phonetically the top leaf comes out "lahero" or "lejero"; the word is ligero, lee-HEH-roh. The Spanish vocabulary worth knowing: capa wrapper, capote binder, tripa filler, torcedor roller, vitola size, pilón fermentation stack, tercio palm-bark aging bale.
Wrapper shades, palest to darkest: Double Claro / Candela Claro Colorado Claro Colorado Colorado Maduro Maduro Oscuro
Note that oscuro is itself a wrapper shade, the darkest one on the scale, which is where the line name comes from.
Sizes and vitolas
Length in inches by ring gauge, ring gauge being diameter in 64ths of an inch. A 6 x 54 is six inches long and 54/64 of an inch across.
| Vitola | Size | Natural | Oscuro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robusto | 5 x 54 | Yes | Yes |
| Toro | 6 x 54 | Yes | Yes |
| Torpedo | 6.25 x 50 | Yes | — |
| Gigante | 6 x 60 | Yes | Yes |
| Churchill | 7.5 x 54 | Yes | — |
| Gordo Extra / 770 | 7 x 70 | Yes | Yes |
Other vitola names across our catalog: Petit Corona, Corona, Corona Gorda, Lonsdale, Lancero, Panetela, Belicoso, Piramide, Perfecto, Rothschild, Double Corona, Presidente, Salomon, Culebra, Super Gordo and Diadema.
What we taste, from our own humidor
Cofradia Toro, Natural
Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper with a fine grain and a moderate sheen. Cold draw is cedar and dry hay. It lights into a dry woody spice with leather underneath, and the broadleaf binder shows up in the second third as a bready weight that fills the cigar out. There is not much sweetness anywhere, which is exactly right for this blend. Burn is even, ash mid-grey and firm. About eighty minutes.
Cofradia Gigante, Natural
Same blend at a 60 ring. More smoke, slightly cooler, and the spice softens with the extra volume. If the Toro reads a touch dry for you, the Gigante is the fix.
Cofradia Churchill, Natural
The 7.5 x 54 is where this blend has time to develop properly. First third dry and cedary, second third the broadleaf sweetness arrives, last third leather and a little pepper. Close to two hours.
Cofradia Oscuro Robusto
Immediately a different cigar. Dark chocolate and molasses on the cold draw. Lights into cocoa, dark bread and a raisin sweetness, with a coffee note through the middle. The seco-and-viso filler means it never gets heavy, which is the clever part: it tastes rich without being a nicotine hit. Fifty-five minutes and easily the most approachable cigar under this band.
Cofradia Oscuro Toro
The one we recommend most often in the range. Same profile as the Robusto with more room to move, and the sweetness settles rather than building. An hour and a quarter.
Cofradia Oscuro Gigante
The 6 x 60 emphasises the wrapper, because a bigger ring gauge means proportionally more filler but the wrapper's contribution is what you taste first on every draw. Sweeter than the Toro. After dinner.
Pairing, cutting, storage
Natural takes rye, a Highland scotch, or black coffee. Oscuro wants bourbon, tawny port or espresso, and it will stand up to a peated Islay better than most cigars at its strength.
Straight guillotine on both. The 6 x 60 and 7 x 70 sizes need a cutter rated past 60 ring. See our cutters and lighters. Store at 65 to 70 percent relative humidity, 68 to 70 degrees, in a humidor with reliable humidification. Broadleaf-wrapped cigars like the Oscuro tolerate a slightly drier storage than thin shade wrappers and are less prone to cracking.
The bottom line
Bolivar is the quiet one in the Forged portfolio and probably the best value in it. The Cofradia Natural is a dry, savoury Honduran-leaning cigar for people who have had enough sweetness. The Oscuro is one of the better broadleaf maduros at its price and is easier to recommend to a wider range of palates. Neither one is trying to be the Cuban Bolívar, and both are better for it.
Keep exploring
Same house, Forged: Cohiba · Punch · Diesel · La Gloria Cubana · Alec Bradley
Sister company, General Cigar: Hoyo de Monterrey · Macanudo · CAO · Partagas
If you like broadleaf maduro: Camacho · Perdomo · Foundation
Questions people actually ask
Is Bolivar a Cuban cigar?
The Bolívar name was created in Havana in 1902 and Habanos S.A. still makes a Cuban Bolívar. The Bolivar sold in the United States is a separate American brand made in Honduras. The Cuban version cannot legally be sold in the US.
Who was Bolivar named after?
Simón Bolívar, who led the independence campaigns that freed Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and Bolivia from Spanish rule. His portrait is on the band.
What does Cofradia mean?
In Spanish it means a brotherhood or confraternity. There is also a Honduran town called Cofradía associated with the factory group's history. The company has not published which one the line is named for, so we do not state it as fact.
Who owns Bolivar now?
Forged Cigar Company, part of Scandinavian Tobacco Group. Bolivar has been a Forged brand since the house was created in February 2021; it was not part of the February 2026 reshuffle.
Where are Bolivar cigars made?
At HATSA, the Honduran American Tobacco factory in Danlí, Honduras.
What is the difference between Cofradia Natural and Oscuro?
The two leaves swap positions. Natural has an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over a Connecticut broadleaf binder. Oscuro has an aged Connecticut broadleaf wrapper over an Ecuadorian Sumatra binder. Natural is dry and spicy; Oscuro is sweet and cocoa-forward.
Is the Oscuro stronger than the Natural?
Not dramatically. It sits between medium and medium-full. Its filler is built on seco and viso primings rather than ligero, which is why it tastes rich without hitting hard.
What does oscuro mean?
It is the darkest shade on the wrapper colour scale, darker than maduro. The line name refers to the wrapper colour.
What is Connecticut broadleaf?
A sun-grown American tobacco harvested by cutting the whole stalk rather than priming leaf by leaf. It is thick and heavily veined, and long hot fermentation converts its starches to sugar, giving the dark sweetness that defines American maduro.
What is Ecuadorian Sumatra?
Sumatra seed grown in Ecuador, where equatorial cloud cover acts as natural shade. It produces a medium-brown leaf with a dry, woody spice and cedar character, milder than Habano seed.
What do seco and viso mean?
They are priming levels, meaning where the leaf grew on the plant. Seco comes from the middle and provides aroma and balance. Viso sits above seco and gives more flavour with a bit more weight. Ligero from the top provides strength.
Which size should I start with?
The Toro at 6 x 54 exists in both expressions, which makes it the right size for comparing them. We also sell the Natural Toro in a five-pack.
How do I cut a 6 x 60?
Use a guillotine rated above 60 ring gauge, or a V-cut. A standard small cutter will not open around the head.
How should I store Bolivar cigars?
65 to 70 percent relative humidity at 68 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Broadleaf-wrapped cigars like the Oscuro are more forgiving of small humidity swings than thin shade wrappers.
Do you ship Bolivar cigars?
Yes, to states where we are permitted to ship. An adult signature is required at delivery.
For adults 21+. Please enjoy responsibly.
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