Vitola: Radiant (Short Robusto)- 4.5” x 54 ring gauge
- MSRP $17
- Samples provided by J.C. Newman
Background
J.C. Newman introduced the Black Diamond blend, the latest in their Diamond Crown series on Black Friday 2016. It took three years to develop the project in conjunction with the Fuente family, Newman’s business partners and preferred Dominican factory.
The Black Diamond uses Dominican filler and binder leaves, along with a Connecticut-grown Habano Maduro wrapper leaf. It comes in 3 vitolas, each available in boxes of 20.
J.C. Newman recently sent me samples of this cigar for review; thank you! If you want to try it for yourself—and your local shop doesn’t carry the Black Diamond—they are available at Leaf Enthusiast sponsor, Small Batch Cigar.
Prelight
The boxes for the Black Diamond are really nice, a diamond cut shape in piano-black finish. Probably the best presentation by Diamond Crown I’ve seen. The band is in dark blue and silver foil. There is black as an offsetting color and a tiny bit of red in the crown that is highlighted all the more because it’s the only place it’s used.
The wrapper was a dark chocolate brown with a little mottling and a nice oiliness to the touch. The aroma from it was earth and cocoa powder and leather. The foot of the cigar had espresso bean and earth notes.
After clipping the end, I got a very good cold draw that had flavors of bread, cedar, hay and earth.
Most of the time I do reviews outside on my front porch, shaded from the worst of the summer sun and screened a bit from the worst of the winter wind. As I review, it’s October 31 and the seasons changed today. I woke up to almost 70 degrees and rainy; by the time I got outside to review, the rain was rapidly being pushed out by a cold front, so windy, partly cloudy and about 44 degrees. I actively avoid reviewing below 40 and it would be there soon, so I chose a Maduro wrapped cigar that was shorter overall. And I got a head start on trying out my new jacket in cold-weather-herfing situations.
Flavor
Wet tobacco and strong winds conspired to make getting the Black Diamond lit a difficult task. I persevered, though, and once going I got a strong leather and espresso bean and earth flavor up front, with a secondary flavor off wood. Subsequent puffs had some semi-sweet chocolate and anise flavors, along with a touch of black pepper on the palate. The retrohale had dry woody notes and a little more pepper.
The second third didn’t take all that long to come around. I found the flavor of cedar moving up in the profile, while espresso stayed steady and leather and chocolate notes backed off a little bit. There was still some white pepper, but it was just a dull heat on palate and nose.
The last third of the Black Diamond had more coffee and wood with semi-sweet chocolate making a bit of a comeback, which was really nice.
Construction
The burn line was a little wonky, but that could have had as much to do with the weather as the construction, and I don’t recall other samples having issues. The draw was great and the ash was solid.
Value
All Diamond Crown cigars have a hefty price tag. For the most part I don’t really find them worth it, but the Black Diamond just barely crosses that threshold for me since it does fall within my wheelhouse flavor wise.
Conclusions
Black Diamond is my favorite thing to come out of the Diamond Crown catalog. The Connecticut Habano Maduro wrapper provides a medium-to-full body along with tons of complexity, almost becoming a Dominican version of a Liga Privada T52 in some ways. It’s also one of my favorite things to come out of the Fuente factory on a regular basis, sitting right beside some Opus X variants like Oro Oscuro in terms of overall experience. If you’re a Fuente fan but want something a little stronger from time-to-time, this is the cigar for you.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
