Vitola: Double Belicoso- 6.75” x 54 ring gauge
- ~$18
- Sample provided by J.C. Newman Cigar Company
Background
This year J.C. Newman Cigar Company is celebrating 125 years in business, making it one of the longest-lasting cigar companies in the world. In an attempt to create a “halo line” of cigars, back in the 1990s, the Newman family worked arm-in-arm with the Fuentes to create the Diamond Crown line. First there was a Natural (Connecticut Shade), but soon Maduro, Maximus, and Julius Caesar lines were added. Somewhere in the last decade there was a Cameroon added to the mix, as well, although it’s kind of hazy on exactly when that happened. And getting your hands on them is extraordinarily difficult.
Like other Diamond Crown releases, this is made by Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia in the Dominican Republic. It uses a Dominican binder with undisclosed fillers and a Cameroon wrapper leaf, which you may recall also adorns the Fuente Don Carlos and Hemingway releases.
I received a single sample of this cigar from J.C. Newman, which is sponsoring Leaf Enthusiast this year. They said “smoke to enjoy” but I decided to “smoke to share” with y’all, as well. I calculated the price above based on the price of the 3-stick travel case it was last seen in (and which is still available some places), subtracting out the prices of the other cigars included in the case, making this cigar land somewhere between $15 and $20. I am doing this as a pairing, although at the time I write this sentence, I haven’t decided exactly what I’m pairing it with. halfwheel has a much longer version of the story I related I in the first paragraph if you wish to read it.
Notes
In the time it took to gather up all my stuff and head outside to fire up this rare Diamond Crown, I decided to pair with W.L. Weller Special Reserve (the green label), one of my favorite bourbons. The cigar had a fairly medium-brown color with just a touch of oiliness. The aroma from it was woody with touches of earth and bell pepper. The foot of the cigar had a mix of bread and baking spice and hay. After cutting, I got a very good cold draw that had hay and molasses and vegetal flavors.
I fired up the Cameroon Select and immediately got the mix of Cameroon sweetness with a bit of a kick on the nose when I retrohaled. There wasn’t as much pepper as I expected, but that is probably due in large part to the 54 ring gauge. I suspect on a thinner cigar, there would be the typical wasabi burn on the nose. I also picked up on more typical Dominican notes of bread and hay, while there was some earth and cedar underneath that didn’t quite taste like island tobacco.
Sipping the Weller added an extra sweetness to the smoking experience, along with notes of vanilla and oak. The Diamond Crown Cameroon Select got more of that characteristic Cameroon pepper spice as it burned along, with plenty of cedar and earth and hay to go along with it.
In all a very fine experience that made the day melt away a bit. The Cameroon wrapper definitely brought a different dimension to the Diamond Crown blend, bringing it more in line with the other cigars made in the Arturo Fuente factory that I like so much, like the Hemingway and Don Carlos lines. These won’t be easy to find, but if you see them, pick one (or more) up!
