Initial Thoughts
The Diamond Crown Maximus Toro is a cigar created to honor the 110th year of J.C. Newman cigars. Such a feat couldn’t be left to just normal cigar men. The project had to be taken to the best. Stanford Newman reached out to the Fuente & Oliva families to help him embark on this cigar’s journey. He wanted the best rollers available in the Dominican to hand roll these cigars. He also wanted the best leaf from the best plantations to go into his cigar. The Fuentes brought the rollers and the Olivas brought the leaf.
The filler on this stogie is a secret blend of Dominican leaf. The wrapper is Ecuadorian El Bajo Sungrown. The El Bajo is an incredible rich and fertile area in Ecuador. The soil has been supercharged after decades of rain washes the mountains minerals down into the land. The Diamond Crown Maximus Toro comes in a range of sizes: Double Belicoso (6 3/4″ x 54) Robusto, Toro, Double Corona, Pyramid (6 3/8″ x 50), Churchill, and Double Robusto! Quite the lineup when you see them stacked next to each other. Time to dive on in and see what this anniversary cigar is all about!
Looks
This cigar comes packaged in a wood box of 20. Looking at it from the front of the box the edges rise up to create an ‘M’ outline. That outline is also trimmed with gold to help it be more pronounced. Ya know, incase you’re not into subtlety and all that.
The band on this Diamond Crown Maximus Toro is beyond extravagant. It’s not too large, it’s just got a hell of a lot going on with it. Across the middle in big Roman font is the word ‘Maximus’. Across the top in an arch the brand Diamond Crown. All around that there is tons of gold and lots of colors going on. Tons of detail that I can barely decipher. Overall it’s a pretty bold band, and it will definitely grab your attention.
This stogie has an incredible rich dark brown color to it. It looks to be in the same vein as a Hershey’s bar! That’s how rich it looks. If I wasn’t on a diet I would have bitten into this thing hoping for some chocolate candy. There are a couple of large seams running down through the barrel of it. The veins are fairly hidden though. It’s hard to see much detail in the wrapper with the dark color of it though. Overall a great looking stick though!
Function
I thought about using the punch cut on this cigar, but I opted for the ole fall back. It looks like this has a nice triple cap to it, but again the wrapper is very dark and it’s hard to see all the details in the lines. I made quick work of the cap though and began testing the dry draw. Fairly open, not too snug, I was able to get a good amount of flavor pouring through there.
The foot looks well packed and the edges of the wrapper are curled in a bit. Probably from hitting the bottom of the ziploc baggie during shipping. It should hold up just fine though. I couldn’t detect any soft spots when feeling up and down the barrel. Everything was packed nice and evenly. Enough of the foreplay it’s time to get this Diamond Crown Maximus Toro lit!
Smoking
Right off the bat this cigar started burning nice and evenly. It held the first ash for just over and inch. As soon as I laid it down to take a picture it fell off. Oh well, the picture still looks good! The ash was incredibly firm and stayed together even when I picked it up to throw it away.
The rest of the time it smoked perfectly. Good amount of smoke coming through the barrel and just a great burn all the way through. The 2nd ash held quite a bit longer. It too was pretty firm when I finally knocked it off. Those Fuentes sure know how to craft a great smoke! I didn’t have a single problem with the single the entire way through. I did purge it in the final third though just to get rid of any built up tar. There wasn’t much that had built up though so I was pretty happy about that.
Flavor
Time to see if this cigar stands up to the legacy it was created for! Nosing the foot brought about a nice cocoa and molasses note. The barrel gave off scents of hay and barnyard. Not the most ideal notes on the barrel, but hey, I give them points on complexity and uniqueness.
Once I got the Diamond Crown Maximus Toro lit it was pouring off delicious creamy notes of coffee and earth. Pretty tasty all the way around. On the retrohale some more herbal notes started peaking through. I got a nice minty note similar to anise and a few other floral notes that I couldn’t put my finger on. I would put this cigar right in the middle of a medium-full bodied cigar. Lots of things going on here, which added to the complexity for sure.
Would I Buy It Again?
Possibly, at $14 it’s a bit of a ehhh for me.
Is It an Every Day Smoke?
Not for this guy, and I don’t think J.C. Newman wants it to be either.
Would I Buy a Box?
Possibly, I’d like to see how they age.
Conclusion
Overall, I enjoyed this Diamond Crown Maximus Toro, it’s not my favorite out of the line up. It is a very solid cigar. It didn’t blow me away like the Julius Caeser did though. It’s a solid 9 for me, but I had trouble giving it a 10. It just didn’t have that wow factor that I look for in a 10/10. If you’ve been on the fence about trying it, go ahead and go for it. It may wow you! I’m going to smoke a couple more and see if there is something I missed the first couple of times though.
