Diamond Crown #5 Robusto

The J.C. Newman Cigar Company was founded in 1895 by Julius Ceasar Newman, who rolled his first cigar in his family’s barn in Cleveland, Ohio after emigrating from Austria-Hungary that same year. Once he discovered his passion for cigars, he moved his family down to Tampa and quickly had a world-class reputation for producing high-quality premium cigars. One hundred years later, his son, Stanford Newman, to honor his father and his vision, created a cigar that was like no other, the Diamond Crown, which was officially released in 1995 at a star gala in Beverly Hills, California.

The Diamond Crown #5 Robusto in your shipment today is truly something special. Handmade in the Dominican Republic, this Cigar Aficionado 92-rated stogie employs a super-premium five year old wrapper called a ‘Connecticut Fermented Wrapper’ or CFW, which undergoes multiple fermentation processes. Those processes give the wrapper a unique taste filled with rich, sweet flavors. When combined with a Dominican binder and filler, this smoke will have earthy flavors with hints of nutmeg and burnt spices. Mild-bodied with an excellent draw and razor sharp burn, pair this super-premium with a Riesling.

Though tobacco is indigenous to Hispaniola, the tobacco industry in the Dominican Republic existed in the shadow of Cuba’s dominance through the 1960s. When the exodus of Cuban cigar makers began in the wake of the revolution, many decided the Dominican Republic would be ideal for the resumption of their livelihoods. Unrest in Nicaragua in the 1980s fueled the Dominican cigar industry further. The country now makes more than half of the premium cigars imported into the U.S.

The Cibao Valley and the nearby city of Santiago are the center of cigar production in the Dominican Republic. Three main varieties are grown here: the mild and native Olor Dominicano; the intense Piloto Cubano, brought from the Vuelta Abajo of Cuba; and San Vicente, a milder and more acidic Piloto hybrid. Dominican puros were once unheard of as it was widely thought impossible to grow quality wrapper leaf on the island, but new growing techniques are now allowing some exceptional puros to be produced.