Wrapper : Ecuadorian Havana Seed
Binder : Dominican
Filler : Caribbean Basin & Central America
Source : Handed to me by Dan, our local rep

Welcome to my first review of the 2013 calendar year which will be a First Impressions of the Diamond Crown Julius Caeser by J.C. Newman. This will be on the toro (6×52) size.

I want to stress that these were handed to me from the rep at an event and the conditions these were stored in were probably not ideal. I had the first one split and explode on me and this one, as you see in the video, has a bit of a wrapper torn and the whole cap wants to break loose after cutting. I do not like to take these things into account when they were cigars that were not in a sealed box nor kept in a humidor at my local shop. I imagine if you had a cigar like this at a shop that carried them, they would replace it for you. Only two reasons I am doing this review right now is that I lost my hard drive with the review I already recorded on it and I am down to the wire to get a video edited in time and this was the only one I had for a first impressions. I will talk with Dan about the construction but I am sure he will say the same thing I have just stated above.

Pre-Light

Besides the construction points I made it has a nice silky feel to it with no real scent except on the cold draw I get some spice and wood. I want to mention that I really think the band is cool too. Nice use of colors, except the gold for Diamond Crown.

First Half

Starting this Diamond Crown Julius Caeser (I keep wanting to put an “a” in there instead of “e”), I get a charred wood taste and a taste i can best associate with a buttered bread. Thinking on it, it would be more like a buttered toast. Nice and smooth starting out so lets see what the rest has to offer.

After about an inch in I start to pick up a bit of sweetness and the wood taste has given way to more of the buttered bread taste. Toast has gone to the wayside which i think was caused by the charry taste. A nice dark chocolate has come into play just two puffs after noticing the sweetness and is really making the cigar enjoyable with the coffee I am drinking. Chocolate taste I am getting is switching between dark and light while staying very nice and creamy tasting. Really enjoying the cigar so far.

Ash is really flaky and fell off a few times in my lap. I am not sure if this is normal or not as I have only ever had these two samples. I would just make sure you are around an ashtray the first time you smoke one just to make sure.

Second Half

Heading into the final half of my Diamond Crown Julius Caeser and I am really enjoying the flavors. I love how the light and dark chocolate keep mixing it up and the creamy taste is just nice for a mid day smoke. I am still thinking it is a mild cigar at this point but picking up just a bit. More of a woody taste has come into play after a little ways in the second half and a tinge of spice has joined the mix.

My coffee is gone and after switching to water I am also picking up a coffee taste in the cigar. Is it a lingering taste, not sure yet but we will see after drinking some water. nope, still there. SO now we can add coffee to the multitude of tastes from this cigar.

Took the band off with no problems to report. First puff after the band was removed was a pepper bomb. Came out of nowhere but just smacked me in the face, in a good way. Spice has really picked up again in the last 2 inches along with the dark chocolate. Wood, dark chocolate and the spice stayed till I ended the cigar due to the wrapper wanting to come off.

Wrap-Up

Would I buy it again? Yes. Flavors were phenomenal in this stick and it right in my mild-medium preference, especially for an early in the day smoke. I would not buy many of them due to the price point but for a special occasion or something like that, definitely on my radar. I do not believe the construction issues I encountered will show up in the ones at your local shop so it really does not concern me, like I said numerous times.

Video may not be up to par as I built a new computer and had to redo everything from scratch. I am still working on the setup but ran out of time to try and put the finishing touches on it, especially the audio. You may have to turn the speakers up a bit more than normal, I am not sure.

If anyone knows of a video editing program for Windows that will use all the power of my core i7 to produce mp4 video, please let me know! Right now it seems Pinnacle will not use any more than 1 core for mp4 but all cores for avchd, go figure.

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