Diadema, 9.25" x 50 ring gauge / $31.50 for set of 2 cigars, Burns
It seems almost like an annual thing for me...see what La Flor Dominicana debuts at the trade show, wait until it shows up at my local shop...and buy it. Last year I made sure to get in on the Maduro sampler. The year or two before I was right on the original Salomon and Habano Corona. Yes, I've tried pretty much all their regular release sticks, too, but I seem to gravitate toward their limited stuff...at least those that are more affordable. Am I really calling $31.50 for two cigars affordable? Well, when you consider the 9"+ size that will burn close to the time of two smaller cigars...Yes! And it's La Flor Dominicana, one of my all-time favorite brands. This Diadema Duo set comes in a coffin box containing two cigars...one Natural and one Maduro. They both utilize Dominican filler and binder, as well as Habano Nicaraguan wrappers...one of which goes through the Maduro process and one that does not. Today I look at the Natural, while the Maduro will be reviewed Thursday. Because of the monetary and time commitment needed to smoke each of these, I am smoking one of each for these reviews.
You know how presentation sells cigars? If you don't, then look at these...the presentation of these is awesome and does much to convince you to pick up the cigars and bring them to the register to purchase. By themselves, these perfectos might seem comically slim and delicate, but presented in the dual coffin box, they look...well...perfect! The Natural wrapper was supple and oily...moreso than you might expect many lighter colored wrappers to be. The build quality seemed perfect with no stretched leaf, open seams, tears, or patches. I got an aroma of barnyard and sweet, wet earth on the wrapper; the foot was no different really because of the small Perfecto tip. The cold draw was better than that of most perfectos I can remember and had a nice earthiness and sweetness to it.
The Diadema was a little tricky to light up because it was so long...it was difficult to tell if the flame was near the tip or too far away...or far worse, too close and scorching the wrapper. I got it going, though, with no mishaps and soon it was pumping out a nice amount of smoke...at least until I put it down to write this paragraph at which point it went out. Relighting worked well enough and I didn't set it down quite so quickly this time. Initial flavors were of earth, leather and a tiny bit of dried fruit sweetness on the palate. On the retrohale I got mostly roasted nuts and some black pepper. The pepper went away fairly quickly, and the rest of the first third had that same earthiness it began with along with a sweetness that morphed into more of a molasses note. The smoke was creamy and medium bodied.
The Diadema Natural started to get really interesting in the second third as the body increased to the medium-to-full range and I started to pick up on more nutty notes on the palate as well as a slight peppery burn. The Habano wrapper still had some molasses sweetness, but it seemed better balanced with earthy notes at this point. Construction was proving to be nothing but excellent with a fantastic draw and very even burn line.
The body did not get fuller, but the flavors trended toward more earthy in the final third. For two hours the Diadema Natural gave up full-flavors, though, with plenty of complexity and flavor change up. One thing it made me think of was how Dominican smokes have changed so much from the time when they were primarily seen as milder, less complex offerings. And it made me look forward to the Maduro version all the more since it would likely be a bit sweeter throughout, one thing I was missing near the end with this one.
Body: 7/10
Strength: 7/10
Complexity: 7/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
It seems almost like an annual thing for me...see what La Flor Dominicana debuts at the trade show, wait until it shows up at my local shop...and buy it. Last year I made sure to get in on the Maduro sampler. The year or two before I was right on the original Salomon and Habano Corona. Yes, I've tried pretty much all their regular release sticks, too, but I seem to gravitate toward their limited stuff...at least those that are more affordable. Am I really calling $31.50 for two cigars affordable? Well, when you consider the 9"+ size that will burn close to the time of two smaller cigars...Yes! And it's La Flor Dominicana, one of my all-time favorite brands. This Diadema Duo set comes in a coffin box containing two cigars...one Natural and one Maduro. They both utilize Dominican filler and binder, as well as Habano Nicaraguan wrappers...one of which goes through the Maduro process and one that does not. Today I look at the Natural, while the Maduro will be reviewed Thursday. Because of the monetary and time commitment needed to smoke each of these, I am smoking one of each for these reviews.
You know how presentation sells cigars? If you don't, then look at these...the presentation of these is awesome and does much to convince you to pick up the cigars and bring them to the register to purchase. By themselves, these perfectos might seem comically slim and delicate, but presented in the dual coffin box, they look...well...perfect! The Natural wrapper was supple and oily...moreso than you might expect many lighter colored wrappers to be. The build quality seemed perfect with no stretched leaf, open seams, tears, or patches. I got an aroma of barnyard and sweet, wet earth on the wrapper; the foot was no different really because of the small Perfecto tip. The cold draw was better than that of most perfectos I can remember and had a nice earthiness and sweetness to it.
The Diadema was a little tricky to light up because it was so long...it was difficult to tell if the flame was near the tip or too far away...or far worse, too close and scorching the wrapper. I got it going, though, with no mishaps and soon it was pumping out a nice amount of smoke...at least until I put it down to write this paragraph at which point it went out. Relighting worked well enough and I didn't set it down quite so quickly this time. Initial flavors were of earth, leather and a tiny bit of dried fruit sweetness on the palate. On the retrohale I got mostly roasted nuts and some black pepper. The pepper went away fairly quickly, and the rest of the first third had that same earthiness it began with along with a sweetness that morphed into more of a molasses note. The smoke was creamy and medium bodied.The Diadema Natural started to get really interesting in the second third as the body increased to the medium-to-full range and I started to pick up on more nutty notes on the palate as well as a slight peppery burn. The Habano wrapper still had some molasses sweetness, but it seemed better balanced with earthy notes at this point. Construction was proving to be nothing but excellent with a fantastic draw and very even burn line.
The body did not get fuller, but the flavors trended toward more earthy in the final third. For two hours the Diadema Natural gave up full-flavors, though, with plenty of complexity and flavor change up. One thing it made me think of was how Dominican smokes have changed so much from the time when they were primarily seen as milder, less complex offerings. And it made me look forward to the Maduro version all the more since it would likely be a bit sweeter throughout, one thing I was missing near the end with this one.Body: 7/10
Strength: 7/10
Complexity: 7/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
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