The King Street Emporium

Diamond Crown Maximus #4

By J.C. Newman

Stanford Newman launched Maximus for J.C. Newman's 110th anniversary, this time with an eye toward a bolder complement to the original Classic. He brought in two families to build it alongside the Fuentes: the Olivas, whose El Bajo farm in Ecuador supplies the wrapper, and the Fuentes themselves, who handle the Dominican binder and filler as they do the rest of the Diamond Crown family. El Bajo sits in a mountain valley where centuries of runoff have left the soil unusually rich, and the wrapper is pulled from the ligero primings at the top of the plant, which carry more strength and intensity than lower leaves. Cigar Aficionado named it the number four cigar of 2009 with a 93 rating. The wrapper is Ecuadorian El Bajo Sun Grown, ligero priming, over a Dominican binder, with a secret blend of Dominican long filler. Seven sizes, 20-count boxes. Full in body. Made at Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia in the Dominican Republic.