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| Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 |
Back at the 2011 IPCPR Trade Show, General Cigar Company launched a special chest humidor containing with 150 cigars of a new blend called the Cohiba Edicion Diamante. This offering was geared at serious cigar collectors. In addition to coming in the humidor, the cigar itself featured a rare Cameroon wrapper that had been aging since 1980. The Cohiba Edicion Diamante chest humidor came with six different vitolas of 25 cigars each. With only 100 humidors produced and each humidor carrying an SRP of $4,125.00, this was a cigar that would truly be a difficult one to obtain. Fast forward to the 2012 IPCPR Trade Show, and General Cigar has launched a Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 release. This would be the same blend as what was offered the previous year, but this time would be sold in specially packaged ten count boxes. Two vitolas were launched for the 2012 release. I recently had a chance to smoke the 2012 release. Overall, I found this to be a very classic cameroon wrapper cigar, and one that provided a very good cigar experience.
The Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 is offered in two frontmarks – a robusto and a toro. The Robusto is being packaged in individual wrapped coffin boxes. The toro is being packaged in individual crystal tubes. The cigars are being offered in lots of ten in a mahogany box, but retailers can also choose to sell the cigars individually. The release is also a limited offering, but no specifics were mentioned on the production numbers. The price still is a premium as the Robusto has an SRP of $22.00 per cigar and the Toro has a price of $25.00 per cigar. We don’t factor price into our assessments, but mention it for informational purposes.
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| Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 – Robusto Packaging (Cigar Coop IPCPR 2012 Photo) |
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| Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 – Toro Packaging (General Cigar Press Release Photo) |
For this cigar assessment we will break down the Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 Robusto offering and see what this cigar experience delivers. I will disclaim this assessment is based on a single cigar smoking experience.
Blend Profile
As mentioned, the blend for the Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 is the same as last years. The highlight is the rare Cameroon wrapper from 1980. The press release for the Cohiba Edicion Diamante says about this wrapper: “Enrobed in a precious Cameroon wrapper tobacco from the 1980 crop, Cohiba Edicion Diamante boasts one of the most extraordinary leaves ever cultivated. In the past three decades since this outstanding tobacco was harvested, these rarified leaves have been nurtured and masterfully handcrafted.”
Wrapper: 1980 Cameroon
Binder: Indonesian Jember
Filler: Dominican Piloto Cubano (Proprietary)
Vitolas Available
As mentioned above, a robusto and toro are being offered for Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012:
Robusto: 5 x 50
Toro: 6 x 54
For the 2011 release, these were the six frontmarks made available:
Robusto: 5 x 49
Corona Especiale: 6 1/2 x 42
Lonsdale Grande: 6 1/4 x 47
Toro: 6 x 54
Churchill: 7 x 49
Gigante: 6 x 60
It is worth noting that the robusto size for 2011 is listed as 5 x 49 while the robusto size for 2012 is listed as 5 x 50.
Appearance
For the Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 let’s first start with looking at the packaging. As mentioned, the Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 is packaged in individual coffin boxes. The coffin boxes are wrapped in a silver foil-like paper. There is a decal on the paper that has the “COHIBA” text and red-dot logo in the “O”. Under that text, it says “Limited Release 2012” in black font. It also says “Edicion Diamante” in black scripted font. Finally it says “Capa Reserva 1980”.
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| Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 – wrapped coffin box |
Once the foil is removed, the wooden coffin box is very simple. It features the name “COHIBA” in a light gray font. The coffin as a flip-top. The cigar inside is encased in cellophane.
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| Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 – Unrwapped Coffin box |
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| Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 Robusto (Open Coffin box) |
The cigar’s Cameroon wrapper has a medium brown color with an oily sheen. The wrapper has a rich look to it. The wrapper seams are well-hidden. There are also some veins that are visible on the cigar.
There are two bands on the cigar. The first band features a large maroon (*) colored stripe with thinner silver stripes across the top and bottom. The COHIBA name/logo is in silver font (with the “O” filled in red) is on the maroon stripe. On the top silver stripe is the text “CAPA RESERVA 1980” in small maroon font. On the lower silver stripe is the text “EDICION DIAMONTE” in small maroon font.
There is a secondary band on the footer. It has the same silver and maroon stripe pattern. On the maroon striped is the text “CAPA RESERVA 1980” in silver font. On the top stripe is the text “LIMITED RELEASE 2012” in maroon font. On the lower stripe is the text “EDICION DIAMONTE” in maroon font. On the back of both bands is the trademark Cohiba red dot.
* Note: Depending on lighting and one’s visual interpretation of the cigar band color, the maroon on this wrapper may seem to be more rose or purple colored. I’ll leave this up to the individual.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
After removing the actual Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 cigar from its packaging, I was ready to put a cut into the cigar and begin the pre-light experience. I went with my usual straight cut. When I actually started the pre-light draw, I detected notes of leather and cedar as well as a sweetness that was a cross between cherry and citrus. Overall, this was a very satisfying pre-light experience, so it was time to toast the foot and see what the smoke of the Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 would deliver.
Flavor Profile
The start to the Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 provided a combination of wood and pepper notes. The wood notes transitioned quickly to a natural tobacco sweetness. There was no dominant flavor early on. I did at times pick up some salty notes, but they did not have much of an adverse effect on the overall flavor profile.
Later in the first third, the natural tobacco sweetness transitioned to that citrus/cherry sweetness that I detected on the pre-light draw. At this point no flavor was still overwhelmingly dominant, but I gave a slight edge to the sweetness. There was little doubt the aged cameroon wrapper was providing the sweetness
In the second third, the cigar got much smoother. The pepper presence was still very much there, but it was not an overwhelming spice. The citrus/cherry sweetness and pepper held on to the very end. The end of the cigar remained smooth with no harshness. The resulting nub was cool in temperature and firm to the touch – a perfect nub and a real finger burner.
Burn and Draw
For a collectible cigar, the Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 performs well when it comes to the construction attributes of burn and draw. The burn remained straight for the entire cigar experience. I wouldn’t say it was razor sharp as it had a slight jagged look to it, but nothing that I would categorize as an uneven burn. The ash produced was a nice tight white colored one. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.
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| Burn of the Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 Robusto |
The draw was outstanding. As much as this is a collectible cigar, it is an enjoyable one to puff on.
Strength and Body
From a strength perspective, the Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 has a little more kick to it than you think. The strength sneaks up on you as you progress through the smoking experience. I assessed this to be a medium to full strength smoke from a nicotine perspective. The flavors to the Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 are robust and have nice depth to it. I felt there was enough depth to qualify this as a full-bodied smoke. I give a slight edge to the body over the strength when balancing those attributes.
Final Thoughts
Given this was a hard cigar to get in 2011, this particular blend flew way under the radar. The two frontmarks being offered in 2012 make this cigar easier to get. While the Cohiba Edicion Diamante 2012 doesn’t have a revolutionary or overly complex flavor profile, it still has a very good mix of flavors – and in the end delivered a solid cigar experience. I probably would still steer this to an experienced cigar enthusiast unless a novice wants to cut their teeth on something with a little kick. This is certainly a collectible cigar in my book, and one I want to definitely keep around and smoke again.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Full
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: Nice to Have
Score: 91
Source: The cigar for this assessment was purchased from Iwan Ries in Chicago, Illinois.
Great review, but I would rate his cigar a bit higher. Easily the best "non-cuban" cigar released this year, and I smoked my fair share. To me It's closer to 95 than 90. With that said I had the Toro not the Robusto.
I believe the Cohiba to be closer to 95 also, I was lucky enough to get the 2012 Diamante from cigarbid on freefall auctions for approximately 10 dollars and 50 cents each and what a windfall. I quickly snatched up a bunch of them( $105 for the magnificent mahogany box of coffins and $120 for the equally nice crystal tubo's box) I genuinely felt like a kid in a candy shop and continued to by them up in other auctions! I haven't seen them on cigarbid since then in late 2013 but on the sister site CI they now have the 2013 edicion and hopefully will be made available on cigarbid before long. I shared my windfall with a few close friends on the holidays and they also thought it to be a far superior smoke than most and I still have some stashed in my humidor waiting for that special occasion like my first grandchild in October! I would also like to share with you an excellent smoke that is fairly reasonably priced that being The Carlos Torano Exodus 1959 50 Years another WOWZA! Well fellow cigar fiends happy smoking!
draidez1- I picked up several boxes of these cohibas for ~$160/box, and since they are going thru ambient process in my controlled hummi's. Have not tried one yet but waiting. BUT! I wanted to follow up on your comment on the torano 1959, I have smoked both the gold and orange Bands and to those who have never experienced a torano,, what have they been missing!!!! I had a friend ask me to compile a top 10 list of my fav's smokes and here are some….. #1 Oliva Series V melanio gran reserva limitada figurado box press,,, to those out there that are looking for something from the first light to just B.L.O.W. you away and make you want to just deep 6 everything you have in your inventory…. then stay away from this smoke. You have no idea where you bar of incredible smokes will go after this.and I have smoked almost everything out there… #2, and a VERY distant #2,,, La Aroma de cuba, mi amor/reserva (still heaven!!), #3- flor de las antillas, #4 Rocky patel decade and 1990, #5 Torano's, #6, Alec B.prensado,,, and some others but the the toranos' and just as top-shelf and should be in everyone's hummi
I enjoyed 5 of these cigars once stumbled upon a website that sold them in Florida. Mikes I believe. Very smooth and rich flavor. Burned well. Nice with a flute of Moët. You cannot and will never go wrong with Cohiba. It was my first and will be my last once I take one to the grave.