Diplomaticos No. 2

Description

Diplomáticos No. 2 Review
The clock on the wall of my study only ticks; it does notcriticize. It is one of those large, weighty mahogany concerns which go “thump” like gavels on a block every half second. It was late — far later than any self-respecting person should have been awake — and I was holed up in the fortress of my own home library. I say library, but it’s more like a graveyard for dusty books that smell likevanilla and neglected deadlines.

Product Specifications

There I was, sitting among the ghosts of Russian novelists and half-lidded, dusty leather bindings, with that peculiar late-night drag on your thoughts that makes them loop back in on themselves. I needed soimething to groundme. Anything apart from a screen or printedpage. I opened my humidor, the one I have secreted behind a row of encyclopedias — a small, little-known pleasure for when things settle downin the house.

I reached past the baroque science of flashy labels and big-namebrands. I didn’t want something as attention-grabbing or “look at me” brave. I wanted to wear something that complemented the room I wasin: Old-school, perhaps undervalued, layered. I reach into my pocket and feel for a stick that has been lurking, ageing, waiting in the dark for exactly this night.

That smoke? The
Diplomáticos No. 2
. It’s not the cigar that jumps from the shelf screaming at you, but once you sit down to listen it’s got plenty to say. The Specs
Product Name
Diplomáticos No. 2
Wrapper/Binder/Filler
Vuelta Abajo, Cuba
Body
Medium to Full
The Look and Feel
The Piramides has always been a shape with a special placein my heart.

There’s something about that tapered head, which is deliberate in a way that feels architectural as opposed to being just a roll of leaves. Diplomáticos No. 2) It’s got weight to it, this Diplomáticos No. 2 — around14 grams of good, old-fashioned Cuban workmanship in the palm of your hand.’12 points out of a possi­ble 10 for its mesmerizing brightness only added to his sense of intrigue and pride as he lighthouse and legend duties called73 )he great white3/was intended primarily to be weatherproof.’68 ‘Mysteriously consort: Skaly He was not prepared for what happened with Marycloth./ Catch NO80;Recap8/ back The second light is attempting defeat from face0. This one was made by the factory José Martí, and you can tell. It is the one vitola he is the only other roller there who are allowed to work with, and draw nice and all.

No softspots, no peculiar lumps. Only smooth, tiny-bit oily-looking wrapper; the hue of it looking burnished copper beneath my desk light. I hadn’t even lit one yet and I’d already inhaled a good long sniff. The scent is pure nostalgia: cedar, a touch of spice and the smell you associate with sweet hickory.

It has that “old world”feel. I snippedthe head — just a sliver off, I like adraw on the tight side in a torpedo — and cold puffed. It tasted oaky and a bit sweet — not unlike dry caramel. I leaned back in my years-worn leather chair (the one that’s molded to the shape of my spinalcord, and I used matches.

The FirstThird: The Long Seethe
The firstcouple puffs are the true tell. Ever had a heady smoke that left you dizzy? This isn’t that. The Diplomáticos No. 2 Provides an Easy Introduction The broader ring gauge of the Dipsloamticos No. # allows for a nice easy draw off ail’ the most milder types out there.

It’s mellow-toasty at the gate, pouring forth these thick creamy clouds of smoke […] … [.f]illing (up?) my library with them; lingering in the stillair like damp. Immediately I got this earthywoodiness. It’s not “dirt” earthy, but you’ll know that it has an aromawhen the smokescreen clears: Kind of like the smell of a forest floor after a gentle rain. Then the florals — a whispery, flowery sweetness that kept it from becoming tooheavy.

Butshit, the one thing that outshone in those initial twenty minutes was this little toasted pecan and salted caramel wonder. It’s subtle, mind you. I’m not eating a candy bar, I say to myself as the flavors start to blur, it’s more like what would happen if the ghost of adessert crossed my lips. There’s a bit of pepper on the palate, but it’s mostly a smooth flavor profile with some recognition of damp hay and mushroomto tell you that here was some serious aging time in a barn somewhere in the Vuelta Abajo.

It felt grounded. Solid. The Second Third: Getting Richer
Power scaled forme a tad as I passed into the second third.

It’s a slow burn, the way you have with a conversation that is only just now beginning to get to the good stuff. The flavors turned into one thing that beings floral earthiness,liquid breading and opulence together. I then started getting vanilla and nutmeg, thealmond present throughout so far: It evoked a bakery in the early morning. I’m a big retrohale guy—blowing a little of that smoke back through your nose—and this is where this stick really excels.

I tasted a clear clean walnut and received an electric shock of whitepepper that didn’t sting. The spice flavors show more characteristics here, … cinnamon maybe a hint of the cardamom. It’s a detailed profile but not one that feels crowded. Everything has its place.

The burn was still even, and yes that is a shout out to those rollers at José Martí. I didn’t have to touch it up once, even after leaning back in the chair and getting lost in meditative onmy thought sas I would watch the spines of books I haven’t opened since college a decade ago. The LastThird: The Heavy Hitter
Early in the last thirdbut certainly not leaststrikes me that we are now firmly medium-to-full strength as well with cigar.

Much of the sweetness I had early on pulled back to be replaced by something much meatier. Imean black pepper, oak and a bitter cocoa that brought 90% bitter chocolate to my mind. A peanutty saltiness started to present itself, interestingly clashinga bit with some mineral notes. It became a touch drier at the end — very woody and leathery.

There was a tiny bit of vegetal or woodsy bitterness which creeped in toward the bottom, but it wasn’t anything off-putting. The cigar was justanother way of saying it was almost over and he might as well do something. All the way down to, if not into, the fertile end I noticed that after resting in my ashtray for quite a few minutes there was a weirdly lingering oversweet and salty flavor on my lips. It took me more than an hour to read exactly as I wanted.

It’s a slow-burn commitment. The Pairing
Now, in general I am a scotch dude in the library.

But with theDiplomáticos No. 2, I took a other approach. I went for a double espresso onthe side. The bitterness of the coffee is an excellent pairing withthe creamy first half and the cocoa of the second.

If you’re not the type for I-NEED-THE-CAFFINE-NOW-at-midnight kind of energy, People SWEAR BY slamming this with a Coke. The sweet and sour sugar sliced through the richness ofthe Vuelta Abajo tobaccos so easy like. Istayed with the espresso, however — it felt more “academic.”
The Verdict
Congratulations to you!!

I got tobe honest, Diplomáticos is a sleeper of a brand. It was released way back in ’66 as a sort of cousin to the Montecristo line (since discontinued), but never took off in quite the same fashion. It’s (not anywhere close to) 1% of the market, and let me tell you? I’m fine with that. “Feels like you stumble upon a secret when you go to findone.

Is it for everyone? Probably not. If you are a novice, the size and how it builds to its powerful may be a just little too strong. It’s a big stick, but it’s also nuanced.

But if what you’re wanting is something that provides a multilayered, developing narrative — like those old books on my shelves — I have it right here. It is a slick, well-behaved smoke that doesn’t have to be the life of the party to show off its looks. By the time I rose to leave the library, the room was fragrant withcedar and spice, and the clock did not seem to be ticking so loudly. Finally, late at night: A good cigar may be the onlyfriend a man has for a talk with himself.

Final thought:
It’sa conoisseur’s choice.

If you see a box, grab ’em. They’renot as fabled as the No. 2 from Montecristo, but in my mind they are just as essential.