Diplomaticos No. 2 - AME JUL-13 (SMRW) - A Flavor Fiesta!

[StogieSteve23]

Posting for my first SMRW! 

Just smoked a delicious Diplo #2 from 2013 (This is personally my favorite regular production pyramid).  Box date was AME JUL-13.  

Opening Remarks: The wrapper is nothing special with several small green imperfections, a large jagged vein running alongside and a somewhat muted sheen.  After having to cut twice, the cold draw is very pleasant.  Notes of cedar and a faint nuttiness linger on the tongue. 

First Third:  Right off the bat, saltiness (that I personally enjoy greatly) is here to party! Hints of leather seem to be playing the local wallflower, lingering in the background. 

Second Third:   As with the first third, saltiness is running the party.  Now, toasted almonds have joined the flavor fiesta! 

Final Third:  The saltiness persists!  Love this smoke and for some reason, something about the saltiness for me always stands out.  Nuttiness departs while chocolate and its friend cocoa arrive for the final minutes of the fiesta.  Chocolate seems to overpower salt at this point and its a nice desert after such a delightfully salty meal ?.  Just before I'm about to close the door on this party and say goodnight, a delightful woman, similar to Miss Gloria Cubana comes strolling in for a goodnight kiss and lays one on me.  She leaves me with floral flavors to cleanse the palette, reminiscent of an MDO4 and I am blown away.  Never expected the last 6 puffs to have floral flavors and notes, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  

 

Closing Remarks:  The cigar was sublime.  This goes with the old adage of "don't just a book by its cover".  The wrapper was nothing to write home about but once it was lit, the cigar let its true profile shine.  I based my review off a 25 point, 5 criteria scale with each criteria having 5 points allotted.  

Burn: 5/5 (Perfect the whole time)

Construction: 4/5 (Slightly tight at the beginning leading to a second cut put opened up nicely towards the ends of the first third)

Flavor: 5/5 (Love the consistent saltiness and subtle changes from cocoa to floral notes in the final third)

Smell: 3/5 (Nice cedar/nuttiness smelling smoke turned somewhat stale, tar-ish toward the middle of the second third)

Wrapper: 3/5 (I've seen better and definitely worse.  Slightly rough and "unpolished" feeling.  

Overall Score: 20/25

[D-Mind]

Great review. This one of my fav too!

[david9985]

Thanks for the review Steve. Great cigars the Dip #2s. I often have had enough of cigars before I get too far into the final third... But I have an enduring memory from a few years ago of smoking a Dip #2 while watching The Usual Suspects. It was so good that when I was finished it I wanted more. Ended up sparking a D4!

I like your scoring system too. Cheers!

[StogieSteve23]

50 minutes ago, D-Mind said:

Great review. This one of my fav too!

Thank you @D-Mind it certainly is a great stick.  

[StogieSteve23]

33 minutes ago, david9985 said:

Thanks for the review Steve. Great cigars the Dip #2s. I often have had enough of cigars before I get too far into the final third... But I have an enduring memory from a few years ago of smoking a Dip #2 while watching The Usual Suspects. It was so good that when I was finished it I wanted more. Ended up sparking a D4!

I like your scoring system too. Cheers!

That's a great story, thank you for sharing! Also, an EXCELLENT movie in The Usual Suspects.  Good movie to have a nice memory to haha. 

[Chibearsv]

I tried my first Diplo No2 at the end of last year and absolutely loved it.  Now I've got 2 boxes that I'm trying very hard not to empty.  Nice review.  Thanks

[StogieSteve23]

47 minutes ago, Chibearsv said:

I tried my first Diplo No2 at the end of last year and absolutely loved it.  Now I've got 2 boxes that I'm trying very hard not to empty.  Nice review.  Thanks

Thank you, I tried to get a little creative with the review.  Good luck trying not to empty those boxes, as it'll be hard!  Great smoke indeed.  

[rcarlson]

Alright.  I've debated these when they've come up -- and yes, I'll go for a box of things I've never tried 'cause, you know, I live on the edge.   You and the other fellas have convinced me it's time to pull the trigger.    

Good luck.     

[StogieSteve23]

14 hours ago, rcarlson said:

Alright.  I've debated these when they've come up -- and yes, I'll go for a box of things I've never tried 'cause, you know, I live on the edge.   You and the other fellas have convinced me it's time to pull the trigger.    

Good luck.     

LOL, I like to live on the edge too brother.  Most of the time it pays off.... Thank you for the note!