Diamond Crown Optimum

I really liked Diamond Crown, but it never could be obtained stateside and my German tobacco swap mate from the 90's sent some of this over with some other stuff. The African Virgina's hardness boosted the continent variety and provided some strength and nice, campfire sort of flavor. I have no idea why this one was discontinued back then. I loved it.

Tin aroma: Quite nice. Dried apricot, chocolate, hint of raspberry is what I get. Room aroma: Very pleasant, better than most aromatics I have tried. Something a bit zesty, maybe the apricot that I smelled in the tin aroma. Flavor: Initially, there is very little flavor, but also no bite. The bowl smell is toasty with some ammonia which doesn't come through to the flavor. At mid-bowl, some low level marshmallow nuances develop, though the flavor is still pretty weak. From this point on, ammonia enters the room aroma and begins to intrude on the flavor. Fortunately, an increased dark fruits/dried fruits character partially offsets the ammonia. Sadly, near the end, the smoke becomes bitter, ashy & sour, and ammonia becomes the dominant flavor characteristic. The burley curse is definitely a factor here. Overall, not bad, but stop at 2/3-bowl. A definite crowd-pleaser.