“Diamond Crown MAXIMUS is the final cigar that my grandfather Stanford J. Newman created,” said fourth-generation owner Drew Newman. “MAXIMUS is a collaboration between the three remaining cigar families in the ‘Cigar City’ of Tampa, Florida: Arturo Fuente, J.C. Newman and John Oliva. They came together in 2002 to create MAXIMUS to celebrate J.C. Newman’s 105th anniversary.”

The Fuente, Newman and Oliva families have been friends for more than 60 years. These three families represent half of the inaugural 1997 class of Cigar Aficionado’s Cigar Hall of Fame. To create Diamond Crown MAXIMUS, Carlos Fuente Jr. blended this special cigar with Stanford J. Newman using an exclusive El Bajo Sungrown wrapper grown by John Oliva Sr., in Ecuador.

El Bajo is a pristine valley in Ecuador where a mountain’s natural minerals and nutrients, washed down by centuries of rain, have made the soil exceptionally rich and perfect for growing tobacco. Only the richest, heartiest and darkest tobacco from the top priming ‘corona’ of the plant is used in Diamond Crown MAXIMUS. Its rich body allows the wrapper leaves to be refermented, further contributing to its full flavor and dark color. Matched with this incredible wrapper are the finest filler tobaccos grown in the Caribbean Basin, creating a complex and full-flavored blend.

For more than two decades, Diamond Crown MAXIMUS has been known for its distinctive box design. In 2002, Drew Newman created the unique royal blue “M” box with shoulders and feet. A decade ago, J.C. Newman removed the “M” and deepened the box’s color. Diamond Crown MAXIMUS will now be presented in a stunning handmade box that stands on columns and has capitals on the lid and top and bottom of the column feet.

Diamond Crown MAXIMUS cigars are flavorful with flawless construction and superb quality. Cigar Aficionado has rated Diamond Crown MAXIMUS a 93 and named it the No. 4 Cigar of 2009.

This is the second of four new products that J.C. Newman will be introducing at the PCA trade show this weekend.