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Diamante’s cigar lounge

Diamante’s Brooklyn Cigar Lounge: Brooklyn Charm Like No Other

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Diamante’s Brooklyn Cigar Lounge

For personality and atmosphere, its pretty close to impossible to beat Diamante’s. Located on South Oxford Street in lovely Fort Greene, Diamante’s is easy to get to: its just a few blocks away from the 2, 3, 4, 5, B,Q, C, G, N, R, or D trains.

Let’s talk about the decor. When approaching Diamante’s, you’re immediately greeted with a homegrown exterior. The classic Cigar Indian statue is complemented by Diamante’s unique “smoking cigar” hanging sign above the door. The interior just raises the bar on class. Although the lounge has only been open for a couple of years, it looks like it’s been in Brooklyn for a hundred. The place is entirely decked out in antique wood hauled in from out of state, and there are enough leather couches and armchairs to seat small groups or big parties in equal comfort.

A great place to hang out with friends? Check.

The walls and mantlepieces are covered with boxing photos and posters, and vintage family photographs of well-dressed gentlemen smoking cigars. Both these, the distinctive dancer’s pole on top of the bar, and the non-stop sets of brilliant music are all calling cards of the lounge’s owner, David Diamante.

Everything in the lounge is a reflection of the style of its owner. Dave is a tall, charming looking man with famous dreadlocks hanging down to below his waist. After being the DJ at one of New York’s hottest nightclubs, Scores, for many years, Dave aligned his career with another passion: boxing. Diamante now works as a boxing ring announcer, and has called major fights on HBO, ESPN, and other networks.

More of the interior

This success led him to an alliance with another Brooklyn icon: Diamante just completed his first season as the “voice” of the Nets, partially owned by rapper Jay Z.

With the lounge located just three blocks away from the Nets’ new home, the Barclays Center, Dave is only optimistic about the future of the shop.

The last two things I should mention about this lounge are the events, and the distinctive cigar selection.

Diamante’s has many regular events. It frequently lights up a classic, black and white movie–you know, the kind where the men were men, and cigars were being smoked constantly. On many Tuesdays, the lounge hosts a “Classic Fight Night”…Dave and the regulars turn on one of history’s most infamous fights and relive it, with a live analysis from the owner who has himself met many of these fighters. The lounge also has tried to pay special attention to female cigar smokers, with its “Ladies’ Nights” every Wednesday.

Finally, the selection. Diamante’s carries a wide range of premium cigars. They are all good, but let me emphasize that the pricing is premium. But please don’t miss their house blends in your rush to check out their good selection. These are all good smokes: I recommend either the Hemingway or the Chisel.

Enjoy–and don’t forget to spread love (its the Brooklyn way!).

Here’s the official website.

Diamante’s on Twitter.

Cigar Review: Diamante’s Brooklyn Cigar Lounge “Medium” Boutique Blend

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Diamante’s Brooklyn Cigar Lounge

Today I had few extra free hours, so I decided to drop by one of New York City’s newest cigar lounges.  Diamante’s Brooklyn Cigar lounge, just off the C train Lafayette stop, really is a great place to drop by for a smoke.  The shop features its own boutique blend of cigars, made of Nicaraguan and Dominican grown Cuban seed tobacco. The atmosphere in the lounge is spectacular, definitely one of the most memorable experiences I’ve had since living in New York. I’d write about that now, but I’d really have to go into detail to give the lounge justice, and I think I’ll save that for an article on the lounge itself.

The lounge itself is worth a visit. Or two... or three.

My first cigar at this lounge was the medium bodied boutique blend (torpedo shape). At $12, the price was pretty reasonable for a boutique blend. The lounge does offer some other big-brand sticks, but they were a bit pricey for me.  Below are my thoughts on the cigar.

Diamante's Medium Boutique Blend

Appearance/Construction: The appearance wasn’t the strength of this particular stick (I say that because I’m not familiar enough with this line to make a broader statement). It was a bit veiny, which some claim adds to the flavor (which for this cigar I could imagine that being true), but veins, especially large ones, tend to decrease the straightness of the burn, which did turn out to be the case with this particular stick.  The boutique cigars are also lacking a label, which was a bit disappointing because the lounge is beautiful and has a great vibe that an attractive label could definitely add to.  Rolling the cigar in my hands, however, I could tell that the cigar was packed well (confirmed also by the draw), and the hour and a half smoke that followed offered further confirmation.

Taste: This cigar kicked off with a big spice, and actually took me off guard.  Behind the spice were hints of woodiness and black pepper. After about the first inch, however, the spice backed off a little bit and the woodiness took a bit more prominence, along with hints of spiciness.  I matched this cigar with a cup of Columbian Sumatra coffee, which turned out to be an excellent choice as the two complemented each other perfectly.

At times there was a bit of harshness, but that faded quickly and didn’t detract very much

About halfway

from the quality of the cigar. Around the second half of the cigar, a really wonderful sweetness took center stage along the now subtle spice, and the thick smoke produced by the cigar was earthy and sweet.  One thing I kept noticing was the excellent amount of smoke produced by the cigar, and the velvety smoothness of the smoke in my mouth.  As far as the burn goes, the veins in the cigar did end up being a bit problematic, but the cigar was generally very good at evening itself out.

Conclusion: This cigar was very good, but I’ll need to try another before I can feel confident in describing it as excellent.  At $12, it isn’t an everyday smoke, but I definitely recommend buying one, especially because the lounge is such an excellent place to hang out. Construction and lack of label aside, the taste was excellent and the draw pretty much perfect.