The Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva is the fourth regular production line by Recluse Cigar Company. At the 2015 Southern Cigar Festival, Scott Weeks of Recluse Cigar Company broke news on a special Stogie Geeks segment of this release.  One month later, the cigar would subsequently make its official debut at the 2015 IPCPR Trade Show. The Amadeus Habano Reserva introduced a natural Habano wrapper offering to go alongside the company’s two maduro offerings (Recluse OTG, Recluse Draconian) and Connecticut Shade offering (Recluse Amadeus). Recently, I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva in the Toro sized offering. Over the past three years, Recluse has been producing some top blends. With the Amadeus Habano Reserva, the company takes it to another level releasing what I believe is its best offering to date.

The Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva keeps true to the philosophy of Recluse Cigars. Namely, it produces box-pressed cigars rolled entubado style. All tobaccos go through a minimum of two years fermentation with eight fermentation cycles.

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Toro and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

The Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva features Ecuadorian Habano wrapper that is graded “A” – which is the highest quality rating for a wrapper leaf. From what we learned from Recluse at this year’s IPCPR Trade Show, the Mexican binder was selected because of the flavor it imparted to the blend. As for the filler, the Pennsylvania Broadleaf was added to provide additional strength as it has a naturally higher nicotine content.

Wrapper: Grade A Ecuadorian Habano wrapper
Binder: San Andres Mexican
Filler: Dominican Ligero, Dominican Seco, Pennsylvania Broadleaf
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic (Tabacalera Leyendas Cubanas)

Vitolas Available

The Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva features the same six sizes as the Recluse Amadeus and Recluse Draconian blends. Three of the sizes are the company’s signature “Sidewinders” vitola. The Sidewinder sizes were introduced with the Recluse Draconian back in 2012. The concept behind the Sidewinders combines the best of a rounded cigar and a box-press cigar. The cigar itself is rounded at the top and bottom, but box-pressed along the sides. Recluse Cigar has also called this as a “side press” cigar.  It is rounded on the top and bottom, but box-pressed along the sides.  It also has a tapered tip at by the cap.

In addition to the three Sidewinder sizes, there are three traditional box-press sizes – for which the Toro being assessed here falls into that category. All six sizes are packaged in 24 count boxes.

Robusto: 5 x 52
Toro: 6 1/4 x 50
Tarantula²: 6 x 60
Sidewinder 1: 5 x 57
Sidewinder 2: 6 x 57
Sidewinder 3: 7 x 57

Appearance

The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper lives up to its Grade A rating. The wrapper has almost a cinnamon color to it.  Upon closer examination there is a slight amount of darker marbling mixed in. There are some thin visible veins and a few visible wrapper seams. The box-press has a nice pack to it with no loose spots.

There are two bands on the Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva. Both bands feature a red background with a holographic chrome font. The first band features the Recluse spider logo. Above the logo is the text “RECLUSE”. The secondary band features the text “Amadeus” in cursive font. There is also a silver ribbon on the footer.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to lighting up the Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Toro, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut.  Once the cap was removed, I moved on to the pre-light draw phase. The dry draw provided a mix of nut, caramel, and cedar. Overall I considered this to be an outstanding pre-light draw experience. At this point I removed the footer ribbon, lit up my Amadeus Habano Reserva and awaited what the smoking phase would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The start to the Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Toro delivered a mix of nut, cedar, caramel, and a touch of cherry. Very early on, the nut flavors moved into the forefront with the cedar and caramel notes becoming secondary. The cherry notes were much more distant and subtle. Meanwhile the retro-hale produced a combination of black pepper and cedar sweetness.

During the first third, the nut flavors held primary. From time to time, cedar sweetness and caramel occasionally moved into the forefront. By the second third, I found the cedar notes had a little more of an edge and were complementing the nut flavors more than any of the other flavor notes. Meanwhile the caramel moved further into the background and now was more of a subtle flavor like the cherry.

By the midway point, I noticed some of the pepper notes on the tongue. Combined with the cedar notes, I did notice an increase in the spice.  This continued into the last third where the spice closed in on the nut notes which were still in the forefront. While there was more spice on the tongue during the last third, it never overpowered the blend. This is the way the cigar experience came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

Overall I found the Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Toro to be a well-made cigar. This was reflected nicely on the burn and draw – both of which scored nicely. The cigar had a straight burn path from start to finish. The burn line had a slight amount of jaggedness, but this didn’t prove to be problem-some. The resulting has had a salt and pepper color to it. I’d consider this too be a firm, but not a tight ash. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

Recluse Cigars prides itself on having an effortless draw. The company has done a good job at releasing products that live up to that reputation. The Amadeus Habano Reserva continues the trend here. Overall I considered this a low maintenance cigar to derive maximum flavors from.

Strength and Body

From a strength perspective, I didn’t find the Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Toro to be a nicotine bomb. I assessed this cigar as being medium in strength. As for the flavors, I found the cigar also started out medium-bodied. I found the body increased and by the second half, I found the flavors were in the medium to full range. In terms of strength versus body, I gave the edge to the body – especially in the second half.

Final Thoughts

There is a lot to like about this cigar. The cigar delivers everything I would expect from a Natural Habano wrapper offering. The flavor profile is also something that is very different than the other Recluse offerings to date – and that further strengthens the brand. I found the flavors really meshed well with this blend and this was extremely enjoyable. The medium strength, and medium/ medium to full body of this cigar also seemed ideal for these flavors. This is a cigar that can be enjoyed at any time of the day by novice or experienced cigar enthusiasts. This is a box worthy cigar in my book and one I would reach for again.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: 4.0-Box Worthy
Score: 93

References

News: Recluse Cigar Company Announces Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva, Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Launched at 2015 IPCPR Trade Show
Price: $8.50
Source: Cigars Provided by Manufacturer
Stogie Geeks Podcast: n/a
Stogie Feed: Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Toro