Originally released by the Iconic Leaf Cigar Co. at the 2015 IPCPR Convention & Trade Show, the Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva debuted in six different vitolas, including three Sidewinder sizes. Other vitolas soon followed, but one size that the line was missing was a lancero.

That changed in mid-April, when a 7 x 38 lancero arrived at Smoke Inn Wellington, after the store’s owner, Michael Weiss, requested the size. In fact, the Smoke Inn franchise was the exclusive retailer for the Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Lancero until the 2016 IPCPR Convention & Trades Show, when it became a regular production item available to all Iconic Leaf retailers nationwide.

Rolled in the entubado style at Tabacalera Leyendas Cubanas in Santiago, Dominican Republic, the Amadeus Habano Reserva Lancero incorporates the same blend as the other vitalas in the line: an Ecuadorian habano wrapper covering a Mexican San Andrés binder as well as Dominican viso, Dominican ligero, Dominican seco and Pennsylvania broadleaf in the filler. The regular production release is sold in boxes of 24 and carries a retail price of $8.95 each.

There are now 14 vitolas in the Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva line:

  • Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Belicoso (6 1/2 x 56) — $8.95 (Boxes of 24, $214.80)
  • Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Corona (5 3/4 x 46) — $6.75 (Boxes of 24, $162)
  • Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Excepcionales (7 1/2 x 56) — $9.75 (Boxes of 24, $234)
  • Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Kanu #1 (6 x 54) — $10.25 (Boxes of 20, $205)
  • Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Kanu #2 (7 x 52) — $10.95 (Boxes of 20, $219)
  • Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Kanu #3 (8 x 58) — 11.95 (Boxes of 20, $239)
  • Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Lancero (7 x 38) — $8.95 (Boxes of 24, $214.80)
  • Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Petit Corona (4 x 42) — $5.95 (Boxes of 24, $142.80)
  • Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Robusto (5 x 52) — $7.50 (Boxes of 24, $180)
  • Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Sidewinder #1 (5 x 57) — $8.50 (Boxes of 24, $204)
  • Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Sidewinder #2 (6 x 57) — $9.50 (Boxes of 24, $228)
  • Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Sidewinder #3 (7 x 57) — $10.50 (Boxes of 24, $252)
  • Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Tarantula (6 x 60) — $9.50 (Boxes of 24, $228)
  • Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Toro (6 1/4 x 50) — $8.50 (Boxes of 24, $204)

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  • Cigar Reviewed: Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Lancero
  • Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
  • Factory: Tabacalera Leyendas Cubanas
  • Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
  • Binder: Mexican San Andrés
  • Filler: Dominican Republic & Pennsylvania Broadleaf
  • Length: 7 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 38
  • Vitola: Lancero
  • MSRP: $8.95 (Boxes of 24, $214.80)
  • Release Date: April 2016
  • Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
  • Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Visually, the Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Lancero is quite distinctive, with a nutty brown wrapper that is silky smooth to the touch and features a touch of oil. There are two sliver on red bands as well as a small coiled pigtail, and the cigar is quite firm when squeezed. Aroma from the wrapper is a combination of hay, manure, earth, peanuts, leather and generic sweetness, while the cold draw brings flavors of espresso beans, roasted nuts, leather, barnyard and cotton candy sweetness.

Starting out, the Amadeus Habano Reserva Lancero features dominant leather and creamy oak combination, followed by notes of anise, dark cocoa, roasted coffee, hay and cinnamon. There is some nice generic sweetness on the retrohale that seems to be getting stronger as the first third burns down, as well as some slight white pepper on the retrohale that is not. The draw is a just a bit tight for my tastes after a standard straight cut, and while the burn line wavers a bit, it is not bad enough to need correcting yet. Smoke production is about normal, and the overall strength hits a point halfway between mild and medium by the time the first third comes to an end.

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The draw opens up nicely during the second third, leading to slightly more distinct flavors, including a new dominant note of espresso beans, followed closely by cinnamon, grass, leather, toast, peanuts and dark chocolate. The sweetness from the first third has also increased noticeably, reminding me of raisins, while the white pepper on the retrohale remains steady. The burn continues to impress, while the smoke production remains around the normal level and the overall strength comes quite close to the medium point as the second third comes to a close.

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Although the raisin sweetness on the finish decreases in strength during the final third of the Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva Lancero, it remains a major part of the profile, and combines nicely with other flavors of creamy peanuts, cocoa nibs, oak, hay and salty pork. Construction-wise, the draw continues to give me no issues, but the burn has gotten a bit out of control, leading to a couple of touch-ups. Smoke production remains steady, and while the lancero does finally hit the medium mark, it stalls out there and never threatens to move further by the time I put the nub down with about an inch left.

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Final Notes

  • The entubado method of rolling cigars involves rolling each filler leaf into tiny cylinders which are then surrounded by the binder, theoretically resulting in both an easier draw as well as improved smoke production. It is obviously more time consuming than the more widely used folding method and therefore is not that common.
  • The recluse spider is a nasty little critter whose venom causes necrotic lesions that are generally slow to heal and in some cases require skin grafts in order to repair.
  • The sliver foil on red background bands are quite distinctive, and really pop off of the cigar when looking at it.
  • You can see our coverage of the Recluse booth during the IPCPR Convention & Trade Show here.
  • In fact, Iconic Leaf released 126 new cigars — nine new lines with 14 violas in each—at IPCPR this year, easily one of the largest number of new products by any single company.
  • The cigars smoked for this reviewer were given to halfwheel by Iconic Leaf Cigar Co.
  • The final smoking time for all three samples averaged one hour and 25 minutes.
85 Overall Score

Although I have smoked a few Iconic Leaf offerings in the past, the Recluse Amadeus Habano Reserva was not one of them until this review. While one sample of the lancero vitola was clearly not on the same level in any number of ways—leading to a lower final score—the other two cigars were full of flavor, well constructed and nicely balanced. Although I have not tried any of the other vitolas in the line, the lancero is a better cigar than the final score indicates, and I would recommend picking it up to try if you come across it.

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Brooks Whittington

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.