Cigar Review: Iconic Leaf Recluse Amadeus Toro (Pre-Release)
9 Jun 2014
This summer, Iconic Leaf will go after some of the milder premium cigar market with a new Recluse offshoot called Amadeus. Select retailers will soon receive shipments of the product, but the full release won’t take place until the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association Trade Show in Las Vegas in July.
Since the company was established in 2012, Iconic Leaf has erred on the side of secrecy. At its inception, the identities of its principals were left a mystery, and we were only told the operation was founded by two “well-respected legends in the cigar industry†who have “chosen to keep their identities private in a pursuit to make the very best premium boutique cigars that can be found anywhere in the world without the influence of their names.â€
In addition to secrecy, innovation seems to be another Iconic Leaf theme. The Doral, Florida-based company has pioneered the “Sidewinder†cigar shape—a flattened oval with a slight box press and a bit of a taper at the cap—as well as the “Kanu,†which has a head-turning kayak-like shape. In a sense, Iconic Leaf has taken a page out of the book of Litto Gomez, who created the “Chisel†shape for La Flor Dominicana.
So far, Iconic Leaf’s core blends—Recluse and Recluse Draconian, respectively—have sported darker wrappers (Brazilian Maduro for the former, Ecuadorian Maduro for the latter). Recluse Amadeus will help diversify the company’s portfolio with a light Connecticut Ecuadorian Shade wrapper surrounding a proprietary binder and a filler blend of Dominican and Connecticut tobaccos.
Six Recluse Amadeus sizes will be available ranging in price from $7.50 to $10.50: three box-pressed, and three of the Sidewinder variety. The Toro (6.25 x 50) is spongy and box-pressed with a golden wrapper and faint notes of honey and hay. The cold draw is smooth, as one would expect from an entubar-crafted cigar.
Once lit, a traditional Connecticut profile of cream, soft cedar spice, almond, and coffee emerges. The texture is silky and the body is decidedly mild to mild-medium. The Toro becomes more interesting around the midway point as spice and roasted nut flavors build in intensity. In fact, while I typically pride myself on smoking cigars slowly to guard against heat and harshness, with the Recluse Amadeus I find myself smoking a little quicker to drive home the flavor with more force.
I smoked two pre-release samples for this review, both provided by Iconic Leaf, and found them each to have excellent construction. The Toro smokes as well as you’d expect from any cigar. The burn is straight with a thick, black mascara, the ash holds well off the foot, the draw is easy, and the smoke production is above average.
If, like me, you enjoy mild Connecticut Shade cigars, you’ll want to give the Recluse Amadeus a try when it becomes more widely available. Try it with a cup of black coffee in the morning and let the flavors grow on you (as they most assuredly will after the first inch). This new release is worthy of four stogies out of five.
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photo credit: Stogie Guys