Tarantula

The Iconic Leaf Recluse Cigars Draconian is the second iteration of the Recluse line of cigars. Rolled at the Tabacalera Leyendas Cubanas in the Dominican Republic and headed by J.R. Dominguez, the company takes pride in its 8-fermentation process for each of its leaves that go into each of the Recluse’s product lines. Scott Weeks of Recluse Cigars sent in samples for this review of the Draconian.

Cigar: Iconic Leaf Recluse Cigars Draconian

Blend Specifics:

Vitola: Box-pressed Robusto 5”x52

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Maduro

Binder: MBC (proprietary)

Filler: Brazilian and Dominican

Appearance and Construction

The Draconian has a slight dark to milk chocolate complexion wrapper, with minimal veins and a smooth texture with a slight oily sheen. Dense packing and an even spongy give throughout. Features a double cap, ribbon foot-band and a second label band. Nice construction and presentation.

Smoke and Flavor Characteristics:

Cold Aromas: The wrapper gives off a rich chocolate and not much else. The foot shows more chocolate with a hint of coffee, sweet tobacco, and a touch of white pepper. The cold draw presents a bit of earth with a gravel-y mineral taste.

First Third: The Draconian is very easy to draw and provides plumes of creamy smoke almost immediately. The retohale is also quite easy and satisfying early on. Chocolate and espresso bean abound, the blend is very smooth and balanced. There’s a touch of earth and leather here and there but they aren’t major players at this point. Burn line is a little less than razor sharp due to a small tear in the wrapper but quickly fixes itself and other than that the burn is phenomenal and the performance is good. A bit more leather and earth start to push on to the palate, with also a slight dry mouth feel. The aroma is a mix of leather, earth, salt, and a little cedar. The finish is long lasting and takes on a characteristic of chocolate and sweet tobacco. The body is medium to full, the flavor is medium to full and the strength is medium. The ash fell off as one chunk at 1.25”.

Second Third: The second third doesn’t see much change from the first in terms of profile, but there is a new element that enters. There’s a sort of twang-y note, not fruity or citrusy but somewhere along the lines of that affect. The blend stays smooth and balanced and still producing plumes of creamy smoke, with a long finish and an exceptionally smooth retrohale. Chocolate and espresso bean still dominate but are almost equally matched with the leather and earth combo, which provides a nice interplay and subtle complexities. So far, there hasn’t been any pepper or spice detected and allows for a very easy smoke. The body is still holding at medium to full, flavor at medium to full and the strength at medium. Removing both bands goes fairly easy and applied using self-adhesive glue.

Final Third: More of a dry mineral grit has come into the fold but not overwhelming the other notes. The burn line is still razor sharp and the ash formation has been consistent throughout. The notes are still holding up the same and quite pleasantly. The Draconian is a very consistent smoke with a lot of attention to detail. The smoke is very cool and dry burning and the aroma is still nice as well. As the cigar winds down to the nub, the mineral grit becomes the focus of the profile, with the leather and earth still holding the middle and the chocolate fading into the backdrop. The blend finishes at a solid medium to full in body, flavor and strength.

Final Thoughts

The Recluse Draconian proves to be a very consistent blend and touts to recluse as a company for their attention to detail all their brand lines. While not overly complex, the blend has a great deal subtle interplay between its notes, and they work very well together. The palate jumps around a lot between chocolate and espresso bean to leather and earth, to a touch of gravel here and there. The cigar is fairly dry through the session and lacks any presence of spice and pepper, which also makes this a great novice cigar or to anyone looking for a smoke that lacks the spice characteristic. The profile is a solid medium to full, which makes this a good afternoon and before dinner cigar.

The smoking time was 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Grade: A