Of recognized excellence (7)
I believe the answer is:
classic
'of recognized excellence' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is the entire clue.
(Other definitions for classic that I've seen before include "Flat race" , "Eg, screw thread" , "work of the highest quality" , "Great piece of creative writing" , "Judged over a long period to be of high quality" .)