Although combustion and neutralization can release energy, that is not the definition of a reaction that releases energy.
The names that are related to how the energy changes on a chemical reaciton are "exothermic" and "endothermic".
One of them is the name for reactions that release energy, and the other for reaction that absorbs energy.
To remember which is which, we can look at the begining of the word. "exo" gets the idea that is outwards, and "endo" that is inwards, so exothermic are the reactions that release energy and endothermic are the reactions that absorb energy.
Since we want the name for one that releases, the correct answer is "is exothermic."