Vitola: Canonazo- 6.5” x 56 ring gauge
- ~$10.60
- Samples provided by ATL Cigar Company
Background
I started my look at blends from the ATL Cigar Co. last week. If you missed my look at Libertad, check it out HERE.
One of the items I touched on in the review of the Libertad was that I thought the company was going to have some trouble gaining traction outside the Atlanta area simple because they chose a name so tied to the city. To be fair, much of the verbiage on their website has to do with “connected Atlanta” and bringing the city closer together and about how they are available at stores across the metro Atlanta area. Granted, there are a lot of stores in metro Atlanta…but eventually they will want to grow the brand and I think the messaging will need to change.
That brings me to Good Trouble, named for Atlanta congressman and civil rights icon, John Lewis, who famously said “Never, ever be afraid to make some noise; get into good trouble, necessary trouble.” I’m also going to dedicate this cigar to the Atlanta Braves and their win in the National League Championship Series over my beloved Dodgers…by the time you read this the Braves will have either won or lost the World Series (spoiler alert: They Won! And the road to the World Series Championship runs through the Dodgers for 6 years in a row), but last night they won the NLCS and this cigar is a fitting tribute to them, as well, as they represent the city on the world stage.
Good Trouble is a Nicaraguan blend using fillers from Condega, Jalapa, and Esteli. It has dual binders from Indonesia and Nicaragua (Ometepe), and is finished in an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper leaf. They are available in 3 sizes: Robusto, Gordo, and this Canonazo that I am smoking today. I can’t find any reference to where this cigar is made; their other 3 blends all state what company they worked with to produce the blend, but Good Trouble does not.
I have smoked this blend twice before this review sample. All 3 of those sticks were provided by ATL Cigar Company.
Prelight
Once again they have “color-coded” the cigar…same band design as the Libertad, but different color. Good Trouble is a cream-color off-white background with “ATL” in red, the rest of the text in black, and plenty of gold foil decoration all around. As I stated in my earlier review of Libertad, it’s a nice design.
The wrapper leaf had a medium-brown color with a good amount of oiliness and aromas of fresh hay, natural tobacco, and cedar. The foot had a more complex mix of earth, cocoa powder, hay, and cedar.
Once clipped, the cold draw was excellent and had a mix of grassy and woody notes mostly, along with a slight syrupy sweetness.
Flavor
The Good Trouble lit up easily and evenly providing notes of citrus sweetness, grassiness, and light earth. There was a little white pepper in the mix and the retrohale had that syrupy sweetness from the prelight. As the first third continued on I noted that this blend was fairly mild for a Nicaraguan blend and totally defied the notion that “darker cigars are stronger.”
The second third had more grassiness and citrus sweetness with an increase in pepper spice, although never to a point that it became dominant. Body was still in the mild-to-medium range.
Into the final third, the body never rose above the mild-to-medium zone, but it still delivered a nice flavor that pushed more earth and cedar above the grass and citrus sweetness.
Construction
I had a solid ash, even enough burn line, and excellent draw.
Value
Good cigar for a very fair price.
Conclusions
ATL Cigar Company’s Good Trouble is a nice milder entry into their lineup—something that will appeal to a broad range of smokers without overwhelming them. I found it to be good from end-to-end, although lacking a bit of complexity that I would like to see throughout the experience. It is a great example of how a Nicaraguan cigar with a Habano wrapper can still be on the milder side.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
