John Cotton's Nos. 1 & 2 Medium

Warren:
I've only read about John Cotton tobacco. Is it still made?
Fnord

I've only read about John Cotton tobacco. Is it still made?

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The John Cotton mixes are being recreated by the fine folks at Standard Tobacco of Pennsylvania. Russ Ouellette is the blender.
The JC #1&2 Medium have more latakia, but I still find it well balanced in a different way than the mild. There is, to me, a very satisfying sense of proportion to all of the STP JC blends.

This is very interesting, Warren. We've done a few tastings at pipe clubs, and it's the Smyrna that usually steals the spotlight. A few weeks ago, Russ and I were up at the New York Pipe Club picnic and the 1&2 Medium was gone by the end of the day, while the No.1 Mild was almost untouched. On Monday, we were at The Christopher Morley Pipe Club in Philadelphia, and the No.1 Mild not only won the popularity contest, but someone walked off with the entire bag at the end of the night. The 1&2 bag was only half empty, but I think all of that was smoked by club prez Bruce Blum, who asked me to sell him the rest of the bag. I was happy to gift it to him as a thank you for their hospitality.
To me, the 1&2 Medium and Smyrna are the closest cousins. The No.1 Mild stands clearly by itself. Perception is a fascinating thing...it's one more reason that I love this hobby.

EDIT: Just comparing the John Cotton's. War Horse has been, hands-down, the most popular of our 5 blends. Bengal Slices is running neck and neck with the JC's.
And in last place, by 20 lengths...Beetlebaum!

...and it's the Smyrna that usually steals the spotlight.

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That's my favorite so far.
I'll need to retry Warhorse again to see if it still has that background flavor I detected and definitely will try the plug.

Thank you, Jesse.
Fnord

Hi

There is a big difference between John Cotton 1 and John Cotton 1&2. John Cotton 1 finds the Virginia tobacco in the forefront with a clear presentation of the Oriental addition as well. To my palate the Latakia, while there is less forward than JC 1&2 more condiment nicely blended with the other two .John Cotton 1&a2 the Latakia is more forward with the Virginia and Oriental tobaccos playing supporting roles. There are many factors besides palate that might be affecting the taste like the pipe's condition (Is the pipe truly clean and/or Latakia dedicated, properly functioning etc. ?), the tobacco's moisture content, food & beverage, oral hygiene, bowls sampled etc. If you compare John Cotton 1&2 with JC Smyrna and their other Latakia forward blends the differences are more subtle then comparing them to JC 1. This is the major reason why I suggest looking at different causes.

This is an intriguing thread. I've studied the specs on these blends from time to time. They seemed too mild and not distinctive enough from the specs and text. There's some hair-splitting in these posts that makes me think there must be something pretty alluring here. Several people have smoked two or more versions of these blends. I'm not diving to order, but if I see a sale, I will have to consider them once again. Someone has probably sorted out the three new versions of Old Joe Krantz, maybe jiminks; that would be another rumination on subtlety.

Some tasting notes. http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/pax-crawl-2-16-standard-tobacco-blends

John Cotton's #1 was the accursed devil's weed that ensnared me into this scene 15 months ago.
I just reviewed that old "group sampler thread", csharp. That was interesting. Thanks.
I tossed my JC 1&2, as well as my Smyrna, into the cellar pile unsampled. Maybe it's time to give them a go.