John Cotton’s Double-Pressed Virginia
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Kyle Weiss - Apr 15, 2020
- 6 min read
It seems like an eternity since I’ve sat down and written about tobacco, and it’s been a little less than a month. In that month, it’s been wild watching the world change so much. I enjoy relating my observations of the world as a connection with my pipe tobacco reviews, because for me, it dictates what I smoke, how I smoke and where I do it. More importantly, I think it’s a connection between the world and why I smoke a pipe. It’s a personal and very human connection. The streets are almost without traffic, casinos and shops are closed down around me, and shopping is more of a tactical operation in timing and taking what one can get. Face masks and gloves are the new hot look this spring, gas prices are plummeting, jobs are being scaled back and lost, and many people are downright scared. There’s quarantines and shelter-in-place orders nearly everywhere. It’s anyone’s guess how much panic is necessary at this point, but the world hasn’t seen a sickness scare like this in quite a while. It’d be irresponsible of me to happily go on like nothing was wrong, and whether it’s COVID-19 itself, the phalanx of news, or consumer panic, these strange times are going to be with us for a while. Still, enough has been said about this already and numbers assessed every day, so I really don’t need to add to the pile. I sincerely extend my wish that everyone reading this is doing what is necessary and appropriate for the health of themselves, their loved ones, family, friends and community.
As a pipe smoker, it’s simply another time of reflection. While I’m lucky enough to be an essential employee with my full-time job, there’s not a lot to do. Who knew how much time we wasted buying stuff, eating and drinking? Walking, hiking, bike riding and other outdoor activities are essential for many people. I think a pipeful is one of the more positive social-distancing things a person can do, plus it truly imparts a meditative stance while also taking the edge off.
This month, I’m going to tell you about John Cotton’s Double-Pressed Virginia. Released at the most recent Chicago Pipe Show, it was the tobacco that won the 2019 Chicago Bowl last year. The interesting thing about the production of this tobacco is the classic pressing, cutting, and re-pressing that goes into this. Pressure and time do a lot of good for tobacco, bringing out character and flavor that otherwise would not be there. I’d like to add the tobacco tins are attractive, as they nod back to a time when graphics were simple, uniquely-fonted and printed with limited colors.
Upon opening the tin, John Cotton’s DPV smells like the rind of a fresh lime. The amount of bright citrus attitude wasn’t topped, fake or forced, but I was surprised how pleasantly sweet and acidic it smelled. Inside the tin lays a block of compressed, crumbly ribbons that have a warm, dark oaken color. The moisture content is just about right for what I like to smoke, not too sticky and not corn-flakes crispy. Loading this tobacco into a bowl takes an extra step to rough-up the compressed ribbons, but it’s a cinch to pack and takes a flame readily. I chose cobs specifically for this tobacco, because I’ve become quite fond of the flavor and performance of my more seasoned cobs when it comes to Virginia. I’m sure any briar or meerschaum will do just fine, this was simply my personal preference.
The first lights often didn’t yield much flavor, surprisingly. DPV tastes at first of basic Virginia tobacco, with no hints of grassy notes. It isn’t until the tamping settles the top does the flavor come through more, and it’s a pleasantly, naturally sweet smoke, with lots of smoke and great mouth-feel, but not overwhelming in body. There’s a pleasant paprika-like sweet-and-tart note, distant hints of molasses and a clean woodsy flavors. It’s a lot milder in both nicotine and brightness than I was expecting from the initial color and smell it presents while in the tin. The curls of smoke that I managed to catch coming from the bowl didn’t suggest a cigarette-like or offensive quality, as room note of many Virginia-only blends can be a concern for some in this regard.
About mid-bowl, I notice the tobacco opening up a little into the citrus realm it promised when I was first exploring the contents of the tin. The lime-like smell is only on the tobacco in the tin for the first day or so, but it’s hard to forget. The body of the smoke increases at this point, and there’s hints of grapefruit and a mild wheatiness to the flavor. This is one of the milder Virginia pipe tobaccos I’ve smoked in a while. There’s nothing bold or declarative from DPV; I’m sure that wasn’t the purpose of this tobacco. While being mild, it has that hint of “life” that hasn’t been cured, pressed and mucked with too much so that it still tastes and pleases like real tobacco. It has just enough sweetness and flavor to keep the senses happy, and just enough easygoing nature to keep the tongue from wearing out. I was fond of drinking a small cup of iced bourbon with this tobacco, and I imagine a quality rum would also compliment this smoke extremely well.
The end of the bowl experience is a final theme, gathering all elements of DPV since the first light and bringing them to the forefront. The citrus nature is probably the least of all, which still surprises me, but the mouth-feel is full and the wheat/grain nose with an increase of the molasses flavors are held together by a bittersweet flavor that reminds me of young snap peas. Even in the final puffs, there is nothing but a clean finish with no tarry aftertaste, no biting heat, no rampant acidity or ashy drabness. One point of note I found to be fantastic was how dry this tobacco smoked time after time: no gurgling, drips, bowl-sizzles or need for a pipe cleaner while smoking for that matter, and that’s something of a feat!
John Cotton’s Double-Pressed Virginia is not a statement-making tobacco, it’s one simply meant to be smoked. Moreover, it’s a tobacco to be smoked all day long, doing any old sort of thing you wish. The nicotine content is mild to moderate, and the clean, simple flavor really does the trick. I can’t say anyone will be bowled over with flavor complexity or dynamic changes to the palate, but there’s nothing terrible about this tobacco. It’s subtle without serious complexity, and it’s pretty darned good. I’d probably say the traditional and simple pressing and cutting technique before it goes out on the shelf is key here, as sometimes the old ways can yield the best results. The one thing I kept thinking while getting to know this tin is what a great introduction to Virginia tobaccos this would be for someone who isn’t familiar with them. There are certainly more popular or hyped Virginia blends out there, and sometimes these can be hard to find or rough on the bank account. Often they “require” years to age to bring out the best results, and I believe DPV can be smoked right away with no wait necessary.
As if it hasn’t been said enough, stay safe and healthy, everyone. Don’t forget to enrich your life even if things are a little weird at the moment. Get out and do things provided it isn’t endangering you or others. Don’t forget to wash your hands frequently. The world is still very much alive, and the new green of the season is a testament to that fact. If you can’t immediately support favorite local brick-and-mortar tobacconist (which I always highly suggest), there’s great online purveyors of tobacco linked all over this page—give them a visit, and have them send you a tin of John Cotton’s Double-Pressed if you’d like.
- Editor Rating
- Rated 5 stars
- Spectacular
- John Cotton's Double-Pressed Virginia
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The one thing I kept thinking while getting to know this tin is what a great introduction to Virginia tobaccos this would be for someone who isn't familiar with them. There are certainly more popular or hyped Virginia blends out there, and sometimes these can be hard to find or rough on the bank account. Often they "require" years to age to bring out the best results, and I believe DPV can be smoked right away with no wait necessary.
Written by Kyle Weiss
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Soon now, supposedly, our neighborhoods will shift from grinning pumpkins, skeletons in various assortments, and zombies dashing about to pretty reindeer, angels, and flashing lights illuminating homes with sparkling stars and laughing, scurrying Santas. But, lest we forget, there is the turkey season, fancy pie aromas wafting from kitchens, and a national pardon of a big Tom Turkey. Remember, now, that only one of these holiday personalities is a pipe smoker. And that is the hefty, bearded fellow in a bright red suit sitting in a sleigh with a herd of deer hitched up and ready to streak across the globe, bringing tidings of joy and many presents. Ok, the scene is set for the next couple of months, right? So, before we get too far off the beaten path, let’s just take a deep breath of fresh autumn air, shall we? Ahh. That’s better, isn’t it? What’s got the Pundit in a snit is not all the Halloween spooks who came a-jostling for candy. Or the wild turkeys gobbling in the backwoods or all the fuss and feathers over the big one—Christmas. No, it is that we might need to take note of all the little things that mean so much to us. Like a good sunrise (seriously, Pundit has not gone all Pollyanna.) Mayhaps we need to appreciate more of what we have than what we have not. Or something like that. Like, a good pipe in the morning with coffee as the dawn brings us coolish weather now that we have flipped the calendar to autumn. But it also brings beautiful leaves that have become a spectacle of technicolor in the wind. It is the little things. The rereading of an enjoyable book and finding something you did not see or learn in the first go-round. Or a stunning phrase you commit to memory with the re-read, while smoking that favorite pipe. And you notice a superior puff that just seems to be different. It’s in the air and the seasons of meaningful little things. It’s aromatic! Or perhaps it is that sense of satisfaction knowing and appreciating you made it to another day. With the world in a kind of rinse-and-repeat history, reminiscent of a Shakespearean play, it is perhaps a good moment to remember some of Pipedom’s philosophers whose cogent thoughts brought light to clear a path in the mists of confusion and confounding opinions. Ok. No gloom and doom. Just some down-home thoughts. Think of times in the past when history was running off the rails. It took our pipe-smoking thinkers (the mind workers of the world) to speak of better pathways to more light. Think for a moment, with a pipe in hand, these wizards of the world and word: Albert Einstein, J. R.R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edwin Hubble, Bertrand Russell, C. S. Lewis, and Jean-Paul Sartre. All learned and enlightened. They offered wisdom instead of storms of meaningless roads to nowhere. All while smoking their pipes! Maybe especially with the help of their pipes in the art of thinking and philosophy. Recall the words of Mr. E=MC2 when he said, “I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgment in all human affairs.” Amen and amen! Dealing with world-rattling events takes a calm and objective view of things, to the Pundit’s way of summing it up. You just don’t go messing around with quantum physics without a calm and objective approach, methinks. Or as the extraordinary physicist Robert Oppenheimer said after he and a team in the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos Labs developed a way to split atoms into bombs during World War II. “I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” said Oppenheimer referring to the development of the first nuclear bombs dropped on Japan. It must be pointed out that Oppenheimer was more of a cigarette smoker than a pipe smoker. Nonetheless, pipes were part of his personality. Now, if you have read some of the great authors of the past and present, their pipes were always nearby. Reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle can be a three-pipe problem at times. S. Lewis and Jean-Paul Sartre require time with your pipes to reflect on the existential problems and solutions these authors provide in learned novels and other narratives. Or take Edwin Hubble and Bertrand Russell, philosophers of another world. Pipes are required for reading. The quantum lode of ideas Pundit is attempting to sort out is that our pipes are relaxing and stimulate our thoughts and creativity. Especially in these last months of the year. Many times Pundit has had that light bulb flick on while smoking my beloved pipes. And friends in Pipedom, it ain’t easy to turn on the lights in Pundit’s rock pit head. Now it’s time for a quote from a Pipe Smoker of the Past. Shelby Foote was born Nov. 17, 1916, in Greenville, Miss., and died June 27, 2005, in Memphis, Tenn. A fact is not a truth until you love it—Shelby Foote. A parting thought: It is said that famed Southern author William Faulkner carried a packed pipe in a coat pocket wherever he went. That’s one effective way to deal with workday conflicts and confusion. A calm and objective judgment in our everyday human affairs, as the quantum man said.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 633. Our featured guest tonight is Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and the accompanying online store. We’ll have JD and Brian talking about what’s new at the store and in the business in general. At the top of the show, Brian will discuss tobacco growing, what happens to the leaf, and provide updated information on where tobacco is being gown today. Tobacco production originated in the United States and we were once the #1 producer. It’s quite different now.
Well there’s nothing like a touch of the plague to usher in the changing season. Leaving the airport just when the first advertisements for all things pumpkin spice began to appear—lattes, muffins, shampoos, trash bags, and myriad other concoctions—so, too, my ability to breathe freely disappeared. The unfortunate side effect of losing one’s sense of taste and smell for weeks is the utter inability to enjoy tobacco. Not that I consider myself an expert on anything but my own tastes, but be forewarned that this review was made with mildly impugned sensory equipment. Just when a comforting pipe was most needed, its comfort was denied. Be that as it may, the road to recovery found me limping along on one lung this past month, trying to wrest the particulars of two blends on offer from Sutliff: the latest 175th Anniversary blend, Silver Quarter, as well as their spooky seasonal Maple Shadows II. Silver Quarter is a new style on offer from Sutliff, their first coin-cut blend. Naturally a Virginia-Perique, it is enhanced with a traditional core of black Cavendish. In the tin it holds much promise, with a lightly bready and very woody, if ever-so-slightly sour, aroma. After some time acclimating to air, the bouquet softens further and offers hints of the burley with some chocolaty notes wafting through the more dominant dry grassy aspect. The tin art is of a coin-style bas-relief bust, presumably of a founding Sutliff brother, à la The Old Boss On the reverse of the tin we find the blend’s description: Reflecting on Sutliffs 175 years of tobacco excellence, we came across a brand that embodies true value, SILVER QUARTER. This name pays homage to Sutliffs roots, the legacy of two brothers who popularized pipe smoking in the burgeoning mining society of San Francisco. We celebrate this heritage with a coin cut composed of the finest African Virginias, complemented by a core of Perique and Black Cavendish. The tin notes are, forgive the pun, on the nose for a good VaPer blend: mild tart sweetness peeking out from behind dried hay and slight chocolate undertones, with a lightly tannic finish of weathered oak. It is always a joy to prepare a coin cut, my preference being to put a few in my palm and vigorously warm my hands together to fully break them apart. These well-formed discs pack and light easily, and smoke with little prodding to the end of the bowl. For technical points it scores well—it smokes light, and it’s easy to tend the ember. While it gets sharp after a few quick bowls, pacing should be heeded to easily smoke down to the heel without inviting bite. Of the flavor, though, I am left a bit wanting. There are tart and high notes aplenty, but very little of the lemony citrus I would anticipate, as well as scant midtones; they tend more toward the red wine-vinegary and sour. The flavors are muted, also, lacking the sweetness and piquancy of other marques—the small measure of Perique tickles the nose now and again with peppery hints, and there is a smidge of a deeper sweetness to be found in the Cavendish from puff to puff, but overall it lacks some dynamism. The Virginias, to my palate, come off a bit on the dry side, and here they dominate the blend. The aftertaste and mouthfeel are neutral, again evincing more of the dry, woody, tartly tannic end of the spectrum. The blend has plenty of polish, but not enough depth or richness (*yet) to make it a standout. Here, comparisons are inevitable: Luxury Bullseye Flake has more sweetness, both from its Virginia as well as its Cavendish, and a better finish; Davidoff is similar but with a pronounced umami that is absent here; as for Escudo, I haven’t had any fresh tins lately so it would be unfair to compare. While it rates as a solid, fairly mild smoke, particularly to lovers of the genre, it does not surprise with any exceptional flavors. To be fair, all the boxes have been checked for the blend to benefit from some real aging, and it would be worth checking in on this after a couple of years sealed away. I’ve set half my tin aside to sample again in a month or two, in case I’m merely suffering from the lingering effects of parosmia, and will amend this review in that case. Maple Shadows II, on the other hand, made up for the weeks of sniffling and sneezing I’d endured. Offered in a full 8 ounce tin with delightfully spooky Halloween art, it’s (hopefully) enough to last through the season. Somehow I had missed this last year, so it’s a real pleasure to get some in my candy bucket this year. As the chilling winds of autumn draw eerie prattle from contorted, deciduous limbs, we find ourselves possessed by the spirit of the season. Bewitched by a dissonant charm, we’ve created Maple Shadows. In a season that is defined by the unlikely harmony of treats and frights, we’ve joined the enchanting sweetness of maple with the earthy spice of Dark Fired Kentucky for a smoking experience that captures the senses with an otherworldly fusion of flavor. This may be the best aromatic blend Sutliff’s ever made—and they make a ton of them. First off, it’s not overbearing in the least—quite the opposite, it is also one of the more restrained aromatics they’ve ever made, with a clear but very light topping that melds oh-so-well with their choice Kentucky added to the mix. Opening the tin, the sweet maple is up front and center, but so too is the must of fallen leaves, bready pie crusts, and a crackling fire in the hearth—a perfect invocation of Herbstdüfte in a can. Packing best in an open and capacious bowl, the flavoring is subtle, and recedes to the background while puffing. With a sweet coffee or tea to accompany, the aftertaste of the maple is reinvigorated on the palate […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 632. Our featured guest on tonight’s show is the host of the Pipe & Tamper Podcast, Mike Murphy. Brian and Mike will have an extended chat revolving around the days before, during and after the Las Vegas International Pipe Show. We will hear about their travels to the show and the anxiety of Hurricane Milton bearing down on Florida at the same time while running a show and not knowing if your house is going to be there when you get home. In the end, the show went great and our homes survived, although many others in Florida were not so lucky. We’ll have clips from the show, and shoutouts to other podcasts and vlogs that were broadcasting from the pipe show.
Vegas Baby The show started out strong on the 14th floor hospitality suites hosted by the Vegas Pipe Show and Smoking Pipes as well as room hopping to carvers, estate sellers, and vendors to pre-game for the festivities. If you’re interested in what that looks like I’ll refer you to last years pipe show round up. I circled with Brian Levine to get the totals in comparison to last year: This year’s show numbers: 108 Exhibitor tables, 445 attendees, 3,250 Raffle Tickets, 100ish dinners, 172 Rooms in the Hotel. Last year, by comparison, 107 exhibitor tables, 425 attendees, 2,200 raffle tickets, 104 dinners, and 175 rooms on Friday and Saturday nights. We were at capacity, basically, when it came to vendor tables and the dinner, so there is no physical room for growth at this point except for attendees. That said, we filled that smoking lounge to the brim. New Carvers Spotlight Garret Woo (Pipes by Woo) How long have you been carving? Garret: I’ve been carving since 2021, and I’m guessing your next question is probably how’d you get started carving? James: Yes. Garret: In 2021 I took a break from my full time job – that included machining and assembly work and I thought maybe it was time I made something that I would like and I started looking at youtube and Instagram and putting together my shop. I did struggle on the stems to start and there was a lot of failure at the beginning. James: How many pipes have you made so far? Garret: I number my pipes, so I just finished up 186. James: What is your favorite shape you’ve been making? Garret: I really dig Canadians and pipes with longer shanks and lovat Canadian blends. I like to play with different shapes of stems on the longer shanked pipes. The billiard would be my go-to shape but I want to learn more techniques on freehanded shapes. I like to put brass and copper adornments on my pipes with my machining background it helps. James: What is the craziest thing you’ve seen at this show? Garret: The first thing that comes to mind is the table over there with C-Pipes with the shapes and the size and petiteness and the intricate details they did. You can check out what Garret is working on by going to his Instagram. Stefan Cashwell James: how long have you been carving? Stefan: about 3 years. James: What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen at the show? Stefan: The Adam Davidson pipe with the clear shape and the bamboo—I don’t know if it’s 3D printed or what, but it’s amazing. James: What’s your favorite shape to do? Stefan: That’s a tough question. I think they’re all the same shape, but what’s fascinating is that Dublin, volcano, and blowfish are all the same depending on how you turn them. Playing with that, with all its variations, is a lot of fun. My favorite accent to use is also horn; it’s finicky, but it’s a great accent on pipes. You can check out Stefan’s work on his Instagram. Science: Meet Pipes I chatted with Chris from the San Diego Pipe Club; he started off doing stem replacements for estate pipes but also improved the airflow. James: How are you doing 3d printing? What is the thought process? Chris: It’s a 3D-printed pipe with a briar insert. The design is a calabash meets a Peterson system meets a metal Falcon/Kirsten radiator style. It is a bottom draft smoking bowl like a radiator like those metal pipes. The inside chamber is a calabash. The stummel and accent rings in the stems are all 3d printed. The insert is briar, olive wood, or I have the potential to use meerschaum as well. This idea came about through the San Diego Pipe Club, wanting to see if we could 3D print a pipe and being curious about the technology; I have a printer and design ability, so here we are. James: What’s the type of plastic you’re using? Chris: It’s all PLA plastic, a renewable potato starch plastic that is food-safe. The stummels are printed with a plastic that has wood in it 40% wood fiber, bamboo, rosewood, ebony, redwood, and walnut are the woods I’m printing. For the accent rings I just got a new material that I’m printing that has 40% copper, so its real metal that you can sand, and polish the same as wood filament. The stems are 3d printed as well. The concept is renewable and cheap from a production standpoint, with the ability to make a very high quality smoking pipe based on the experience. By combining the calabash system pipe and bottom draft hole and using 3d simulations to see airflow, I can see where I’m having eddies and ripples in my current, and see where my moisture and all the particles are dropping back out from a vapor to a liquid. Most people who have tried these say the stems are clean, and they don’t even have to run a pipe cleaner afterward because everything collects at the bottom. Chris has also been experimenting with color-changing plastics so you can see the hotspots. Chris said he was able to use this to slow down his cadence, which, of course, could mean you could get a slow-smoke training pipe to teach yourself to perform better. If you’re interested in learning more or want to check one out, you can contact him on Instagram: Copper Beard Pipe Works The Negative Space The show was buzzing about one specific pipe, which had everyone guessing how it was made. I chatted with Adam Davidson briefly about it. James: How did this idea come to fruition? Adam Davidson: Smokingpipes.com had an expo back in August open to all of the makers they carry. The theme was to make a pipe utilizing bamboo. Given that the last time we had the expo I made a smooth Almond with three bamboo shanks, […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 631. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with pipe maker Dan Keller from Good Made Better. Dan is from South Dakota. Growing up working in the family hardware store where he was always finding solutions to fixing things, he ended up always wanting to make things. He now makes elegant handmade pens, pen holders, portable desks, blotters, blotting paper, book carry cases, and of course artisan pipes. At the top of the show we are continuing the virtual tour of Brian’s pipes with his “f#@k you pipes”.
Thanks for yet another well written and comprehensive review.
Is this a new John Cotton blend or a redo of an older blend?
I’ve only smoked one bowl of this (from the tin of a fellow pipe clubber) and I was pleasantly surprised. For a freshly tinned Virginia it was remarkably smooth and without any bite for me. It had a mild, pleasant sweetness that endured until the last puff. I don’t know why I haven’t purchased a few tins for my tobacco dungeon.
Thanks, gents
kcghost—To my knowledge it is new as of last year, being (one of) the darlin(s) of the 2019 Chicago Pipe Show. That’s what I hear, anyway ?