John Cotton John Cotton's Smyrna

The pouch note is smoky latakia and some sweet/sour. The tobacco itself looks like roughly equal parts of light yellow, brown and black chopped narrow ribbon. It came at a good moisture level for me and the short ribbon is easy to load. I smoked it mostly in a Cayuga pot or a a GBD Prehistoric pot. They smoked it about the same.

Smoking it brings out all the flavors in the pouch note. It has sweet and sour. The campfire smokiness is there and gains and loses strength. The Virginia is a little grassy and has a fruit note now and then. The spiciness is always in the background. The description here sounds complex, and it is. The tastes play nicely together and make for a great combo. It might take some practice to smoke this absent-mindedly while doing something else, but it might be worth setting some time aside too.

It was an easy smoke, and it burned cool, stayed lit, etc. It did not leave any moisture in the pipe. While it did not smoke to a fine gray ash since there were some black cinders in the bottom of the bowl, it was pretty close to achieving this legendary state o' combustion.

I am claiming strength is medium and taste is medium to full. This blend was very good, and it is in a crowded category with a lot of competition for the tobacco dollar. This is a solid 3+.

Received a sample of this to try in my tin society box. Never had a chance to try prior versions of this, but they are now on my "hope to find someday list".

In the bag/tin had a spicy, smoky smell. I enjoy Turkish tobaccos and used to smoke camels, so I packed the bowl with the easy to pack ribbons and was able to fire up my Castello Bulldog without even a charring light.

First thing I noticed was lots of creamy smoke. It burns cool and produced clouds of smoke. I know we're not vapors.. but its nice to get white clouds sometimes too..

Taste was a combination led by the Smyrna and complimented by the latakias. Consistent through each bowl from start to finish with no major changes. Very consistent and stay lit without any major relights, except when I set it down for 5 minutes.

This is a blend I could see smoking all day as the nic hit was mild to my taste and there was no bite. I'm going to be getting some of this to cellar and add it to my normal rotation.

A pretty nice smoke. The Turkish leads with some sour wood, a touch of butter and a hint of florals. The Lat isn't far behind with a nice smoky note. The Virginias add a little sweetness and only a smidge of flavor. Has a bit of spice, mostly from the Turkish. It's smooth, but can burn quick with a little heat. Tends to dry out the mouth so a drink to go with it is a good idea.

Medium in body and taste. No added flavoring. Burns a little too well.

tin note is woody/sour and rich, smokey latakia. The first 1/4 of the bowl is spicy and woody with the sweet smokey Latakia in support. As the bowl progresses the sweetness of the VA comes through and a buttery sweerness plays nicely with the still spicy and woody Turkish leaf.I get a buttered popcorn note around mid bowl...every time in every pipe. Interesting. Nicotine is medium and aftertaste is pleasant. Smokes best on the dry side.

This is the good stuff right here - smoky Latakia, perfumed Turkish, and deep, sweet Virginia all balanced together to play to their strengths. This is what I think of when I think of an English blend, so maybe “full” is the tag I should be looking for.

Smyrna starts good and stays there. I wouldn’t call it complex, it’s kind of the same throughout. Not all blends need to be a wild ride full of changing flavors, this one makes the most out of a classic combination of tastes.

I appreciate the quality of the cut and the apparent moderate use of humectant - it will burn clean straight out of the tin, and if you want to dry it to crispy it will get there quickly. No fighting an overwhelming dose of propylene glycol here, whatever they’ve done to maintain moisture is just perfect in my book.

Smyrna is this new blender's crown jewel.

Manufactured by Scandinavian Tobacco Group, Lane Ltd. Tucker Georgia.

4 yr old Jar note of sweet wine, smoky, and spices. Tobacco is tan and brown with a little black mixed in. Moisture content is good to go, no prep needed. Burns moderate with few relights. The strength is medium and nic is mild. No flavoring detected. Taste is medium to full and mostly consistent, with notes of sweet herbal spices, smoky, spicy/peppery, bitter wood, toasted bread, floral, lemon zest, earth, musty dry vegetation, incense, a peaty sour fermented background note, and a peppery retro. Latakia is barely leading over Oriental/Turkish, and Virginias are supporting. Room note is tolerable, and aftertaste is great.

Yet another fine addition to this line that has been reintroduced by Russ Ouellette's great blending skills. All the components come together to work quite well together. The nicotine level is a bit less than I would like but really can't complain too much. A freshly opened tin has the right amount of moisture to not need any drying time before lighting up. The tin note and room note are great. Overall highly recommended.

This was a very dry tobacco right out of the tin; perfect for smoking immediately. The latakia and turkish play off each other, with the virginia tying it all together. A very creamy taste, with a little spice from the Smyrna. Not being a latakia nut, I would have liked a little less in this blend. Never smoked the original on which this is based, but found this incarnation to be very appealing. It's not an all day blend for me, but certainly a late evening repast. Very cool smoking and somewhat delicious. I still prefer Cotton's No. 1& 2 which has less latakia and is smoother to my taste buds.

Yes,I love this blend.Yes,Mr.Russ Ouellette is by far the best blender of this century with Fred Hanna close up.But,honestly,brothers in briar,do you feel really any serious difference with,for instance,Dunhill London Mixture by Orlik?Not me.I´ll happily smoke this tin,maybe some more,but IMHO the increasing of price is not justifyed.In short,splendid tobacco,worth to try but some expensive and non so special.If were sold at the same price would be a little preferable to Danhills.