2012 Throwdown aims to reincarnate John Cotton's Nos. 1&2 Medium
Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 7:35AM | Neill Archer Roan | Permalink tagged Altadis, Craig Cobine, John Cotton, John Cotton Throwdown, Jon Guss, Leonard Wortzel, Matt Guss, Paul Creasy, Russ Ouellette, Steve Books, Sutliff Tobacco Company | in Pipe Clubs, Pipe Shows, Pipe Tobaccos, Vintages 
The Seattle and New York Pipe Clubs–organizers of the 2011 Balkan Sobranie Throwdown–announce a new edition of the event for the Chicago Pipe Show this coming May. This year’s competition is the John Cotton Throwdown, featuring John Cotton Nos. 1&2 Medium.
The John Cotton Throwdown is sponsored by Sutliff Tobacco Company,
an Altadis company.
Do pipe smokers love vintage tobacco blends? If heated pursuits of old favorites on eBay are a reliable indicator, you betcha.
Prices have reached nearly unimaginable levels. Nine days ago, on March 4th, a sealed, full, 2 ounce tin of Balkan Sobranie 759 sold for a whopping $1,325! Although this is a recent high, it is not at all uncommon for 759 to sell for $300 to $700 for a sealed flat tin.
Throwdown Organizer and Emcee Matt GussHow the Throwdown came to be
Great tobacco vintages are highly sought after. It is precisely for this reason that the concept of a tobacco-blender Throwdown was conceived by brothers Matt and Jon Guss. Would it be possible for today’s master tobacco blenders to recreate legendary vintages? If so, imagine how happy today’s pipe smokers would feel to be able to enjoy ready access to them.
Russ Ouellette’s Black House - 2011 Throwdown WinnerIf Russ Ouellette’s Black House or McClelland’s Blue Mountain are among your favorite English pipe tobacco blends, thank the producers of last year’s BALKAN SOBRANIE THROWDOWN. These two spectacular blends emerged from a blending competition that was the runaway hit of last year’s Chicagoland International Pipes and Tobacciana Exposition, aka the Chicago pipe show.
