About Us

The Sotweed Factor website was originally established by Mr. Robert
Davis. The products he offered to cigar enthusiasts included the cigars
made by F.X. Smith’s Sons of McSherrystown, Pennsylvania. Mr. Davis
operated The Sotweed Factor until his passing, at which time the website
was discontinued.

In early 2025, Jack Wilson, owner of Patriot Cigars, LLC was able to obtain
The Sotweed Factor domain name. His goal is to re-create and update the
original website. Jack is proud to continue offering for sale the cigars of F.X.
Smith’s Sons, which have been an integral part of Pennsylvania’s rich
tobacco and cigar industry, since 1863.

The Origins of Sotweed

In Colonial America during the reign of England’s King George II (1720-
1767), tobacco had become an extremely valuable cash crop. However,
despite the success of colonial tobacco farming and the tax revenue it
brought England, George II despised tobacco.

The King called tobacco “sotweed”. In Colonial America a “sot” was a fool
or drunkard. Sotweed then, implied that only fools or drunkards smoked
tobacco. A merchant or “middleman” was known as a “factor”. Thus, if you
were a merchant or middleman buying and selling tobacco, you were a
“Sotweed Factor.”