John Silver

John Silver is a Swedish tobacco brand that was launched in 1947 by the Tobacco Monopoly as an American-style unfiltered cigarette to compete with American brands that became increasingly popular after World War II. It was the first "American blend cigarette" produced by a Swedish tobacco company. The mixture was developed by William C. Bethea who was employed by the Tobacco Monopoly in 1947.

The cigarette was named in an internal naming competition at the Tobacco Monopole after the fictional pirate Long John Silver from the book Skattkammarön. After a year the brand was discontinued due to supply problems of the specified tobacco but it was relaunched in 1952.

In 1958, John Silver became the largest domestic brand on the Swedish market. John Silver with filter came in 1966, and in 1978 the blend was launched as rolling tobacco.

In 1999, Swedish Match sold the brand to Austria Tabak. After further acquisitions in the tobacco industry, since 2007 the Japanese counterpart Japan Tobacco Inc and their Swedish subsidiary JTI Sweden have owned the tobacco brand.