Quick & Dirty Snus Reviews: Round 2

Whew. Got lost for a little while there. Expected to get to Round 2 of this a lot sooner, but as I was getting ready to get on it, my third snus order came in, distracting me with another slew of new varieties to try out. Pretty soon I found myself with over 30 open cans of snus and realized that I was starting to get a bit confused with all the snus goodness. I could hardly keep track of what I had tried each day and what my impressions had been. Which called for going back to each and trying them again and trying to pay extra special attention to each until I had a distinct impression.

I have to say, there sure is a lot of great snus out there. I've already got another handful I've decided I need to try with my next order, but I have to hold off on that until I go through some of my current stock.

So where were we? What was in that second batch of snus I need to write up? Let's see... Nick & Johnny, 1847, Claq Qui, Grovsnus, Gotland Yellow, Phantom Blue, Oden's Kanel Extra Stark, Mocca Pomegranate, Mocca Mint, Catch Dry Eucalyptus, and Goteborgs Rape #2

Right, let's get to it.

Nick (And Johnny): Wow! This was one of those love at first snus instances. I knew pretty quickly this was going to be one of my regular faves. It's a mid-range Stark with 12mg of Nicotine. Not as high as General Ekstra Sterk or some others, but a nice extra kick over the standard 8mg. It has a nice robust tobacco flavor, with a great underlying sweetness. I still can't put my finger on all the unique qualities of this one, but in my book it really is one of a kind, and definitely in my top 5. I enjoyed it so much from the start that I had to add in a few more cans for my third order or I'd have run out in no time.

Philip Morris 1847: What? Philip Morris? Aren't they one of the big bad American tobacco companies? Isn't this supposed to be Swedish Snus? I know, I know. I was a bit hesitant on this one, though I kept hearing good things about it, I've become pretty jaded against names like Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds as I've learned more about the nastiness of their tactics and product additives. But I decided to give it a shot anyhow. Really, how can one resist that gorgeous can? It's one of the nicest, made of steel, embossed lid that seals well but is easy to open simply by pushing down on that spot that says "TRYCK". I wish I had a shot of the bottom of the can as well. The "ashtray" lid you see on most cans for used portions is on the bottom side of this can, and there's something about that I find to be super cool. But enough about the can. When I first opened this one up I was somewhat intimidated by the smell. STRONG, sharp, pure tobacco smell assaulted my nose. It smelled pretty hardcore. I set it aside for a while before trying it out. When I did I found the taste to be somewhat less strong than the smell, but not that much. But it was still good. A strong enough flavor you might confuse it for a stark, but it's not. It was one of the first I tried that was really pure pure tobacco flavor. No sweetness here. Salt and strong tobacco. I found it paired well with black coffee or dark beer. I started liking it more than I expected to, so much that I thought I might be able to take it as my regular snus of the day, but quickly realized it was just a little too heavy for that. Great for certain times, but not for all day long. Now the white portion on the other hand... oh wait, that's in the third order. No spoilers! Oh, and this is made by PMI, Philip Morris International, which is apparently a totally different company from our American Philip Morris. PMI has recently entered into an agreement with Swedish Match to work together for the promotion of Swedish Snus in America, and I believe Swedish Match may be taking over production of 1847.

Claq Qui: Roda Lacket does a stark! Does life get any better than this? Well, actually, as far as stark snus goes, I feel like there are better ones out there. One would think a Roda Lacket Stark might be like Roda Lacket times 2 or so. But really, the distinctive Roda Lacket flavor is much less apparent in the Claq Qui. It's there, but it's not as strong, certainly not stronger. I'm not saying Claq Qui isn't good, it is. But I find that if I want a Roda Lacket I'll have a Roda Lacket. And if I want a Stark, well there are other starks I love love love, so I rarely got for the Claq Qui. With 13mg of nicotine it's close enough to Nick & Johnny that I usually grab one of those, or General ES if I want a little more kick. "Claq Qui" means "Fight Club", btw. Which explains the blood spatter design on the can. This one is definitely still worth trying, some people live on this stuff, it's definitely got a different flavor from a lot of the stark snus out there, just not my preference.

Grov Snus: Another bold tobacco snus, standard 8mg of nicotine. This one really hasn't grown on me. Could be the tobacco flavor being on the "sharper" side, with a distinctive bite to it that doesn't appeal to me. I hear the Grov Svart is different and worth trying, so I'll have to check that out and get back. I've also still got most of this can to go through, so maybe I'll have a change of heart, or at least some more specific impressions to share.

Gotlandssnus Yellow: This is an interesting one. I wanted to try a Gotlandssnus variety as it seemed to be a small distinctive manufacturer, and I'd read they used some unique tobacco in their snus. I chose the Yellow variety to start with, as it is generally listed as having a "Tobacco" taste. Figured a plain tobacco would be a good place to try out what was rumored to be a unique type of tobacco. However, Gotlands Yellow has a flavor that I wouldn't refer to as tobacco, and put it in with the more flavorful types. It has a strong but not overwhelming sweetness, very unique, that I can't quite name. One of those you have try and either like for what it is, or don't. I like to have one here and there when I'm craving something a little more flavorful and different.

Phantom Blue: Alright, you want to talk about unique and distinctive flavor, try Phantom Blue. A very strong and unique sweet flavor that's quite like nothing I've tasted before. Search around and you'll find it's flavor described in a variety of ways. The official description seems to be Juniper Berry and herbs. There are a few types of snus that list Juniper in their flavor, but this is far stronger, and may be more of the flavor is from the "herbs". Definitely worth trying. If you like the flavor you'll probably love this snus. My only qualm with it is that the material the portions are made of seems a bit different from most others and I don't always like the feel of it in my mouth. Probably won't bother most people, but it keeps me from reaching for this snus as much as I might otherwise.

Oden's Kanel Extra Sterk: Kanel is Cinnamon, and I love cinnamon, so I was highly anticipating trying this snus out. I had thought I'd ordered the regular, not the Extra Sterk, which turns out to have 17mg of nicotine and would be the strongest I've tried. When I realized I'd ordered the Extra on accident, I was a little scared and a little excited. I do love my 15mg General ES, how much could 17mg spazz me out? Alas, when my order arrived I went straight for this can without reading the label closely and when I opened it up I found it was full of loose snus. Checked the label again, yup, they'd sent me a can of Los. Not just that, but it was the Oden's Original, not the Kanel, so my curiosity wasn't strong enough to get me to try hand baking a pris and shoving it under my lip. I contacted the company and told them of the mixup and they kindly promised to ship a replacement can asap. So, this review will have to wait.

Mocca Pomegranate Minis: With 5mg of nicotine these have a little more than the usual 4mg, but still not enough to make it worthwhile to me. The little round colorful tin is certainly cute, and this line is pretty obviously marketed towards females, though can be enjoyed by anyone who likes sweet, fruity little mini snus. This snus smells pretty much exactly like Bazooka Joe bubble gum, and though it doesn't taste exactly how it smells, it tastes as much like bubble gum as it does pomegranate in my opinion. It's mostly sweet and fruity, lacks the tartness of real pomegranate. It's not bad though, at all, if sweet and fruity in a mini is your thing.

Mocca Mint Minis: Okay, honestly haven't tried this one. Again, cute packaging in this line. 5mg of nicotine, smells nice and minty, but with so many other great snus types to try, I haven't gotten around to taking the time to waste one of these portions on myself. Maybe one of these days...







Catch Dry Eucalyptus: I picked this up in a mini along with the other flavored minis. This one I actually did get around to trying and decided immediately that since it was available in a regular sized portion, I'd have to get some. I picked up the regulars in my third order, but will go ahead and talk about them here. This is the first of the more flavorful, "fresh" flavors I've really enjoyed. Unlike General Wintergreen, it's not overly sweet, and since it's not mint, it's not overly minty, though the flavor is almost mint-like in it's sharp freshness, it's not super sweet and is mostly just refreshing. Doesn't fit my usual line up of strong tobacco flavors, or tobacco with a kick of something else. I don't taste salt at all with this one either. If you like the flavored types of snus, try this one. And even if you don't so much, give it a whirl as you may find it's the perfect one to have around for certain occasions.

Goteborg's Rape No.2: Hmmm, well the original Goteborg's Rape grew on me over time, it never really became distinctive enough for me to specifically want to grab it from the fridge at any time. Gote #2 is the same basic flavor as the original, but with the addition of a really nice berry flavor. Lingon Berry I guess. Being not at all familiar with Lingon Berries, I can't tell you whether it really tastes like Lingon Berry. All I can tell you is that it's a really nice flavor that definitely makes this snus stand out. Even if you find yourself being iffy over the original Goteborg's Rape, you should definitely give #2 a shot.

That's it for order number two, hopefully I'll be back in less time to round up order three. Cheers, Keep on Snusin'!