Quick & Dirty Snus Reviews

Alright, since I finally nailed out the snubie post I get to move onto more fun stuff. I'm not real happy with the post yesterday, a newbie guide should be shorter, more concise with clear and obvious points to it. But, concise I am not, long and rambling I am.

But rambling or not, I'm going to try and throw out some quick and dirty here. Now, there's not much snus lovers love more than talking about snus, especially giving their opinions and experiences with different types of snus. Half the fun of snus is that there are so many different varieties and while some seem to be generally more or less popular than others, everyone has their personal favorites.

I mean to do one of these early on, with first impressions, but had a second round of new snus coming along, so figured I'd wait til I tried those and cover more varieties at once. Now I've tried those, I nearly ended up putting this off again because I've got a third order on the way. That's what can happen. There always seems to be something new to try.

Anyhow to get organized here, I'm going to break this out into the two orders I've received. Obviously I'm more familiar with the first order snus, having been using them longer, but there are still some second order ones that jumped right out at me and have been seeing daily use while I've started to neglect some of the first round.

First Order: General Portion, General Onyx, General Extra Sterk, Skruf Stark, Roda Lacket, Jakobsson's Icefruit, Ettan, Goteborgs Rape, Northerner Energy Snus, Catch Chill Vanilla/Mint, and General Wintergreen Portion.

Second Order: 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

Yeah, that's a lot of different snus, and there's plenty more out there. This is a far cry from grabbing a pack of Camel Filters each day. I've got more new ones coming along soon too.

Alright, quick and dirty....

General Portion: What I consider a "standard" snus. Straightforward tobacco with a good amount of salt. Most of the General snus varieties are also described as having "citrus" to them as well, but while I get some underlying sweetness, I've yet to really distinctly pick up any citrus. This is a good starting point for new snus users. Standard 8mg nicotine.


General Onyx: The "Premium" of the General line. A little more spendy, can has some nice accents, a white portion snus that actually has black portions which are wedge shaped and fanned out in the can to give a nice appearance upon opening. Saltier than standard General portions, with a spicy peppery kick to it. Get the same sweetness after a while, but still wouldn't call it citrus. This is a very popular snus, and while a lot of folks refer to it having a "silky mouth feel", I find the portion material to be rather abrasive in my mouth until it gets good and wet. I've grown to like this snus more than I initially did, but I always pop it onto my tongue and wet it down before putting it under my lip. Technically a stark snus because of higher nicotine content, at 11mg of nicotine I like it as a "medium" between the standard 8mg and the higher starks. Great with a cup of black coffee.

General Extra Sterk: I love this stuff, after getting used to snus I started using this more and more and it has become my ritual first snus of the morning. With 15mg of nicotine it has one of the highest nicotine contents, and really helps get me going. It was also a lifesaver when trying to beat the after dinner cigarette cravings. On top of that, it's delicious. It is less salty than the Onyx, not really much saltier than a General Portion, has a slightly bolder tobacco flavor, but isn't overly strong. I get a lot of very nice subtle sweetness before long, not any sort of sugary sweetness, mind you, but a very natural mellow sweetness that I've come to love. This snus was a lifesaver for quitting smoking, and is one I am currently having to ration until my next order gets in. It will probably remain one I stock lots of.

Skruf Stark: This is a pretty popular snus with lots of fans. With 14mg of nicotine it falls right under the General ES in strength. However, I keep going back to it to give it another shot and still just really am not into it. It's not bad, heaven forbid, but it hasn't jumped out to me as a personal favorite. It has a sharper and more distinct tobacco flavor, not quite the round and robust tobacco flavor I like, and also lacks the underlying sweetness I seem to enjoy. Still definitely worth trying as it's earned many fans.

Roda Lacket: Oh Roda, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... Uhm, yeah. This one is possibly the hardest for me to describe. It was one of my first favorites and I'm still very pleased with it, even though my tastes seem to be going through changes. It's fairly mild as far as salt and tobacco go, and has a nice sweetness to it that I find difficult to pinpoint or compare to any common taste. A little fruity? But not decisively fruity. It's just pleasant. A standard 8mg of nicotine, this is a good one to carry around as an all around anytime snus. The flavor goes well with so many things. I swear by a Roda Lacket with a plain latte, and have also enjoyed it with Honey Ginseng green tea, or good old southern style sweet tea, or water, or just about anything. Definitely a must try for anyone. I'd recommend it as a good starter snus as I think it is mild enough. The flavor is unique, but not so unique that it disagrees with many people. Not so much a love it or hate it like some snus, more of a love it or like it.

Jakobsson's Icefruit: Now this seems to be more of the love it or hate it type of snus. Well, maybe not hate it. Most snus is pretty hard to hate, but while there are a lot of folks out there who will rant and rave about this snus, there are still a few of us who apologetically admit to not being so fond of it. My first impression of it was that it had a rather brutally sharp and somewhat chemical flavor to it. I've revisited it a few times since, and can definitely pick up more iciness than the initial sharp ick I got from it. It's not minty, so ice is a pretty good descriptor, sharp and pretty fresh, but it just hasn't appealed to me. I've still yet to really find the fruit under the ice, but I'm going to keep trying. Another issue I have with this snus is that somehow the portions seem bigger than normal, so they feel less comfortable to me and seem to bulk out my lip more. Less discreet :( This is often recommended as a starter snus, and it's worth a shot, though I would consider it too unique and strong for a good starter, it's one some folks fall quite quickly in love with.

Ettan: Another nice "standard" snus. Salt and mild tobacco. This is a great all around anytime snus, and a very good starter snus as well. I've only tried the original portions, and am looking forward to checking out the white portion version in my next order. A standard 8mg of nicotine, this is just such a manageable snus in every way. For someone who just wants to pick a type and stick with it, this could easily be the can they carry around with them every day.

Goteborgs Rape: Yeah, nevermind the interesting name. It is supposed to have special characters I haven't taught myself to recreate yet. Rape means something like "course" or something more appropriate in another language. Us Americans have a lot of fun with it of course, since we like to shorten things this one easily turns into "Gote Rape". Questionable humor aside, this is a pretty popular snus, with a pretty distinct flavor. Tobacco and Juniper Berry I believe. I'm not all that familiar with Juniper Berry, but it's certainly interesting. It sounded pretty tasty, so I was looking forward to this one, but it took a while to grow on me. I like it just fine now, but I tend to group it in my mind to being in the same category as Roda Lacket and a few others, so if I'm in the mood for that sort of thing, I'll usually prefer to just grab a Roda Lacket. So, distinct, but not distinct enough for me to want it specifically. Standard 8mg white portion.

Northerner Energy Snus: I thought an energy snus was an interesting idea. Especially since my alarm clock goes off at 5:10am, and despite getting up so early for 7 years now, I still hate it, and still suck at it. I figured it might be worth a shot to keep a snus on my bedside table and pop it in when the alarm went off. Snooze it a bit and maybe by the time I had to get up I'd be a bit more invigorated and willing. I went for the Northerner Energy because I'd heard the Elixyr energy snus tasted terrible. Well, really, so does this stuff. Mostly it tastes sweet, kinda artificially sweet, and the various energy herbs and such lend it a weird taste that doesn't appeal to me. It's a mini portion, low on nicotine content. 5mg I think. It does wake you up a bit, but not a real big kick. Mostly I've abandoned it because using it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach made me a bit queasy for a while.

Catch Chill Mint/Vanilla: This is a limited edition. Catch is doing a quarterly flavor thing, with one for Jan-March, one for April-June, etc etc. If you want it, go get it if you can still find it. This is a mini portion, only 4mg of nicotine, much smaller portion that fits easier under the lip and is more discreet. Not my thing at all. Not enough nicotine, the flavor is alright, but you don't get as much flavor with the smaller portion. It's sweet, a little minty, didn't notice the vanilla much, but I only tried it once for the sake of curiosity. My biggest beef with mini portions is that a can only comes with 20 portions instead of the 24 that normal large portion cans come with. Yet, for fewer portions with half the nicotine you pay the same amount or more. Makes no sense to my frugal nature.

General Wintergreen: Got this as a free sample, figured it was worth a shot. Whew! Minty fresh. Strong wintergreen flavor definitely drowns out any tobacco flavor if that's what you're looking for. It was too much for me. I like mild sweetness and mild flavor mixed with the tobacco. This one also seemed to burn in the lip a bit more than others, I think something to do with the wintergreen. This snus will probably definitely appeal to some folks who like strong minty stuff, or don't want to taste the tobacco. Just not for me.

Okay, that's as quick and dirty as I get. Still, I've decided to break off the second order into a separate post. Be back soon!