Quick & Dirty Snus Reviews: Round 3

Well, because of the long delay getting to round 2 of reviews, I'm able to jump right on round 3 as I've already had my third order in for a week and a half at this point, and pretty well familiarized myself with everything in it.

This order was a little different from the first two, as it was both a larger order, but actually ended up having fewer new and unique types of snus than the previous two. The bulk of the order was spent stocking backups of a few types of snus that I've come to love and depend on. Roda Lacket, General Ekstra Sterk, and Nick and Johnny. Also picked up a second can of a few others like Goteborgs Rape #2, Ettan, General Onyx, and Claq Qui. Even though I'm not moving through the first cans of these all that fast, I know I'll be using them off and on and will be happy to have a can in the freezer when I run out of any of them.

Of the "new" varieties I picked up, three are actually just the white portion versions of snus I've already familiarized myself with in original portion form. So far I haven't formed a preference for white or original portion, I've been pretty happy with whatever they happened to come in, but as some types are available in both, I figured I'd try out the other format and see if there was an obvious difference. For the sake of the reviews, I'm treating this as new varieties and will review them, but mostly with a regard to how they compare to the original portion for that I've already tried and reviewed.

Let's get to it.

PM 1847 White Portion: 1847 was a snus I was originally a bit intimidated by, as it is a pretty strong and intense tobacco flavor. I found pretty quickly that I liked it a lot, but then realized as much as I liked it in certain settings, or paired with certain beverages that matched it for being strong and dark, I couldn't use it all the time. For this snus, the white portion version seems to mellow it down just the right amount. It is delicious and smooth, comes on a little easier and never overwhelms the senses. I will probably be sticking with the white portion of this from here on, except for the occasional craving for a good kick in the head with an original portion. I'm tempted however to empty each new can of white portion into the one original portion tin I have, as I love these tins, but the black lid appeals to me a lot more than this one. What's that? I could just switch the lids around?

Ettan Vit (White) Portion: A good amount of the fun of Swedish Snus is learning and using new words. It's easy enough to figure out that Vit means White, Stark or Sterk means Strong, and we could always just substitute in the English word. But we don't want to. What the put on the can is what it is. So General Ekstra Sterk is and Ekstra Sterk. Skruf Stark is a Stark. And Ettan Vit is... okay fine, Ettan Vit is generally referred to as Ettan White. I just like saying Vit. Vit Vit Vit!

So Ettan was one of my early faves when I started with snus. A nice mild snus with a little salt, always reminded me of having a cheek full of sunflower seeds. Pretty pleasant and easy to handle while adjusting to the new experience of Swedish snus. The white portion format of Ettan seems to be about the same, except milder. For me now, this means it is way too mild, I don't get enough flavor out of it, and as I don't notice the salt in snus as much as I did at first, I don't even get the sunflower seed salty experience. What this means is that I won't be using Ettan Vit, will surely stick with the regular portions when I want Ettan, but I'm thinking that this may have been an even better starter snus than the Ettan regular portions, as the flavor is so mild it should be easy for any snubie to handle.

General White Portion: Here's one I didn't notice all that much difference between the original and white portions, though I'm probably going to have to do a closer study, as I keep hearing other users say the white has more of a peppery flavor and other variances between the two. For me it's just as much of a middle of the road, dependable standard snus as the good ol' General Portions. The cool thing about the whites though is that General recently started arranging them in the can like it does the Onyx, in the very nice looking "star" pattern. This also gives the portions a wedge shape to them, which a lot of snusers find makes them fit nicely under the lip. I personally like to squish em a bit and even them out, but to each his own.

Gotlandssnus Green: I'm still a little perplexed over the Gotlands varieties. Having picked up the Yellow initially, thinking it was a plain tobacco flavor, then finding it had a pretty heavy sweet and herbal flavor to it that I actually liked quite a bit. I picked up the Green next, hearing good things about it, and seeing that it was intended to be a flavorful snus. Opening the can it certainly smells quite nice. Smells quite "green" in fact. You can practically see it growing on some sort of lush evergreen shrub. What a great smell. Upon trying it though, I was somewhat surprised and disappointed to find that it's flavor was actually much milder than the Yellow. Not bad, mind you, this is another tasty snus, it's just much more subtle that I had expected. I'm still preferring the Yellow over this one. One thing I really like about this one though, is that the can says "Flader" on it, which I take to mean "Green", and I like saying "Flader", yes I do.

Gustavus: This is one I picked up on a whim. Hadn't heard much about it, got decent reviews but didn't sound like anything spectacular or all that popular. My tastes though had been starting to head more and more towards plain tobacco flavors with a good amount of saltiness, so I'd decided to pick up a variety of the more plain snus brands and give em a whirl, knowing that out of the bunch I'd eventually choose just the outstanding ones to keep in the regular lineup. With those expectations, I was pleasantly surprised by the Gustavus. It's a plain tobacco, not extremely strong like the 1847, but not as mild as Ettan or General Portions either. It has a certain uniqueness to it that I found immediately appealing. Good stuff that will probably hold a regular spot in my lineup, or at least be one I get the desire for now and then. They recently redesigned the can to be a nice looking black, somewhat rounded at the top and bottom, with a shiny silver flip top "ashtray" lid. I don't have a picture yet, tsk tsk.

Lucky Strike: I initially stayed away from all the "cigarette" snus varieties. Philip Morris, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall... I'm not sure if I just wanted to stick with the more "exotic" stuff that had interesting names I had never heard of (and liked saying). Or if I just wasn't interested in snus that might taste anything like cigarettes. Either way, the whole thing broke down when I got inspired to try the PM 1847 and liked it. Also, having liked the tobacco and salt flavors of Ettan and some others, I was advised to try Lucky Strike along with a few others. So I did. Lucky Strike cigs were always really the only smoke I would have considered a suitable substitute for my regular Camel Filters. They were the only ones I had now and then that blended a nice flavor with just enough kick in the back of the throat for me. That being said, Lucky Strike snus doesn't taste like Lucky Strike cigarettes. It is however, a strong tobacco snus, with a smokiness I find nice, though I'll advise that some people feel it is too artificial tasting, or they just don't like a smoke taste to their snus. For me, it's great. This is also another one with a great can. It's a big bold manly can. With that simple and bold Lucky Strike logo on top, it is thicker than most snus cans, with a nice black lid portion, and a steel bottom portion. Inside there's a plastic sleeve that fits between the two, sealing it pretty well. This can could probably double as a projectile weapon in a pinch. Though I suggest only throwing your snus in the most desperate of situations, and only when you're reasonably sure you'll be able to retrieve it afterwards. The picture here shows the can after it is unwrapped from the outer labeling it comes in, so you can see the steel bottom portion. The only thing the can is missing is the fairly standard "ashtray" compartment. But for this can, I can live without it.

M by Mocca: Now here's a pretty can for a plastic one. Nice grey silver color, a modern looking rounded edge design with an ergonomic dimple in the top to get the ashtray lid off. How nice. Okay okay, the snus, the snus. Right. I picked this one up as another of the plain tobacco testers. Most of the Mocca line I've seen or tried were of the heavily flavored variety. Remember they do those heavily flavored minis in the cute colorful metal tins? The Pomegranate that smells like Bazooka Joe? Mhmm, so I was curious to see what they did with a plain tobacco. And? Not bad, not bad at all. Mellow, nice flavor, but really all in all nothing outstanding. With a whole variety of plain tobacco snus on my plate, this one sorta just blends in. My main gripe with it though would be longevity. Or lack thereof. It's really a decent flavor that a lot of folks could be perfectly content with, especially those who aren't as much of suckers for some hefty tobacco flavors like I seem to be becoming. But the flavor fades out very quickly. I'm talking no time at all. I know most Swedes only keep their snus in for 30-45 minutes tops, and a lot of us Americans are kinda crazy in that we probably average at least an hour, and sometimes forget one for two hours or so. But I didn't get 30-45 out of this one, and with so many that'll keep going for an hour plus... there's not much point for me in this one.

Oden's Kanel: Remember how the spot for my Oden's Kanel Extra Sterk in the last batch of reviews was filled with a story of getting the wrong snus, and realized I'd ordered Extra Sterk instead of regular strength? Right right. Well, because of all that, I ordered a can of regular strength Kanel with this order. Now, the funny thing about this is that the day my order arrived, I received a separate package containing my replacement can for my original order of Extra Sterk. Only... it wasn't Extra Sterk, they sent me original. I wasn't about to go back to customer service for such a small discrepancy, so I ended up with two cans of Oden's Kanel Original. Fortunately for me, this stuff is delicious. The only downside is it's going to be a while before I get to try wiring myself up on the 17mg Extra Sterk. Delicious. Did I say delicious? Alright, opening this can you can immediately smell the cinnamon. And it smells delicious. Now, I've always been a fan of cinnamon, and even though I know most everything cinnamon flavored is also pretty highly sweetened in this country, and that cinnamon doesn't really taste like that, I was still somewhat surprised by how the flavor of this really is just cinnamon. There's a mild sweetness, for sure, but it's mostly a delicious spicy cinnamon flavor, that almost hints at gingerbread or clove. I also somewhat expected this snus to burn or tingle in my lip more than most, and it didn't. It's really just a heavenly, pleasant, delicious snus. Highly recommended.

Retro: The last, for now, of the plain tobacco snus. There seem to be several incarnations of the Retro can, and I haven't found one that matches the newest that I have. All the cans I've seen have been pretty stylish looking, in fact the previous design was actually more retro and happening looking in my opinion than the much plainer style of the new can, though I like the nice beveled edge design on the new one. This was another snus recommended to me because of my penchant for plain salty snus like Ettan. This one is definitely more distinctive than the Mocca, as well as lasting a more normal amount of time. It's distinct flavor, however, is not one that works so well for me. It's fairly salty, but doesn't stand out to me as a good balance of salt and flavor, and the flavor has more of a bite to it than I usually go for. If there's bite I want a nice boldness to balance it out, but usually I prefer a more robust and rounded tobacco flavor. Not bad, just not my cup of tea. I don't hate it, I'll finish the can, but I doubt I'll buy it again unless I decide to give the white portion format a chance.

That's it for round three. I'm guessing I probably have one more order to go with another handful of new ones to try and then I'll be able to line up about a dozen as my faves that will be staying in rotation for normal use.

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!