Grov Black….this is the one that reminded me I really need to read descriptions a little closer before I choose to spend my small snus budget on something new. The reason for this is one of the main ingredients…licorice. I know I have stated before that I wasn’t a real wintergreen fan but Jak’s Wintergreen (and yes I have to admit to a small extent General) is good enough to make me a believer on those rare occasions when I want a break from the standard tobacco types. Licorice (or more specifically anise) on the other hand is another story.

Growing up a fat kid of predominately German heritage (imagine an Americanized version of Augustus from Willy Wonka), brautwurst, sauerkraut, strudel, etc. are staples of my upbringing. Anis cookies were also prevalent at Christmas time but I never touched them. They still show up every year, made by a family friend, and relatives extol their old world flavor and spicy sweet goodness. Trust me I have tried but I just don’t like the taste of licorice. Of course when I opened the can of Grov Black, it just happened to be the first can that I didn’t smell before picking out a portion. It took about 10 seconds before the taste started coming through and I took it out in disbelief with some choice words usually spelled W-T-F. See, I had it set in my head this was just a stronger version of regular Grov portion which I like very much. I was expecting in a way for it to be like what Onyx is to General Original. This obviously isn’t the case.

Now don't get me wrong there are other flavors going on, a vanilla is there but it tastes almost like condensed milk with a mildly sweet cooked aspect. There are some tobacco notes too but they are suppressed under the somewhat heavy handed flavors. I have “made it through” about 5 portions over the course of a week or so but ended up sticking the can in the back of the freezer for a while. I doubt I will buy another can of this one and know I will read the fine print so to speak from now on

Thanks for reading

*PS: My translation may be way off…

Mint
Skruf Fresh White Slim
General Mint White Portion
Jakobsson's Wintergreen Strong Portion
Thunder Frosted Long+ Portion
Jakobsson's Mint Strong Portion
Offroad Frosted Portion
General Wintergreen White Portion
Olde Viking Spearmint
Thunder Frosted ES Portion

Traditional (Bergamot or related type)
General Onyx
General Original portion
Jakobsson's Classic Portion
General White Portion
Olde Viking Original
Phantom White
Phantom Blue

Traditional ("Pure" Tobacco type)
Ettans Portion
Oden's Original
Phantom/Rothbrix Brown
Oden's Dry White 69
Grov
N&J Strong Portion
Skruf Original

Specialty Flavor
Jakobsson's Flader
01 Portion
02 Portion
Göteborgs Rapé
Roda Lacket
Oden's Classic Kanel
Grov Black
Göteborgs Rapé No 2
Thunder Coola Extra Stark