First Snus impressions….underwhelmed with caveats

**GoVegan** · 08-05-11, 05:23 PM

Wait till you try Gellivare! You will be overwhelmed with flavor!

**Darwin** · 08-05-11, 06:23 PM

Lcarvone those are two very highly flavored items butthere are many more subtly flavored varieties you can try. The Scandinavians seem to be nuts about bergamot but the flavor profile is not one the average American is very well attuned to although as a former flavor chemist you obviously are in a different league in that regard.

**rickcharles606** · 08-05-11, 06:36 PM

Welcome to the site, and Swedish snus ;-) I may have missed this, but what (if any) type of tobacco did you use prior to trying snus? If you were a smoker, it may take a few weeks of not smoking to begin getting your sense of taste normalized. That was the case with me, when I first tried snus, it was just "meh" to me, and then after a month of using it...I could distinguish many new layers of flavors and nuances that I had previously missed. Just a thought. Good luck and try a bunch of flavors and you'll find several you like...I'm sure of it.

**Ainkor** · 08-05-11, 06:38 PM

I'm not a big fan of many mints, but the general mint is pretty ok. I used to like the Triumph mint, which I think was a bit "mintier" but since that's discontinued, I just go with the general.

Now, for other flavors, I pretty much stick with Goteborgs Rape #2. It's almost like 3 snuses in one. You get the initial hit of juniper and a "mountain" type taste which fades at about 15 minutes to let the lingonberry shine through. After about an hour all of the flavors are mixed together to form a third profile.

Just looking through a bit of my stash:

Skruf white has a nice bergomet flavor without the citrus addition. Instead is has rose extract in it. Very interesting

Skruf tranbar (cranberry) is really nice too, not sweet, just a focus on the cranberry flavor

Roda Lacket is another nice flavored snus, pretty complex mix of flavors, not boring at all

My absolute favorite snus though is Lucky Strike. You can't get it in the states anymore but its a nice mix of classic snus flavor with a smokyness that is top notch.

Since it sounds like you are in the Charlotte area (On business trips I get some snus from the Tinder Box) there is a nice shop down in Greenville called Boda Pipes. They are pretty cool there and while tis a bit of a drive, its kinda fun to go on a road trip now and again!

**GoVegan** · 08-05-11, 07:14 PM

You might want to try Northerner Citrus/Menthol. I do not like flavored snus normally but these seem to have a light and clean taste to me with no chemical aftertaste. They come in 3mg or 6mg strengths and are very easy to use while you are working or having to meet with the public. The flavor in these also lasts a long time, easily 2 hours. My other suggestion would be to try the Gotlands products. Their flavorings taste natural to me and the tobacco quality is good. I wouldn't be focused on finding a substitue for your Newports as I have never had any snus that tasted like a cigarette to me. As Rick said, give yourself time to adjust and eventually you will enjoy your snus more than cigarettes.

**Lcarvone** · 08-05-11, 08:07 PM

Thanks for all of the input folks...I put the two cans I have in the freezer overnight and pulled out another General White Portion Mint today. I purposely did not have a cigrette for a few hours and the mint tastes subtlety different with some actual mint notes coming through (mixed mint leaning towards the spearmint) and a higher sweetness than I experienced yesterday. I'd give it a notch higher score in my mental notebook today.

As for the comment about taste normalization from rickcharles606, I agree wholeheartedly and honestly believe it is product "experience" specific to some degree also. I smoked off and on while a flavor chemist and did notice changes in perception (more intense, deeper recognition when not smoking) but I also could pick up flavors in the smoke that friends couldn't recognize when we would discuss the taste because they were non-menthol smokers or smoked Kools or something . In my case wine is wine is wine since I drink it very seldomly but other wine snob friends of mine scream blasphemy!, go figure.

**Snusify** · 08-05-11, 09:08 PM

Mint snus is not one i choose to use however General Mint is one of the best mint snuses you can get albeit not a traditional Swedish Snus Flavour. General White on the other hand is an every day snus for me when i am at work. Whenever I get the chance i take a fat pinch of Ettan Loose. Ettan ftw.

I was lucky with my first impression as i got 2 of those starter boxes, 8 cans of various portions snus and 8 cans of Loose. This gave me an opportunity to try a lot and figure out which i liked the most.

**Ainkor** · 08-05-11, 09:54 PM

Originally posted by Lcarvone View Post

Thanks for all of the input folks...I put the two cans I have in the freezer overnight and pulled out another General White Portion Mint today. I purposely did not have a cigrette for a few hours and the mint tastes subtlety different with some actual mint notes coming through (mixed mint leaning towards the spearmint) and a higher sweetness than I experienced yesterday. I'd give it a notch higher score in my mental notebook today.

As for the comment about taste normalization from rickcharles606, I agree wholeheartedly and honestly believe it is product "experience" specific to some degree also. I smoked off and on while a flavor chemist and did notice changes in perception (more intense, deeper recognition when not smoking) but I also could pick up flavors in the smoke that friends couldn't recognize when we would discuss the taste because they were non-menthol smokers or smoked Kools or something . In my case wine is wine is wine since I drink it very seldomly but other wine snob friends of mine scream blasphemy!, go figure.

Snus is an acquired taste for most, mainly because of the salt content. I think it took about 3 weeks of snus usage before i could really start to pull the flavors out and isolate them properly.

Best of luck to you and I hope you enjoy what you find!

**GoVegan** · 08-05-11, 10:14 PM

Lcarvone - your on the right track and keeping an open mind. I give it less than 3 months before you start saying things like salt and pepper in the background and hints of bergamot!

**Monkey** · 09-05-11, 01:35 AM

Taste, being subjective, is very personal and yo will have to make your own way with that as you very well know. That being said, here is my opinion.

Gotlandssnus has the most natural taste of all of the snus I have tried. Clean flavors that really bring out the tobacco. They can be slightly bitter but are delicious and very well rounded. Jimmy makes some damn fine flavors. They make the Jakobsson's brand as well which is good but I do not reccomend the strings for clean natural flavor. They seem to be more American flavors with a hint of sweetness.

Gellivare and Landstroms are the same way as Gotlandssnus as they have very clean flavors.....but are los only.

The phantom line from v2 is different.....the brown is my new favorite new all day los but has a distinct taste profile....very different from the Swedish Match profile....and it is worth a shot.

Finally, only good things have been said about the new Odens and Pioneer....which I have yet to try. I will hit them up in June but they, according to many reviews, are both contenders in natural tobacco taste.

Also, I use mostly los as there is no portion to have the flavor and tobacco come through which will lead to less manipulation by the manufacturer (either adding salt, raising the ph or soaking it in "THE JUICE" or whatever they do) for one to get their nicotine absorbed and have the flavor come through.

As stated all over this forum...try different things, grab a can of los, try some purified and don't pigeon hole yourself into one brand.

PS I had to google caveats.....stop making me learn!!!!!! ;-)

**GoVegan** · 09-05-11, 01:42 AM

Hey Lcarvone - your in luck! Go here and look at post 120. This might be your way to taste some delicious snus.

http://www.snuson.com/forum/showthre...light=gotlands

**Lcarvone** · 09-05-11, 03:11 AM

Originally posted by Monkey View Post

Also, I use mostly los as there is no portion to have the flavor and tobacco come through which will lead to less manipulation by the manufacturer (either adding salt, raising the ph or soaking it in "THE JUICE" or whatever they do) for one to get their nicotine absorbed and have the flavor come through.

Interesting...so let me make sure I understand. What you are saying is that with the los type (versus portions which is all I know about so far) you can get a better taste of both the flavor and the inherent tobacco? Having it in the portion means you are trading off potentially the flavor for convenience/discreetness (is that even a word)?

**Ainkor** · 09-05-11, 03:45 AM

Originally posted by Lcarvone View Post

Interesting...so let me make sure I understand. What you are saying is that with the los type (versus portions which is all I know about so far) you can get a better taste of both the flavor and the inherent tobacco? Having it in the portion means you are trading off potentially the flavor for convenience/discreetness (is that even a word)?

I'm not sure you can get a "better" taste, but even the same brand and flavor can be much different in Los compared to portions.

I got lucky and found my go to snus on my second order but I bet I've tried 60-70 different types over the years.

Keep and open mind and try try away!

**EricHill78** · 09-05-11, 05:28 AM

First Snus impressions….underwhelmed with caveats

First Snus impressions….underwhelmed with caveats

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