Camel (RJ Reynolds) Robust

[Darwin]

Corporations are wildly obsessive about differentiating their product from others and RJR is no different. A product planner at the corporation is simply not going to present to the high muckity-mucks a proposal for something that is essentially identical to an already existing and well established product. Different mucks equal different results though. Those at RJR apparently were not quite as idiotic as the ones at Altria.

[Langdell]

Salt is, so say many, just for flavor. Sodium carbonate is added which is what raises the Ph level and makes the nicotine more available. I'll bet Camel has very little of either.

Well, I'm no chemist, but, per Wikipedia, sodium carbonate is a salt and a flavoring agent. But, yes, I was thinking of table salt, so I stand corrected. But I'm guessing the sodium carbonate contributes to the salty flavor of real snus.

[MrSnusNSnuff]

I like it. It's moister, and the portions are way more comfortable than previous RJR offerings. The sweetness is toned back, and you taste a nice combo of citrus, pepper, and tobacco. The saltiness of Swedish Snus is replaced by the underlying sweetness. They're getting much closer to the mark, IMHO.

[Darwin]

"But I'm guessing the sodium carbonate contributes to the salty flavor of real snus."

This is really just baking soda. It perhaps contributes slightly to the saltiness but it is also bitter and far less "salty" tasting than the real thing, sodium chloride.

[WickedKitchen]

Ok. I got a tin of this stuff today on my way home.

First of all, the can is certainly cool. I dig the metal though it doesn't seem to be very airtight. Given the dryness of the portions that's not a problem, but I would like to strip the paint off of it and just use it as a utility can. I think I can make a seal for it fairly easily though.

4.75 for 15 portions. Kinda pricey but what the hell. I was pleased to see the size of the portions even though they were very dry. I think I read that the moisture is around 35%. I'm into whites so no problem there. The scent was well...just like a new pair of sneakers to me. Pleasant, but not exactly something I would instinctively want to put in my mouth. When I put the portion in it felt nice. Good size. Dry, but that only takes a second and I was drinking coffee at the time so it wasn't a problem. The tobacco (i think there's tobacco in there) was a comfortable grind and the portion material was smooth. I was impressed initially because there wasn't an offensive flavor. I still didn't taste tobacco at all, but it didn't taste like sneakers either. I thought I might be able to deal with it because the nic hit was present. I think it was moderate and about the same as a Swedish snus protion @ 8mg. I'm not certain how it compares chemically but it felt about the same as an OP. Not bad so far. The flavor was not bad but not good either. After about 20 minutes the sweetness got stronger and stronger. I gave it another 5 minutes to see what would happen. At this point I was all but convinced that I had a packed of Equal stuffed in my upper lip. I was only half finished with my coffee so I decided to bail on this snus and throw in an N&J. I won't be using the remaining 14 portions but when I put in the N&J the flavor mix was kinda cool. I got that salty-sweet combo due to the residual flavor of the Camel stuff akin to a chocolate covered pretzel. Y'know, maybe there's something to that. I'm going to bust open a portion and mix it with some Phantom Brown los...might be interesting.

Maybe they should put out an UNsweetened version and see if it sells. That is the only way I will have a US snus again. Though I think this is better than Discrete, Marlborough, and all the other Camels it's still pretty friggin' gross by itself.

[tom502]

Someone here recommend a Camel "Natural" SNUS, unsweet. I think that's a good idea.

I don't know if I wanna try these or not....
If I see it, I might....

[tom502]

The good: not a bad taste, not overbearingly sweet. No lingering aftertaste either.
The bad: super maxi size, way to big and to me, uncompfortable.

If this is an upper lip snus, these things are way too big.

But, so far, the best American SNUS I've had.

[spirit72]

I was filling the van up at Speedway the other day and there it was, so just because I'm a sucker, I had to pick up a can of both Robust and Winterchill. It runs about $2.84 in Ohio(I'm still glad I don't live in Massachusetts, by the way).

I guess my overall reaction is 'Meh'.

It isn't really good. Then again, it isn't really bad. I preferred Winterchill, which is a halfway nice blend of wintergreen and spearmint. It's not as sweet as their previous offerings, but still a bit too sweet.

One positive thing that I noticed immediately was that I didn't get any Aspartame Weirdness like I did with RJR snus previously. I searched the ingredients post here, and whaddayaknow, they're using Sucralose(aka 'Splenda')instead. Good move. Splenda doesn't eff me up like Aspartame does.

All in all, I only snus one or two portions a day at this point, and that's only because I still have snus left. Winterchill is something I could use from time to time if the mood to snus strikes me. But only occasionally.

[tom502]

I think the roBUST is pretty decent. No bad lingering aftertaste like Marlboro, and it's not overtly sweet.
My main gripe is the size. It's just way to big, I can't be the only one that thinks this. It's humungous.
And I've had 2 portions, and each portion broke on the ends. I kept them in about an hour.

If they replicated the Swed snus size and shape, I'd be really happy with it. Sure it's not an unsweet savory blend, but it's not bad, but I can't get over how giant these are. Is this what a MAXI was like?

[amdusias]

Just picked up a tin of this stuff, when putting it in my mouth I notice it is very dry, I had to take a drink of water to juice it up. The flavor isnt bad, it taste just like a sweet tea like others have said. The portion is HUGE but seems comfortable to me. Im only on my first portion so I dont know what to think. Its really not bad, better than what they have come out with before and better than Marlboro.

[Darwin]

Bridge sweepings and pig offal are better than Marlboro.

[tom502]

I think I've used 3, maybe 4, of these in my tin, and I really don't think I'll use any more. What kills it for me, is the portion size. I hate it, it's just too big, like a fat wet slug in my lip. I'll give these to my buddy, who takes all my unwanted snus, yet he never uses it himself, it just piles in his fridge, but whatever.

[Langdell]

tom, I agree that the portion size could and should be a little smaller. But I don't find the portions to be un-usably big--I'd prefer a little smaller, but I find them fairly comfortable. I probably just have a big mouth.

In answer to your question above, the Robust pouches are actually a little smaller than the old maxi portions. At least smaller than the only maxi portions I ever tried--Grov Maxis that came in a Swedish Match sampler box when I first started snusing. Those pouches taught me that I loved the taste of Grov but didn't want it in such a big pouch.

[tom502]

I think if the roBUST copied the standard Swede snus portion size, it would be about the same as Triumph Original.

[Jonnymh1]

I have used 2 cans of this over the past couple of weeks. So far, it's much better than the previous camel snuses, but not up to par yet with Swedish snus. It is getting closer. If there were a little less sweetness and a little more tobacco flavor and the nic level stronger, it would be a competitor. I also think the portion size is a little large, but it's getting closer to being real snus! I hope this trend continues with the next iteration camel brings out.