Telemark - a new one for me ... and available in the UK via Northerner ... so I thought I'd give it a go. So here's a quick review as it's not been done here before.
First off ... there is a review of this snus over on Chad's site snubie.com which is very informative about the background of this new brand - but I disagree with most of the notes regarding the flavour - but I must hand props to him for some of the info I'm repeating here.
The brand
It's cheap - budget - whatever you want to call it ... this is reflected in the price as well as the plain and to the point design on the labels. However - the cans themselves are unmistakably from Jakobssons/Gotlandssnus, white and featuring the compass design ashtray lid. This leads me to the almost inevitable conclusion that these are made in the Gotland factory and have been commissioned by T&L Independent Co (T&L = Telemark & Lapland) - but a cursory glance at the label on the back gives the contact details as Northerner directly so I suspect they too have a stake in this company and brand. At the very least the cans have been outsourced from them.
The snus
When you open the can you're greeted by 20 very normal looking original portions - they were drier than swedish match original portions with no discernible juice. The smell on opening the can is very much of plain tobacco with a tiny trace of fruitiness and spiciness and a definite smokiness - the smell is for me somewhere approaching a cross between the Swedish made Camel snus and the legendary Lucky Strike snus. But don't get too excited folks! The comparisons end with the smell. The snus is a fairly bland affair. Regular saltiness - and maybe a hint of Swedish Camel aroma - but with far less depth of flavour ... after a fairly short time I felt I was sucking on a piece of wet salty cardboard while simultaneously sniffing a can of the good stuff. The strength is a medium-stark - I would guess at 12-14 mg/g - but the juiciness and boldness I would expect simply was not there.
A further note to add is that the list of ingredients is pretty normal on the back of the can with the exception of sötningsmedel E954, which is Saccharine to you and me ... something I'm not happy with in any of my foodstuffs and seemingly un-necessary in this snus as I don't detect a single bit of sweetness from it.
Conclusion
It's a clever move to try and create a medium strong snus at a budget cost that tastes of the supremely popular Swedish Camel/Lucky Strike. For me though it simply doesn't quite work which is a shame as it comes so close!
Disclaimer
My can seems somewhat dried and old despite a best before date of October. I have previously had issues with dried up snus arriving from Northerner's US warehouse due to the sheer amount of miles it has traveled ... there's a fair chance this is actually a brilliant Swedish Camel copy which has lost it's moisture and freshness.
First off ... there is a review of this snus over on Chad's site snubie.com which is very informative about the background of this new brand - but I disagree with most of the notes regarding the flavour - but I must hand props to him for some of the info I'm repeating here.
The brand
It's cheap - budget - whatever you want to call it ... this is reflected in the price as well as the plain and to the point design on the labels. However - the cans themselves are unmistakably from Jakobssons/Gotlandssnus, white and featuring the compass design ashtray lid. This leads me to the almost inevitable conclusion that these are made in the Gotland factory and have been commissioned by T&L Independent Co (T&L = Telemark & Lapland) - but a cursory glance at the label on the back gives the contact details as Northerner directly so I suspect they too have a stake in this company and brand. At the very least the cans have been outsourced from them.
The snus
When you open the can you're greeted by 20 very normal looking original portions - they were drier than swedish match original portions with no discernible juice. The smell on opening the can is very much of plain tobacco with a tiny trace of fruitiness and spiciness and a definite smokiness - the smell is for me somewhere approaching a cross between the Swedish made Camel snus and the legendary Lucky Strike snus. But don't get too excited folks! The comparisons end with the smell. The snus is a fairly bland affair. Regular saltiness - and maybe a hint of Swedish Camel aroma - but with far less depth of flavour ... after a fairly short time I felt I was sucking on a piece of wet salty cardboard while simultaneously sniffing a can of the good stuff. The strength is a medium-stark - I would guess at 12-14 mg/g - but the juiciness and boldness I would expect simply was not there.
A further note to add is that the list of ingredients is pretty normal on the back of the can with the exception of sötningsmedel E954, which is Saccharine to you and me ... something I'm not happy with in any of my foodstuffs and seemingly un-necessary in this snus as I don't detect a single bit of sweetness from it.
Conclusion
It's a clever move to try and create a medium strong snus at a budget cost that tastes of the supremely popular Swedish Camel/Lucky Strike. For me though it simply doesn't quite work which is a shame as it comes so close!
Disclaimer
My can seems somewhat dried and old despite a best before date of October. I have previously had issues with dried up snus arriving from Northerner's US warehouse due to the sheer amount of miles it has traveled ... there's a fair chance this is actually a brilliant Swedish Camel copy which has lost it's moisture and freshness.
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