New Skoal snus and new Marb snus has appeared at my gas station!

[chadizzy1]

Okay, also did a dissection test and moisture comparison with Bandits too. Will be doing a full review tonight.

The bad? Juices up quick and too much, makes me want to spit incessantly. Sweet flavor is too much after 30 minutes. Aftertaste is very sweet and artificial and doesn't go away. My lip tastes like a sugar cube.

[Bigblue1]

The bad? Juices up quick and too much, makes me want to spit incessantly. Sweet flavor is too much after 30 minutes. Aftertaste is very sweet and artificial and doesn't go away. My lip tastes like a sugar cube.

That's what she said!

[simon]

It does juice up too much, and leaves your lips sugary.
Gave me gas too..

[Speedoape]

Bought the Marlboro red can today. Its in the trash. Moving with the boyfriend and have a general dist. 1/4 mile away. No need to try anymore of the american" Snus"...

[chadizzy1]

Review of Skoal "Snus" Part 1.


Well the day is finally upon us. After doing a preview recently for the new Skoal "Snus" and Marlboro "Snus" products I'm finally getting to the review part of the Skoal version. In my recent review of Marlboro "Snus" I wasn't too kind. In fact, a comment on YouTube told me I was being too harsh. Well, I don't think I was. I personally hold snus to such a high standard after enjoying Swedish Snus the past two years that I consider these bastardized attempts on REAL Snus to be an insult. That being said, I always going into a review with an open mind - and Skoal "Snus" could be different. The Skoal brand is very respected in the smokeless tobacco world for having a high quality tobacco and I was hoping this would spill foward into their new "snus". Not to give too much away, but I found Skoal "Snus" to be a step in the right direction. Granted there are a lot of hangups and I still don't know how it's made nor is Altria disclosing such information to us, I still try to remain hopeful that someday someone in America is going to do it right and release a quality snus.


Larger Version - http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_G2KIETJONE...0/IMG_3244.JPG
Doing a quick size comparison you can tell that the American "Snus" products are growing rapidly, and not just in availability, but in size. From left to right, a Skoal Bandits (non-snus) portion. A General White Portion, a Marlboro "Snus" portion, a Camel "SNUS" portion and last - a Skoal "Snus" portion. The Skoal "Snus" is obviously the largest portion in this lineup, and to date the largest snus portion I've ever encountered. In a world of "bigger is better", this portion is obviously made for that group of people. However, "bigger is better" isn't always true - and in this case the portion is too big. One thing I've always loved about snus is the discretion it provides. In the case of Skoal "Snus", there is no discretion. This stuff is huge and uncomfortable. Yeah, the portion is soft, but the size just puts it a bit too over the top.


Larger Version - http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_G2KIETJONE...Comparison.jpg
Comparing the moisture contents of various other tobacco products left to right. Click the image/link for a larger version of the picture. From Left, General White Portion, Camel "SNUS" Robust, Marlboro "Snus" Original (2011), Skoal "Snus" Smooth Mint, and Skoal Bandits (Wintergreen). The Swedish Snus General White Portion is very moist and ground very well - it's a traditional snus. The Camel "SNUS" sits at around 30% moisture content and is very dry - looks almost like cigarette tobacco. The Marlboro "Snus" Original is also very dry, I want to say between 20%-25% or thereabouts in the moisture department, but also very dry - looking much like cigarette tobacco again. The Skoal "Snus" is more interesting. It's much more moist - definitely the most moist American "Snus" product I've seen to date, maybe around 40%-45% moisture content by my estimation. The tobacco is also more finely ground. The Bandits (not a snus) looks like traditional dip tobacco, very moist and pinchable, probably in the 50% moisture content range or so. Don't let this confuse you. The Skoal "Snus" tobacco itself looks much like other American "Snus" tobacco, it's just more moist. The Bandits tobacco looks much like American dip tobacco. That being said, Skoal "Snus" is much more moist than any American offering to date.


Someone recently asked me for a size comparison between the Skoal "Snus" and another pouched Skoal product, Bandits. I went ahead and did this and you can tell there's a big difference. The Skoal "Snus" is abnormally large, the Bandits are much smaller. The Skoal "Snus" is a white type portion, whereas the Bandits have a more soaked portion. The portion material on the "Snus" is very soft, whereas the Bandit portion material feels almost waxy.

[chadizzy1]

Review of Skoal "Snus" Part 2.


When you open the can of Skoal "Snus" (Smooth Mint) the immediate, very sweet smell of mint comes through. It's more of a mellow mint, perhaps a subdued spearmint or a mint oil additive, but it's not sharp like with the Skoal "Snus" Mint, which is more of a Peppermint aroma. The portions are abnormally huge but very soft, great mouthfeel, just not comfortable because of the sheer size of the portions. I give the nicotine hit a thumbs up, for once an American "Snus" that isn't weak, this actually does give a little kick. When you put it in your lips you get an immediate burn and tingle sensation. The flavor comes through pretty quick, very sweet, mellow mint flavor. The portions juice up quite a bit and give me an increased urge to spit. I could keep a portion in for about 30 minutes before it got too sweet to bear and I had to discard it. The aftertaste is a killer though - really sweet and artificial taste that sticks around for quite sometime.


This one is a little different than Skoal "Snus" Smooth Mint. When I cracked open a can of Skoal "Snus" (Mint) I quickly smelled the aroma of peppermint. Very sharp and extremely sweet aroma. The portions are very large but very soft, the mouthfeel is spot-on, but just too uncomfortable because they're so huge. The nicotine kick to these is pretty pleasant, it's actually noticable, unlike most other American "Snus" products I've tried. The flavor that comes through is a really sweet Peppermint type flavor, accompanied by a burn and tingle in the lip, much like I experienced with Smooth Mint. The portions juice up a lot and made me want to spit, despite the can saying "Spitting Optional", it almost seemed like I didn't have a choice. I kept each portion in for about 30 minutes until it turned way too sweet and I had to quickly discard it before I got sick. The aftertaste really strong in this one as well, very sweet and artificial, almost like I licked 1,000 stamps. It stays in my lip for quite a while and is a bit much.


Skoal "Snus" isn't a total failure like Marlboro Snus 2011. I'm going to say there's some good and some bad. This product is a step in the right direction, it's vastly improved on any American "Snus" product I've had to date, but not enough for me to consider it a real snus, or something I'd use more than once a month, if that. The good part, as mentioned before, is that the tobacco itself is very moist. I'm going to put it up in the 40%-45% range by my estimation. That is definitely a step forward, as most American "Snus" products are abnormally dry. It was also interesting to see that it's 100% American Tobacco.


The bad? I think this "snus" is a tobacco product made for dippers. The portions are so large it's uncomfortable to upper lip them which makes it seem that lower lipping is the best option. Despite the fact that the can says "Spitting Optional", it's almost a requirement. The portions juice up so much that it seems like spitting must be done. As I say about all American "Snus" products, this one is no different. It's way too sweet. Granted, it is a mint "snus", so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt - if they release a pure tobacco flavored "snus" and it's not overbearingly sweet, I'll eat my words - but for now, I think this one is catering to a demographic they assume likes oversweetened tobacco. And nothing wrong with that - if that's what they think their target audience is, but for me - I don't dig it. It's way too overbearingly sweet. At the end of the day I think Skoal "Snus" is a step forward for American "Snus", but it still isn't up to par with Real Swedish Snus.

[Tristik]

~~
Nice review Chad! I almost crapped my pants when I saw that picture showing these to actually be bigger than the camel portions. Even those things are too big. How do these people not learn?
~~

[snusjus]

Dear Altria Group,

Please release a Copenhagen snus with an identical flavor to Copenhagen Snuff -- no artificial sweeteners or deviation from the original formula, and ensure the moisture content is ~50% and the pH and nicotine levels are high.

Thanks for listening and taking my advice.

[simon]

Yes!!!

[deadpool99]

I have no problem with the portion size of the Marlboro Snus. I put a portion in on the side just off from the front of my mouth. My problem is that with the Mint the oil or whatever they use to flavor the snus with seems to evaporate quick. By the time I got to the end of the can the flavor was quite less than what it started out as.

Now as far as them making snus with the flavor of Copenhagen I dont think that will be possible since Copenhagen uses dark fired fermented tobacco that has been aged. Thats why copenhagen tastes the way it does.

Honestly I feel that most people here in the states just wont care for snus that is flavored like Swedish snus which is a shame. Cant tell you how nice it would be to go to the tobacco store and pick up a can of Ettan or Grov.

I haven't had a can of real Swedish snus in well over a month. I have been using Grizzly or Copenhagen and Camel snus. This marlboro stuff is decent but very artificial in taste. The original is boring as heck. I cant even see where people say it is overly sweet. The mint I can live with but I am hoping I can find the Skoal snus soon so I can try that out. God I am going to have to place and order soon. The only thing that sucks is I dont want to pay high shipping with snuscentral even though its fresher from what I have heard and the last two orders I got from Northerner the snus was dried out more than it has been in previous orders. Why Why American tobacco cant you make a good natural snus that has real tobacco flavor. Arrgghh!

[cybowolf]

Great and thorough review, Chad! Just one quick comment. Something that Skoal does not make immediately obvious about their dip pouches is that they actually come in two different sizes: bandits and pouches. And to be even more confusing, they have Wintergreen Bandits and Wintergreen Pouches--these are actually two separate products. The Bandits are smaller than Pouches...if you are able to get your hands on one of the Pouches products, you'll find that they are very similar in size (if not exactly the same pouch) to the Skoal Snus. Bandits were introduced first, I think back in the early 1980s. Not sure when Pouches came out, but they are definitely new than the bandits.

-cybowolf

[chadizzy1]

I did Bandits because one of my YouTube subscribers is a Bandit user and wanted to see a comparison. I may go buy some of the pouches just to see how they relate.

[chadizzy1]

I did Bandits because one of my YouTube subscribers is a Bandit user and wanted to see a comparison. I may go buy some of the pouches just to see how they relate.

I did a new video, I was bored last night.

[tom502]

Nice vid, and the vid production is very good too.

[chadizzy1]

Nice vid, and the vid production is very good too.

Thanks! I've been messing around with iMovie lately trying to make some cool videos. I got those two new AG Snuses today and Chaini Khaini so I'm going to be writing up something on those too.