Finessing the EU Snus Ban: Thunder Snus vs Thunder Chew

Happy New Year snusers,

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year and that 2014 brings you everything you desire! As I am now starting to come out of a 2 week alcohol haze that would embarrass even Moe, I thought it time to do something else with my time other than drink.

Fans of General Snus will no doubt have heard about the new General Variation snus being released very soon.  Larry has written an excellent article with all the info you need to know.
 
I, for one, am excited about it but due to the snus ban remaining in effect following the TPD revisions (nothing set in stone just yet from what I know), the Swedish government not standing up and demanding the EU snus ban be lifted and instead simply accepting no ban on flavours (a very, well if it doesn’t affect us then I don’t care attitude), I won’t be trying it anytime soon.  A long weekend in Sweden is called for.

Thunder Extra Strong Chewing Bags?

Enter Thunder; its a snus we all know.  Many love it, many hate it. Thunder Frosted portions were the first minty snus I ever tried. It never rocked my world but it retains a place in my rotation.

I mentioned in an earlier article last year that V2 had released in Europe a Thunder Chewing tobacco and that they had released chew bags in Germany.  They are now on sale in the UK in Original, Frosted and Liquorice flavours.  The loose comes in Original, Frosted and Wintergreen.

I am going to give you a side by side comparison of Thunder Snus vs Thunder Chew bags.

I won’t go into Thunder snus as I am sure you have all tried it or know of someone who has. Thunder Frosted has a spearmint taste without sweetness.  The drip is harsh on the throat but the vitamin N is good! Go Extra Stark!

The Thunder chew, if you haven’t tried it or heard of it, is V2 sticking a massive middle finger up at the EU.  What they have done is released an oral smokeless tobacco product into the EU market that gets around the snus ban.

It looks like snus, smells like snus, tastes like snus, is made the same way as snus, comes in a snus can, needs to be refrigerated like snus and is essentially snus but, as it is “chewed”, it isn’t snus and gets around the EU snus ban.  Bravo V2!

OK, there are one or two small differences.  The grind is much finer than Thunder normally is.  I have affectionately called it snuskla, as it has the grind of makla. I also think the pH level is higher than that of snus as the nicotine hits you in he same way as makla does.

The chew bags are the same as Thunder Extra Strong white portion snus.  You get the same number of ‘bags’ as you do snus portions in a can. The chew bags are slightly moister than a white portion snus, I put this down to the tobacco going into the portion being slightly moister as it is just the loose chew, in a bag.

This review is on the Frosted as it is the tin open at the moment.  It smells like Thunder Frosted snus, the taste is identical; the nicotine is there in abundance! There is no indication as to the content on the can but it feels the same as the portion snus.

You still get that harsh drip off the portion after around 45 minutes with one in as you do with the snus and the mint flavour lasts well for round an hour.  

With the loose you can get to the hour and a half point easily and still get flavour. The Original tastes like the snus does.  It has a nice citrus aroma and taste and is my personal favourite.  I haven’t tried the Liquorice yet but will report back.

You can’t say much more than others here have already said; it is identical to the snus with the exception of the grind which is much finer. However, it’s not so much this that is so revolutionary about Thunder Chew.

What we have in effect is legal loose and portion snus, sold perfectly legally within the EU!

What V2 has done is react to the new TPD.  Snus at present, remains banned, so let’s change the label and sell it as chewing tobacco.  Guess what, it has worked!

From what I know Thunder Chew is a big hit in Germany.  It also seems to be coming on well here in the UK.  Swedish Match, Skruf, JTI, GN Tobacco, take note!!

Now, I haven’t seen the TSNA levels etc but since it comes from V2 and will be made the same way as their snus is, I would imagine it will be on a par with the snus. Those of us in the EU now have a viable harm reduction alternative available on our doorsteps, in effect legal snus(kla).

Just pray that the EU doesn’t try to interfere even more in our lives that they currently do!

Till the next time,

ADAM SKELLAND

Snus from a British Perspective
Reporting from the UK for SnusCENTRAL.org