March 7, 2013 Larry Waters

nord66° by skruf: A New Snus Brand to the Extreme

nord66° by skruf will bring a smile and nicotine to the mouths of Swedish snus lovers

Skruf Snus AB is releasing three new snuses under their new nord66° (pronounced Nord 66 degrees) by skruf brand. I’ve been using all 3 for the past couple of weeks and I am impressed!

The tobacco used in nord66° is truly premium quality. There is no bitterness in this flavorful tobacco blend and no shyness either. You can taste the tobacco and it is smooth yet full-bodied.

Skruf isn’t stingy with the tobacco either. Each nord66° snus contains 22 grams of snus in 24 portions. This works out to just a tad less than 0.92 grams per portion.

Skruf Snus fans will enjoy nord66° because its a great classic tasting snus even though it has a different flavor profile than Skruf brand snus.

Snus users who found the rose oil-centric Skruf Snus flavor not to their liking will enjoy nord66° snuses because they are a great example of the fine art of classic Swedish snus making.

Those who prefer strong and extra strong nicotine in their snuses will not be disappointed. Nord66° delivers in a big way when it comes to nicotine.

Nord66° Strong White portion snus and nord66° Nordic Breeze Strong White portion are rated a 3 on Skruf’s 1 to 4 nicotine scale. Both felt more like 3.6 to me compared to the Skruf snuses bearing the same #3 rating on the can.

Unlike the Strong White and Nordic Breeze snuses, the nord66° X-Strong portion snus is an Original or wet portion. While there are many white portion extra strong snuses on the market, I suspect the nord66° X-Strong portion was made as a wet portion partially to enhance not only flavor but the nicotine hit.

Additional moisture raises the pH of the snus and allows the nicotine to enter your system quicker.

The taste of nord66° Strong White is a healthy tobacco with slight earthiness. The herb and flower notes are very subtle, at least to my tastebuds. The salt fits perfectly and is not overpowering at all, a characteristic of all three nord66° snuses. Combined, all of these make for a very balanced and enjoyable snus experience.

The nord66° Nordic Breeze is an entirely new flavor and one all of us at the SnusCENTRAL.org Bunker are confident will be very popular. The mint and licorice overtones combine to form an entirely new taste where neither mint or licorice is dominant but the result is unique.

For the in-depth snus reviews and appropriate drinks to enjoy with each nord66°, the SnusCIA will be hand-carrying samples of each to That Snus Guy, our Snustopian snus reviewer in-exile, and to my mind the finest snus reviewer on the planet. His detailed nord66° snus reviews will be appearing on SnusCENTRAL.org in the very near future.

Moe Unz tells me that the nord66° snuses are still scheduled to arrive at the SnusCentral Snus Shop on March 8th. We have a plane standing by to rush nord66° and two new Skruf snuses to That Snus Guy as soon as the truck arrives. Moe himself will activate the nord66° snuses on SnusCentral.com at the same time so you can taste them for yourselves.

In re-reading this article before I hit publish, it strikes me that my excitement over nord66° may seem to some long-time readers as bordering on fanboy.

While it is not unknown for me to rave about a new snus I think worthy, it is very unusual for me to be so positive on all the snuses in a new brand regardless of who the manufacturer is.

I stand by everything I said and my great liking for the first three nord66° products. I will admit, however, the intensity of my praise is partially driven by relief.

When I first heard about nord66° by skruf, I was a little nervous. After all, the last new brand Skruf AB had introduced was the disaster known as Smålands Snus. Thankfully Smålands died a quick death. To my relief and joy, the nord66° snuses are truly outstanding in all ways.

In the six years I’ve been cigarette-free thanks to Swedish snus, I’ve lived through positive technological advancements in snus science. The white portion material of today has improved exponentially since 2007 for example, and I regularly use more white portion snuses than I did six years ago.

Some changes weren’t so good however. Sweden has raised the weight-based taxation on snus too often and at times in a huge spike. Six years ago, a can of loose snus contained 50 grams of snus; a can of regular portion contained 24 one gram portions.

Swedish snus manufacturers absorbed some of the increases but ultimately began reducing the amount of snus in a can to keep their products competitive and affordable to Swedes.

New manufacturers have come and gone in the last six years, some sacrificing quality to undercut the established brands in Sweden. The quality of the tobacco used even in certain established brands was sometimes exchanged for advancements in flavoring technology.

From my perspective, things started slowly improving overall during the last year and a half.

Lower snus weight will remain for many snuses not only because of taxes but because a new generation of international users prefer the smaller portions.

At 22 grams of snus per can nord66° comes as close to the original 24 grams as anyone in today’s market…..at least for now. The SnusCENTRAL Intelligence Agency has information that we will be seeing some Swedish snuses returning to 24 grams per can as 24 one gram portions this year.

I’ll leave you with that teaser and my congratulations to Skruf AB for launching three new wonderful snuses under the new nord66° by skruf brand.

Enjoy you REAL Swedish snus!