Swedish Snus News & Snus Reviews of Jakobsson’s Ice Fruit, Philip Morris 1847, Nick & Johnny East

This month, I decided to mix things up a little bit. General White Portion has been my snus of choice for quite some time along with Göteborgs Rape’.

Lately, though, I’ve been finding myself a little bored. Unlike cigarette smokers, where (I at least) pretty much settle on a brand and stay with it for years, snus users have the occasional need to switch off to something new. Then when they ultimately come back to their former favorites, it’s a new experience again.

Instead of the General White Portion, I bought a roll of Philip Morris 1847 White Portion (that’s right, Philip Morris: makers of Marlboro “snus”…and don’t think that didn’t make me a little nervous!)

I replaced my usual roll of Göteborgs Rape’ White Portion with Jakobssons Ice Fruit Portion, and out of curiosity (I wasn’t going to risk buying a roll on this one) I bought a can of the new Nick & Johnny East. I guess the container is supposed to be cutting edge or something. Maybe it will impress the girl at the bar you’re hitting on. The cheap plastic they use kind of ruins the effect, though. I also question the wisdom of shaping the container like a coffin. Bad subliminal advertising.

Lets start with the Philip Morris 1847 White Portion. I plan another article looking at the marketing side of this, but here I’m just going to concentrate on the product and the taste.

I do need to make something clear at the outset: the 1847 is NOT Marlboro snus, it is not made in the US, and it is real Swedish snus.

Philip Morris bought the Rocker snus factory in Sweden. This is way before my time, but one of the snus veterans on Snuson said the 1847 tastes “EXACTLY like Rocker Red portion, maybe a little less strongly flavoured. Many folks were sad when Rocker ceased eponymous production…”. So the Philip Morris 1847 is REAL Swedish snus.

Both the 1847 Portion and White Portion come in fancy metal cans. There are pros and cons to this: it looks good, it may protect your snus if you fall or from water, but it will set off metal detectors at airports.

Most importantly, the taste. It’s good! (my expectations were low though, having tried Marlboro (so-called) snus.) The tobacco is bold, yet a little milder than General. The citrus is there, but subdued. It sort of reminded me of General White Portion without the peppery taste or a slightly mellowed Grov with a hint of citrus. General but not General, if that makes sense. The all around flavor is just an amazingly well-rounded taste. It’s also not quite as salty as General White. One thing about that: I never really associated a strong salt taste with General before so it may have been something with the last roll I received.

At any rate, the Philip Morris 1847 White Portion will be in my rotation until I get bored with it and go back to General White, or Onyx……I’ve heard some interesting things I did not know about Onyx and am going to order a roll next month. If what I heard is true, I’ll be doing an article about it and tell you what I’ve discovered.

The Jakobsson’s Ice Fruit Portion was a calculated risk because one of the predominant flavors is mint. I was worried the mint would give it a candy-like taste and completely overpower the snus. I was proved pleasantly wrong.

The mint is certainly the first thing you taste, but it was subtle and not candy-like at all. After a few minutes, the tobacco and what tasted like blueberry subtly joined the mix. All and all, very nice. The overall quality was very good.

When I first wrote this review, I said the Ice Fruit was good, but would not make it into my regular rotation. After finishing another can, I’ve changed my opinion. Good at anytime, but especially after dinner when I’m looking for something different, I found myself really, really enjoying the Ice Fruit! I will be buying it again. It’s a nice diversion when you’re not in the mood for a heavy tobacco taste. I would definitely recommend buying a can with your next order and see what you think.

I’m impressed enough with Jakobsson’s to try a roll of their Classic on my next order. It also gets a lot of thumbs up from snus users and is said to have a slight orange taste.

But I’m also tempted by the GotlandssnusGulsnus (Yellow) Portion. Jakobsson’s is a Gotlandssnus brands so I’m curious how they will differ. The tobacco from the Gotlands is said to be among the best in Scandinavia and it also has a slight orange taste. I’ll let you know in a couple of months, or if you buy a can before I do, leave a comment or send me an email on what you thought.

The big disappointment was the Nick & Johnny East snus by Swedish Match. First of all, it only has 20 grams of snus as opposed to the originals 24 grams. It comes in a coffin-shaped rectangular plastic container with the new “cool” logo.

Initially, I kind of liked it simply because it was different. It’s tough to describe the flavor; Asian 5-spice with an almost faux coriander edge and it tasted more of soy than of salt. Some slight pepper overtones, but overall very hard to nail down. No fruit that I could discern. But even then, I never got a chance to really analyse it because the flavor faded very quickly. All in all, a big disappointment. This is my first and last coffin of Nick & Johnny East.

The original Nick and Johnny and skruf are my two favorite stark (strong) snus’s, meaning they have a higher nicotine concentration than regular snus. The Nick & Johnny West seems to be the same thing as the original Nick and Johnny, except with 20gr. of snus instead of 24gr. and it also comes in the fancy coffin shaped box…..for more money than the original. I wasn’t even going to try the West and just stick with the original, but I’ve been getting feedback that there is a taste difference and a positive one. I’ll have to get a coffin and see for myself. I’ll let you know what I think.

So to summarize, Philip Morris 1847; very, very good. Nick & Johnny East an overpriced disappointment appropriately packaged in a coffin, Nick & Johnny West I’m now going to give a chance, and Jakobsson’s Ice Fruit Portion is a new addition to my rotation and worth trying if you like flavored snus.

Sincerely,

Larry Waters

The Snus Guru
Reporting From SnusCENTRAL

June 15, 2008