General Wintergreen portion snus, a review of another “Made for America” Swedish snus!

Welcome back snus lovers!

You all might be wondering why I picked General Wintergreen portion snus to do a review on this week. Well, during my weekly meeting with Larry Waters and the rest of the SnusCENTRAL team, it was revealed that both General Mini Mint and General Wintergreen should be available in the SnusCENTRAL Snus Shop around the first or second week in April 2009. Knowing this, I decided that since the date is fast approaching, it may be a good idea to review it so you all will have an idea of what it tastes like!

“Snus Guy, this isn’t going to be one of those reviews on the web that reads like a commercial, is it?” Now I would hope you all know me better than that! This review will be just like the rest, an unbiased, fun review on taste, feel and my recommendations. So, knowing this, let’s get right into the review!

General Wintergreen white portion snus is another fine snus manufactured by the folks at Swedish Match, the same people who make General Mini Mint! You may be asking yourselves why I mentioned Mini Mint. I did this because General Wintergreen, like General Mini Mint, was created specifically for the American market.

If you’re a snus lover that can’t wait until the shop gets it or, would like to know if there’s a local shop that carries General Wintergreen, or would like some FREE SAMPLES of General Mini Mint and General Wintergreen, just go to the SnusCENTRAL Free Snus Samples and General Snus Store Locator! “Ok, enough history already Snus Guy, get back to the review!” Sorry, got a bit wrapped up but it is important to know this! Now, back to the review!

General Wintergreen is a white type portion snus. As you all remember, white portions are white in color and get this way because they do not go thru the additional wetting step that regular portions do. They have 1 gram of snus per portion and there are 24 portions in each can with 8 mg of Nicotine per portion.

The portion material is the same soft tea bag type material that Swedish Match uses in all its white portion snus and sits really comfortably under the lip. I’ve had a portion in for over 2 hours with hardly any discomfort from the material. My time recommendation is about 2 hours max. I also offer this observation about it though. Even after an hour, the snus will wrinkle the inside of your lip. I’ve found that most snus that contains any kind of mint will do this. Although not irritating, some snus lovers have questioned me about it. If this bothers you, try doing what I do. I alternate sides when using mint flavored snus after each portion and this seems to not wrinkle my inner lip as much! Just some food for thought.

The can that General Wintergreen comes in is the exact same one that General Sterk comes in, complete with the used portion compartment in the lid. The only difference is the label. You’re probably thinking that the can is really not that special and, you would be right. The taste is what makes General Wintergreen special. “Special how, Snus Guy?” I’m glad you asked that fellow snus lovers!

General Wintergreen’s taste is pretty unique. When most people think Wintergreen, the first thing that jumps to mind is Wintergreen Life Savers. I asked a few snus lovers here to smell an open can of General Wintergreen just to get their opinion on what they smelled. 3 of the 4 did indeed smell Wintergreen Life Savers but the 4^thsnus lover smelled the exact same thing I did, the American Smokeless brand, Skoal Wintergreen! But this is not a bad thing and next you’ll see why!

While the scent is very close to Skoal Wintergreen, the taste has its differences. The first thing you taste in General Wintergreen is, indeed Wintergreen Life Savers but the more you have a portion in, the more it develops the flavors reminiscent of Skoal Wintergreen. General Wintergreen has the same burn in the lip as Skoal does as well! Wintergreen though, is not the only flavor I taste in General Wintergreen. I can actually taste the tobacco and salt in it as well! In Skoal Wintergreen, all I could taste is Wintergreen. The hint of tobacco and the slight saltiness really plays well with the Wintergreen and helps to eliminate the bitterness you typically get with Skoal Wintergreen. I’ve had the flavor last about 2 hours when the taste is pretty much gone. I recommend an overall max of about 2 hours in regards to feel and flavor.

“Snus Guy! You’re making a lot of connections with Skoal Wintergreen here! What exactly are you driving at?” Well, here’s where I explain the whole “special taste” thing! Since the flavor of General Wintergreen is really close to the flavor of Skoal Wintergreen, it would be very easy for new snus lovers that were using a wintergreen flavored American smokeless tobacco product to easily switch over to General Wintergreen. In addition to that, smokers that smoke menthol cigarettes seem to like the Wintergreen taste as well!

So, what drinks go well with General Wintergreen? “We know Snus Guy, Diet Coke and Monsters do well!” Actually, Diet Coke and General Wintergreen created a taste I never thought it would! The two together tastes very similar to a Diet Coke with lime! Monster Energy Drinks really didn’t do well actually. The Monster made the snus taste bitter and gave the drink an off taste. The best drink was a true Southern Style sweet tea! The sweetness in the tea enhanced the wintergreen flavor and helped to bring the tobacco flavor out. Sweet tea snus lovers, I really recommend!

Before I give you my overall recommendations for General Wintergreen white portion snus, snus lovers, I have to admit something to you. I had my reservations about General Wintergreen when I first smelled the can. The reason I don’t really care for Skoal Wintergreen is the fact that it was really over flavored to the point it made me sick. After I smelled General Wintergreen, all the memories of that incident came flooding back. Being the sacrificing soul for my fellow snus lovers, I gathered all my courage and tried it. It was then I learned that I had nothing to be concerned about!

My overall recommendation for General Wintergreen white portion snus, snus lovers, is this; New snus lovers who currently use an American Smokeless tobacco product and want to transition to a safer, cleaner way to use smokeless tobacco, but still want a familiar flavor, can’t go wrong with a couple of cans of General Wintergreen! Seasoned snus lovers that like wintergreen flavors can’t go wrong either! If you really don’t care for wintergreen flavors, you may not want to try General Wintergreen but, I leave this decision up to you!

As I said in the beginning, as of the writing of this review, General Wintergreen is only available at American tobacco shops but, will soon be available at the SnusCENTRAL Snus Shop. Since prices vary from state to state and differ on the internet, I can say that as of the writing of this review, prices range from $3.95 USD to $5.00 USD depending on where you buy from but remember, if this is your first time ordering at the the SnusCentral Snus Shop, just enter the code on the banner to the right and get 10% off!

Well snus lovers, I hope you enjoyed our trip thru Swedish Match’s General Wintergreen white portion snus and found it useful and informative. You can also visit your Member Reviews Section and Snus Reviews by Larry Waters and Friends for more reviews. SnusCENTRAL.org Members can even write their own snus reviews!