First Review ever! This is pretty exciting guys, really I have been "snusing" for some time now, but I have never decided to start doing reviews. I am going to start with a snus that I am really excited about. Some of you reading have probably had it but this is one of the biggest launches in snus history for me;
General Long Portion!
OK, so whats the big deal? Basically one of the all time greatest snus brands, General, have released a new improved version of there original portion snus. The long portion, as its name implies is longer....and slimmer than the original portion. They also made the moisture content somewhere between a white portion and an original portion.
Above: Top to bottom (Original, Long, White)
Above: Left to right (Original, White, Long)
Basically the story goes like this, snus used to only come in one form; loose (Los), then they(the Swedes) decided to put it into little pouches, called portions. After the tobacco is put into the pouch they spray it with water to give it extra moisture. This extra moisture ensures that one(the "snuser") gets an immediate flavor release or "drip".
So some ten or so years after the portion was released some (picky swedes) decided they didn't like the delicious drip that the original portion oh so graciously provided them.
Upon doing market research they(Swedish Match) decided that a new type of portion should be released, thus the white portion was born. Now white portions skip the last step in manufacturing, they are not sprayed with water. The outside of the portion is left dry with the only moisture coming from the tobacco inside. This type of portion does not release flavor immediately, but does tend to have a longer lasting flavor.
So ideally the perfect portion would be somewhere in between these two types, right? Correct, and since they(Swedish Match) are addressing that problem, they might as well kill two birds with one stone and perfect the fit of the portion as well. See standard sized portions are a little bit to square, so for some they tend to peek outside of the lip. The new long portions sit high in the lip, thus becoming basically invisible to anyone but the snus user. This is AWESOME! Anybody who works in service knows that you really don't want to talk to your customers with a little corner of tobacco peeking out to say hello. The Long portion fixes that! If the design of the portion isn't enough to make it perfect, it tastes like the good ol' General that I have grown so fond of.
The flavor of General, for those who don't know, is of robust and spicy tobacco and citrus. Think tobacco with hints of black pepper and a touch of lemon zest. In reality their is no pepper or lemon in General. The pepper comes from the blend of tobaccos used and the citrus is actually a dash of bergamot oil. You get the idea.
It is in everyones best interest to get a can though. Seriously I don't think this one will disappoint.
