Apparently with some players from said football team publicly raising the status of our most treasured of pastimes, and those dear chaps at Pöschl honoring their activity, I must admit to having somewhat high hopes when I flipped open the familiar (but oddly never entirely working… or is it just me?) snap lid. However I feel compelled to report on something of a Curates egg… Apart from the healthy nicotine dose, if that isn’t too much of a contradiction in terms, there is almost nothing to say about this most obvious of snuffs. Good in parts it certainly is; the aforementioned nicotine content and the pleasant but dull aroma are its good points, but on the flip side the negative aspects are summed up by a surfeit of innocuousness. It is moderate in taste, grind, moisture, colour, menthol, and any thing else you care to mention. It does sort of seem like the guys in the P factory, or workshed, or wherever they make the stuff (it could be an underground bunker for all I know), just added a pinch of all their other menthol snuffs together and left it at that.

I know that my lack of specifics might be somewhat vexing, but there really is little to be remarked on here after the bright red box has been opened. I want you to know that I don’t expect ever to have to do this, but if you were trying to explain to a martian visitor the meaning of the words ‘pöschl’ and ‘snuff’ then this would be your baby, but other than that mildly improbable occasion turning up, I see very little use for the stuff! Maybe it’ll be useful for propping up a wobbly table or something…

Oh, there I go again… a personal rant it may be, but it does, if a little obliquely, bring us back to the matter in hand, as it were… Ozona Raspberry. The first noseful of this most easy of snuffs is a pleasure; its soft fruity sweetness (which is surprisingly authentic), menthol follow through and equally gentle tobacco warmth are pretty much top hole – one cannot help but find a silvery round hole in ones heart.

In many ways the simplicity and straightforwardness of Ozona Raspberry is its strength but also its one undoing. It can sometimes seem so very pleasant, but so low in nicotinal loveliness, that it can find its way to the bottom of the drawer or bag or wherever else these things find themselves – so much like that lost sock I feel… If I may offer a kindly word of advice however, keep this little chap in mind because you’ll inevitably return to its nostalgic pleasures.

On a more formal note, as with all of our snufftastic bon mots, the texture is exactly medium in all things. As mentioned the nicotine level is a touch on the low side, but maybe that allows it to act as an aperitif for more robust and throaty offerings. Oh, and how can I forget the perfect little box… well apart from the oft erratic dosing when on the fly.

A sweet treat indeed, and one that will roll its way into your pockets and hearts!

Sandal-Tree (why not Sandalwood is anyone’s guess…) is offered in a familiar round flat tin, with quite a pleasing rustic design that offers a vague hint as to what lies inside. It must be said that this mighty mouse packs a proper punch, both in terms of aroma and its capacity to lay one out with a nicotine flush; this snuff is the business. Entirely free of that old familiar menthol (or so it seems to our humble proboscis’), it has a distinctly joss-stick like quality, and a fragrance that virtually fills a room – well at least a broom cupboard. Its herby, spicy and has a dark taste that is complimented by its almost chocolate brown colour – even the grind level is spot on, making Sandal-Tree an instant favorite. The near perfect combination of sandalwood and tobacco flavors leads us to put it forward as a minor classic.

If used to the sometimes insipid sameness of an average menthol snuff, it might be worth exhibiting a modicum of caution here… make no mistake, this is a serious undertaking, and maybe a little overpowering for the beginner. But stick with it folks, Paul Gotard’s Sandal-Tree is one to write home about.

So, you want to hear about the actual snuff I suppose… well ok then, since you asked so nicely. Mac Craig’s has a medium texture and medium warm brown hue. The gentle menthol is accompanied by the vaguest hint of Eucalyptus (do I get a hint of Vicks Vapo-Rub… Nurse! Fetch the screens!), and disappears almost as quickly as it arrives – so unlike your aunt Muriel at Christmas eh? The remnants of the aroma are mostly plain tobacco, but that is also quickly away with the fairies – in with one breath, out with the next.

As bland as it sounds, one good thing about this little fellow is the box that will fit into even the most restrictive of trouser pockets…make of that what you will, but don’t come running to me the next time you try to sneak a Friburg and Treyer into your shorts. Oh, and if one should forget where one has left this non-descript snuff, the container is egg-yolk yellow – the only bold aspect that Mr Mac Craig can muster. Not for the adventurous… easy there beginner!

I know, I know… ‘fanciful fellow’ I hear you exclaim. This snuff does get a grip on you though. Despite its frequent criticism of smelling ‘a bit like a dog biscuit’, the overwhelming sense is that of an old wooden box made from an Arrack cask that has been left on a shelf to gather dust. The aroma is actually quite profound and memory provoking (hence my ramblings). In formal terms it has a medium moist, yet finely ground texture, and at least a medium nicotine content. Its dark brown colour is also a joy to open the lid to.

As has been noted elsewhere this is truly a snuff for the discerning – maybe a little esoteric for some – but to our noses it is like a poem on old paper; a yardstick by which to measure all others.

I’ll say right now, that I do enjoy a good fruity snuff, so taking in my eager mitt the familiar white (or in the case of the photo, black) Samuel Gawith easy dosing box, I have to say I felt a certain frisson of excitement. Oh cruel fate! Maybe I was expecting something akin to the great Ozona cherry, (if you haven’t tried it, why not?) but what S Gawith provided my olfactory senses was nowhere near. I’ve heard this snuff described in glowing terms, particularly as non mentholated to ‘let the fruit burst’, but in my humble opinion this burst was more of a damp squib.

First off, with regards flavour, the expected sweet warmth of cherry was nowhere to be found. Instead of crushed cherry fruit it ‘tasted’ like ground cherry stones, and its lack of menthol (not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself) provoked the sense of a one trick pony, or one hit wonder, or maybe a one fruit tree… well, you pick the metaphor then!

I’m glad that I omitted to buy the over sized box – you’d have heard the shrieks from there!!!

Eagerly popping open the lid of the promising red box, and taking this light brown snuff into my sleek nasal membranes, I found myself groping around on the floor for what remained of the back of my head. Woah mama! Of course I couldn’t see to find it due to the profuse flow of tears that ensued from the overwhelming menthol kick… but enough of this wander down the pleasures of memory lane. I quickly realized that this was a snuff to approach with a degree of care and respect – kind of the way one might sidle up to a pit-bull terrier, or perhaps a beaker of hydrochloric acid. Oh, I seem to have gotten a little carried away… I do apologise.

So to the actual flavour: The most important aromatic aspect of Kensington Luxury English Snuff (somewhat misleading in title due to it being manufactured by the Swedish Match Company in South Africa!), is the pepper tone of the initial menthol. This pepperyness takes some time to fade, leaving behind it a surprisingly warm, oddly minty afterburn (burn being the salient word). I’m not sure how this can be, but despite the eye poppingly sharp first sting of this snuff, it’s curiously pleasurable – kind of like the numbness after a hard slap!

Kensington Luxury English Snuff is medium in nicotine content and is ground so fine as to be sub atomic. Watch out for this one and hold on to your hats!

‘A unique basic aroma, enhanced with real peppermint, fresh menthol and the aroma of dark, ripe wild fruit from the mountainous forests of Europe. This snuff is a gratifying experience for the connoisseur of snuff.’ Pöschl.

Well put the boys at Pöschl! This rounded, yet perky number has become a firm favorite. The shiny green box, despite its generally Pöschl retro 70’s design flourishes, has a very nifty sliding top that is exactly the right size for dispensing the perfect dose of this tasty snuff.

Alpina is a well balanced snuff with a warm medium brown appearance and a medium moist/fine consistency – in fact the feel and size of the grains combined with the ease of dosing make it the perfect traveling accessory. What pocket needs more?

We’re not sure that we can be quite as florid as the good people at Pöschl, but Alpina’s aromas are warmly elegant. Once in the nasal passages, the gentle hit of menthol is closely followed by a fresh summer fruitiness – think the later end of afternoon, picking berries from a hedgerow and walking back home with the sun behind you… However, despite the warmth (there’s that word again) there is no sense of the cloying about this snuff. Any tobacco-y edge that may be there soon drifts away.

As for the all important nicotine content, despite the seeming gentleness of Alpina, it is our considered opinion that the levels are medium… and awfully good!