Wilsons of Sharrow Grand Cairo

Fine and medium moist. It smells very strong out of the tin, with bergamot and lemon being the dominant flavors. It burns quite a bit in the nose and the first scents I get are, again, bergamot lemon and base tobacco with a slight hint of something floral. After a while, it gets a lot more complex, as some subtler aromas start to come out. Stronger floral notes and spice. I believe I smell cardamom and just maybe lavender. It’s an excellent snuff, complex and pungent. Medium high nicotine content.

I like GC it gives a good sting. A very fine Sp. I give it high marks.  

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At this point in my snuffing “career” I would say Grand Cairo sits firmly as my favorite snuff.  I get a strong aroma of orange zest among the bouquet of scents.  The nicotine hit is perfect for me too.  :x

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I just discovered this one and like it very much too. Nice grind very nice flavor and what I like most is that it doesn’t over power, just right.

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Grand Cairo is one of my favourite wos SP-variant. To me it has a slight floral and spice(cinnamon?). The citrus has been very inconsistent and depends on tin size…the larger the tin, the more bergamot i got.

Grand Cairo and Gold label are tied for my favorite.  I wish I could find one with stronger bergamot scent, i’d snap it up.

@wonderfvl. imho Toque SP Xtra has the strongest Earl-Grey bergamot scent, exclusive bergamot i think. I don’t think any of WoS has that Earl Grey tea type of bergamot. Gold label citrus to me is standard orange not bergamot orange, but i like it all the same. Really if you smell a dry bag of Earl Grey then the Toque tin, its scary similar.

Grand Cairo for me is an occasional snuff, and is not conducive for even semi-frequent use in my snout. The initial burn and explosion of scent before it settles is a little too intense and overwhelming for prolongued use in my opinion. When it starts to settle however, a journey begins. As described above, different elements of the scent start to present themselves and you start to get a perspective just how complex a snuff it is.

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@Chicago_CA Thanks for the Torque SP Xtra recommendation.  I’ll definitely give it a try.  I wasn’t eluding to Gold Label having Bergamot, just that it is one of my very favorites along with Grand Cairo.   And Torque SP Xtra may be a new favorite, yay!

I just opened a new tin of GC and am enjoying it very much. The scent is deep and fades away into a good tobacco taste. I’m curious as to how it got it’s name, if anyone knows.

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@mrmanos I believe Wilson’s of Sharrow brought out a range of “Grand” snuffs and Grand Cairo was one off them. It is the only one which is still in production now. Maybe the Cairo part comes from the spices involved in it which maybe common place a Cairo bazaar. As some ingredients in the snuff can be hard to get, as GC can often be unavailable due to this.

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On first snuff, this stuff is pretty good.  To someone like me who tends to prefer plainer styles, the initial scent smells like citrus scented bath cleaner but it develops in the nose.  Then all the sudden the nicotine kicks in along with a perfect smell.  I can’t really describe what it is but I can say it was worth the effort 

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@Gormur I agree, the Grand Cairo is a great SP. But I realised that this special aroma only appears on the first two pinches. When I (!!) use it too often this special aroma disappears somehow. But it is there when I take the Grand Cairo a few days later. So for me it is just an occasional snuff.

But I like it as a unique tasting SP:

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I think I get lavender from it

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I like that this isn’t a bergamot bomb.  It’s balanced with other things, I guess.  Like I said I get lavender from it and could take it all day if I had to, although taking it every few hours seems the best way for me to enjoy it fully

I don’t really get that SP burn out effect from it either, which is good

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I’m not a huge fan of SPs but I really like this one.  It has lasting scent without being overwhelming at first sniff and very little burn.

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I’m a bit late to this, but I’ve just opened a tin, and I’m getting lemon and bergamot in equal measure. Once it settles in the nose, I’m getting a strong rose aroma, with maybe a bit of lavender, getting the tobacco scent now that it’s been in there for a few minutes (I’m writing this post in real time!!)

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I bought a 20g tin of GC last year in which the lemon scent was very dominant. This contrasted with a previous tin I bought in which the lemon was balanced in with the other aromas. I bought a new tin this week in which again the lemon is not overly dominant. Either way a most enjoyable snuff.

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