Battle of the SP

1: Berwick brown 2: SP extra 3: Tom Buck

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I’m a fan of the “earl gray” flavor.

  1. McChrystal’s S’Nuff (My hands down favorite, and desert island snuff. Very high nic content too!)
  2. J&H Wilson Top Mill No. 1 (Very well rounded with an earthy base.)
  3. Tom Buck (A classic that defines a “proper” SP to me.)
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I recently started in on a 5 gram tin of WIlson’s Gold Label that I had ordered some time ago. It is an SP and a very good one at that, in my opinion. If you haven’t tried it, you should. Light lemon flavor but most of the flavor is the dark tobacco. I bought it because the nicotine level was listed as high on Mr Snuff site, I will admit. 

I may have to see if I can order a tub of this one in case it is discontinued. 

I just picked up the snuffstore Traditional SP and I think it is absolutely the best.  It still has a fairly strong ammonia smell (which I like) but it is a high nic, strong tobacco earthy scent with light bergamont and tonquin or vanilla…my nose isn’t really that discerning. 

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*J&H Wilson’s Top Mill no. 1 - fine and dry with a smooth tobacco note and understated bergamot.
*WoS Queens Extra Strong - Allegedly the same recipe as Tom Buck. WoS has so many great SPs it is hard to choose. Great base flour balanced with a hits-the-spot bergamot note, pleasant burn.
*McChrystal’s Mild Lemon - The lemon note is distinct but not too assertive. I think it’s the tobacco that is mild. Very nice.
*WoS Grand Cairo - The bergamot is there, but also some leather and spice. I’d call it an “opulent” SP
*F&T Seville - Citrus with floral notes, very soft in the nose with no burn. This is a “dandy” SP
*Toque SP Extra - Bold, in-your face bergamot on a nice base flour.

I’ve now sampled 7 or 8 and I keep coming back to Toques SP Extra

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SG SP Scotch

Wilson Gold Label

Berwick Brown

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Strasbourg and Morlaix are nice for occasional, but are a little too fussy for all day use IMHO. Other “not quite SP” snuffs that I really like include Grand Cairo, GH Dry Orange, F&T Seville and F&T Kendal Brown SG Sp Scotch, Jaxons SP Premium, WoS Best Dark and Berwick Brown are great. I’ll switch over to JHW SP No 1 or Top Mill No1, or Tom Buck if I’m a little congested, as they’re finer grinds and my nose struggles with them if the sinuses are fully open. Toque SP Extra would do well here too, but I haven’t had any of that for a while. McC Mild Lemon is a wonderful snuff, but I find it a little too pricey compared with other UK brands. Even the bulk seems expensive, and 200g runs for the same price that I paid for 500g of SG snuffs. I will pick up a tin occasionally though. I got a dozen tins of Yellow Crest and half a dozen of Blue Crest for a ridiculously cheap price, and will likely add my own lemon scenting to some of this.

S.G.SP# 1 High Mill is my favorite, but Snuffstore Traditional is a close 2nd, followed by all the rest, which I also like very much. 

Update: Today I opened a tin of Gawith Hoggarth SP, included in my most recent order. Wow is all I can say! Really good, with a bergamot-like scent, but not quite…whatever it is, it’s nice. Tobacco is smooth(pause to pinch), rather fluffy, slightly moist. I kind of sad that in all my years of snuffing, I’ve never tried it before. Has anyone else tried this? 

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Not me - but there’s many I have yet to try. I’ve not tried McC SP, SG SP No1 or High Mill, Toque Original, or several of the WoS ones that have just disappeared. I do have a tin of each of the four remaining WoS SPs, (Best SP, Tom Buck, Gold Label, and SP100) and may do a side by side review of them all at some point.

Just picked up some SG Kendal Sp No1. High Mill I may be partial at the moment though this would be my favorite SP

I just opened a tin of Gold Label, never tried it before. Very good snuff. It’s medium brown, slightly moist, reminds me of Covent Mature Crumbled. There are a lot of really good SPs, I like to use them all, and they are all different. Some within brands, like WoS, are pretty similar, but others, like SG No.1 HIgh Mill, are totally different. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I recently opened a tin of G. Hoggarth SP, and found it also different than any of the others I’ve tried. And I almost forgot to mention Abraxas St. Casura. It’s another one that is distinctly different from the others. I recommend everyone to try if, if you haven’t already. To me, it’s just about impossible to pick one, above all others, because every single one is good in its own way. Some have more bregamot, more citrus, etc, while others have less. I also think we each experience scents differently. I’ve read lots of reviews of many snuffs, and I usually find that my own nose sort of picks up things differently, to a degree. Of course, particular scents, like spearmint, or to a lesser degree, apricot, I mostly find myself in agreement with other people’s reviews and perceptions.

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Toque Best SP WoS Gold Label SG - all of their SPs And SP-like snuff; F&T Bordeaux Toque Berwick Brown WoS Best Dark

I’m trying to find my favourite SP so that I can buy bulk. So far I like them in this order, but it keeps changing:

  1. Covent Mature Crumbled, turpentine mothballs

  2. J&H Wilson Top Mill No.1, creamy

  3. WoS Best SP, tobacco taste

  4. WoS SP100, fluffy

  5. J&H Wilsons SP No.1, nutty

I didn’t enjoy compiling this list as much as I thought I would. This website says we should not put our snuff experience into words, instead we must focus on the thoughts and energy released by the medicine. 

Toque SP extra for me

I’m just not getting the whole SP thing.  Of the ones mentioned here, I’ve had WoS Gold Label and F&T Bordeaux - and to me they are nothing alike.  Can someone explain what makes them both SPs?  Is it like “whisky” which encompasses Islay, Irish, and Bourbon which taste nothing alike?    :-/

@Chico - You may have answered your own question there.

Whiskey is defined by the process and not the outcome. I suppose with SPs it’s a similar thing. Usually fine and dry, with a bergamot or other citric note (varying strengths) but not always. There are no rules about what kind of tobacco is used, or what other scents are allowed to be present. I’ve had some dark, musky snuffs called SPs, and I’ve had some very refined and delicate perfumed snuffs called SPs. Maybe it’s a top shelf vs bottom shelf thing, like with the whiskeys. There may be more extremes within whiskeys than SPs.

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@cpmcdill - thanks.  I guess it takes practice and experience.  I can tell the difference between the whisky types, and between them and rum or whatever… but sure couldn’t classify an SP.

@Chico personally I’d compare an SP to a Gin than a Whiskey. Very loosely defined though needs to have certain ingredients to be called a Gin. With an SP that would be the Citrus and Bergamot, as you would have Juniper with Gin. Though you can have additional scents ontop of this and its still deemed an SP, as the same with Gin.

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