Sir Walter Scott snuff: background.

Hi can anyone tell me a bit more about the makers of this artisan snuff like who makes it and where? I have bought a few tins from The Pipe Shop in Leith and it is absolutely lovely. I can’t find any provenance on the company anywhere however.

I may be wrong, but I thought I had heard it was a very small operation, maybe even one man. I have not heard very much background on SWS, though it would be nice to hear some history of the company. They seem to make exceptional product.

I think it might be Sir John Scott actually after a bit of digging. A writer and countryside campaigner here in the UK. I thought Sir Walter Scott was a brand name exploiting the Scottish connection, Ivanhoe writer etc.

I remember reading this post from ArtChoo with some interesting history.
http://snuffhouse.com/discussion/11524/history-no-19-sir-walter-scott

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You are correct @Johnny

Ahhhh ok this is the chap who used to be with Clarissa Dickinson-Wright on TV I presume? I love his Lundy Foot and Creme de Figue snuffs. He must use good tobacco as I find my other snuffs a bit lacking in comparison. As I say I had to dig a bit as he goes by Johnny not Walter. It was the bt after his name that did it. As i say I thought it was just a brand name. Are the larger 50g tins being made still? https://youtu.be/ytuZUhIa9Nc

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Johnny AKA Sir Walter Scott was just a snuffhouse member just like Nigel{Abraxas} And the late Chef Daniels USA {Old Mill}  before they started making snuff. They did their research homework and started blending tobacco’s with trial and error, until they perfected their craft. With the new UK regulations it is almost impossible to get raw leaf tobacco ; Which will put an end to the smaller operations. Abraxas has already hung up his operation. 

There are other members here perfecting their crafts , Like Hitsuzen {OSP},  Cobguy ,  Michibacy {Gadsden} .

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I hope Sir Johnny does not hang up his operations. He seems to be able to locate and use top quality tobaccos from around the world. I have looked at Abraxas snuff but fairly limited range of flavours on here not to my taste. Sir Johnny produces several that I could not be without tbh.

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Buy in bulk now, then. You may not have much time left to stock up.

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Has Nigel packed it in, then? Ah, too bad. A magician.

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That bad? So what do the bigger makers of snuff use: Wilsons, Gawitt, Torque etc? I will have to look into this. Which UK Regulations ban raw leaf tobacco? I’m not an expert to be honest, It sounds like such regs will kill all small UK tobacco blenders and cigar makers no matter what the size. Snuff soon a thing of the past? All I can find is that whole leaf tobacco is now subject to duty. That would not kill off a product but just make it more expensive. That can be passed on to the buyer. I would be happy to pay this.

Gawith buys there tobacco already ground by Poschl,  then they flavor it and tin it . I’m sure the big guys can sort though the red tape of bureaucracy with lawyers on retainer.   

Unfortunately, SWS has also hung up the towel. Here’s his last post: http://www.snuffhouse.com/discussion/11334/golden-horn#latest

Hmmm so Gawith snuffs are not ground “using the oldest machinery still in use in the UK then?” Some misleading marketing there then and that totally kills the mystique for me of the company: Traditional British using time old methods and equipment. it means they are little more than processors. That is extremely sad. I can only get Creme de Figue in 15g now anyway. But honestly I have studied this Regulation in some depth and most countries have opted out of the cross border sales prohibition so I honestly don’t know what the problem is. If the tobacco is coming from outside the EU buy it, pay your Duty and then make. your snuff. I would say it is the testing regs that have probably done for these two artisans. What a shame. I am into wet shaving as well and the Uak has several “one man band” artisan soap makers who still have to get their products through cosmetic toxicity testing and do so to serve their customers. I guess it is a case of “sod this” with these gents: too much grief.

Do Toque buy their tobacco pre ground too. It seems there is a lot of double standards over EU law implementation. The sooner we are freed from their legislation the better tbh.

AFAIK Gawith Conglomerate are atill milling their own, but they are acting distributors for Poesch Tobacco and in limited range for Kohlhase und Kopp (Robert McConnell and Rattray’s pipe tobacco).
Unfortunately plenty of misleading informations are lurking trough this forums these days. Jack

@ JackGraves At Kendal, the two Gawith families mirror the Wilsons in having split
into two companies well over 100 years ago. Samuel Gawith, a totally
independent company trading since the early 1790s works amicably
alongside Gawith Hoggarth and the two buy snuff from one another, even
though Samuel Gawith admits they are fighting for a share of an ever
declining market.

“There is no record as to how the Gawith brothers split but whatever
reasons there were seemed to have been forgotten,” said a spokesman for
Samuel Gawith.

The main difference between the companies today is in trading. “We are
rather bigger and all our snuff is now imported from Alois Poschl in
Germany,” says John Gawith, chairman and md of Gawith Hoggarth. “The
company makes our base snuff after which we apply the flavours and
blend them together.”

Full article Here: http://snuffboxthenasalsnuffclub.yahoogroups.narkive.com/UDkaYUnY/a-profile-of-the-british-snuff-industry 

@basement_shaman Gawith Hoggarth Ltd and Samuel Gawith & Co. has been merged by late March 2016. So then now there is no need to buy tobacco flour abroad (for GH operations) if could be made inhouse. As article in your post is from year 1999 so infoemations in it are (IMHO) a wee bit out-dated. They keep separate cataloques (and recipees) but they are made under same roof.
Jack

Just read that the stuff is made on a modern business park since merger and all the old Sam Gawith machinery is still at the old works. That is progress I suppose. Don’t like the idea of Germans choosing the tobacco type and grade though. Nothing racist just different tastes. I am very sad that Johnny has quit. My friends at the Pipe Shop In Edinburgh says it is made in an 18th century snuff mill. I am not sure. Sadly Brexit is going to come too late but I think domestic law will be hard too. EU tends to be more punitive as they have armies of bureaucrats to justify the existence of and who make sure to dot every i

Matteob,

I PM’d you last night.

Should be in your In Box.

Johnny

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