Babaton Plain Blue

I did a search here and while its on snuffreviews, I didn’t see any threads discussing this snuff here at snuffhouse and I think its deserving of its own discussion. I haven’t had it a lot of times yet (I’ve only had it a few days as part of a mammoth order and, you know how it is, so many snuffs so little time) but it seems to be to be just about as good as and very similar Taxi Red and NTSU, maybe closer to NTSU Black. Its probably not quite as strong as NTSU in nicotine but I’d guess its awfully close there too. Its also a South African snuff, like NTSU and Taxi Red. it also has the same start up strong ammonia smell as NTSU when you first open the container and incidentally this is a remarkably sturdy and solid little container it comes in (white container with a blue lid, they’re made out of plastic but feel about as solid as granit or something when held in the hand, very nice heavy plastic and seals up nicely) It might have a coconut scent to it (or that might be the residue in my nose from other snuffs I’ve had today like FUBAR Grunt because it reminds me of that light coconut/dry vent smell, even though I purposely cleared my nose first before trying the Babaton again and writing this… no, I think its really this snuff (just looked over at snuffreviews again and they’re saying it over there too). Anyway, it seems to me that there are dry spells of there being no NTSU or Taxi available at either NicotineRush or MrSnuff and so with this in mind I’ve been more open to finding alternatives when that happens and this definately seems to be one of them, maybe even better in its own ways and it deserves mention and discussion (and preferably by people with more cultured noses and ability to describe that their noses find) so I am opening this up to that talk. I think this is a really good snuff that just accidentally has been overlooked Please, talk about Babaton Blue here, thanks :smiley:

It’s funny but the fresh tin which I’ve opened just now lacks the normal ammonia blast which comes with most (all?) SA snuffs. The snuff was PRESSED into this tin and I had to scrape some off with a knife. The nic hit is not as strong as from NTSU but on par with Taxi. Can’t say I taste coconut but whatever is in there, is nice. It’s strong, pure tobacco, just the way I like it. I’ve neglected this snuff for quite a while, don’t know why. Thanks for reminding me of it’s existence, whistlrr!

@Pieter mine was pressed down too like you say, quite a perfectly exactly full tin, but it very much had the ammonia scent… maybe yours is a word to the wise and one I’ll take into consideration right now seeing you say this) that it really doesn’t ‘keep’ well… I’m a little confused because on one hand you say its a ‘fresh tin’ but then you say you’ve ‘neglected it a while’ about how long had your’s actually sat? (so I can try to avoid this happening because I really think maybe that’s why you’re not having the same experience, maybe these are not good snuffs to leave just sitting a long time in their containers?) I use a czech tool’s spoon tip to dig into snuff 99% of the time so I might not have noticed what you did. It didn’t seem greatly packed more than other snuffs (in fact I am glad then they are, nothing worse than opening a tin of anything only to find its all too fluffy and leaping out all over at you in a snuff explosion, I’ve had to intentionally for instance, pack down a 25g tin of WoS #22 for exactly this reason just so I could actually use it without wearing it whenever I open it).

That’s better than opening a tin and it only being 2/3rds full.

never mind

@whistlrr, when I received my first tin of Babaton, I let it air for to long. I used it on and off and then left it alone. Tonight I opened a new tin which I’ve had for 2 months. It seems as if the top layer formed a crust and that’s what kept the ammonia down. I’ve now spread the snuff on a piece of paper and the ammonia blast is as strong as ever. I will air this tin for only a couple of hours because I don’t want it to dry out completely.

I’m one of those who likes the ammonia and tries to hang onto it (I’m one of those OCD people about trying to pop a tin and get my snuff and then closing it again as quickly as I can).

I tried to pour the snuff back into the tin. After I’ve pressed it down, there was still about a gram of snuff left! This is a real bargain to buy. I think Babaton has just now pushed Ntsu out of the way for me. Thanks once more whistlrr.

I personally really like this snuff. I have my third tin already. :slight_smile:

I would like it more if the flavor lasted a bit longer. Good intro to SA snuffs, imho.

My 15g tub of this came with a crack in the lid; I’m guessing temperature fluctuation during delivery caused the plastic/rubber to shrink. The snuff was pretty dry so I re-hydrated it. It smells good and I like the nic hit but can’t be sure if it is at all like what it could have been if the lid hadn’t cracked.

Those plastic containers are hardly air tight as past experience has shown me.

Came very moist from Mr Snuff This is my first foray into South African snuff. My first assessment on texture, tin nose and in the nose is … did I buy American style dip? I have a timer going to give it 40 minutes of air. I tried it earlier and in the nose, both the feel and the aroma, was to me like I put dip in my nose. Zero burn though. I’m open but skeptical that it’s going to change much though. Different styles I suppose

Old thread but. The coconut scent is not there any more. Maybe they changed the recipe. I like this snuff but prefer NTSU, black and green.

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Glad to hear it’s not just me. I was thinking if I can find coconut in there I should become a prospector :smiley: I’ve never had problems with Toque direct while I’ve read in plenty of threads to have some ammonia. After smelling this and Taxi Red airing out for almost an hour, taking a whiff from my glassware of Sir Walter Scott is like freedom to a prisoner

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I found Babaton dryish (old stock, I guess), ammonia-free and lacking in nicotine. As ex-snuser, I loved the rich smell of pure tobacco, but this one was definitely on a weaker side. I’m not sure about coconut, but I could second that Babaton is somewhat sweeter than the rest plain SA snuffs.

@ar47 Indeed, the cut approximates fine cut American dip, a can of which went through my nose many years ago. Redwood snuff it was. Back drip was a killer, but nic-wise it was doing even more than strongest SAs. I’ve tried some pinches of Copenhagen snuff nasally as well. Apart from the back drip and gritty, pretty much coffee-like texture (stems/midribs to blame), it was good elevator. Overall SA ‘grind’ is nose-friendlier than dip.

Revisiting Babaton after 2.5 years, I wonder is it supposed to be… dry like this. If it was Taxi or Ntsu, with such low moisture content it would qualify as stale. Potency is low, too. Far from medium.

But tobacco is tasty, I enjoy the drip, slightly sweet-and-sourish. Nice in the lip, too. And there is that slight whiff of a coconut, yes.

In regards to coarseness, it’s a mixed grind. Mostly medium-to coarse grains, topped with a healthy dash of some really coarse particulate (lamina flakes and chunks of midribs). About 3/4 of it easily passes 300 micron sieve and makes a beautiful base for scented, oiled or mentholated snuff. Oiled, it looks very similar to Indian black snuff, pure beauty.

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The coconut whif is clearly there.

If i hadnt read that it is coconut i wouldnt be able to identify it though.

After some days of snuffing babaton i can say that for sure the sweetness type of smell is a very mild subtle coconut.

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