I am relatively new to snuff, and write this with similarly situated individuals in mind. Take this with a grain of salt… my first review post and I’m far from a veteran snuff-taker, but I feel as though fresh perspectives, even if often repeating what is already an established consensus, help to keep conversations moving. I still need a little more time to get to fully know these snuffs, but here are my initial impressions - and away we go! Fribourg & Treyer Santo Domingo - I’m really liking this so far. Initial ammonia presence that fades with a few minutes of airing. Out of the tin: Dark brown. Earthy. Moist. There is something slightly sweet about this to me. A natural, organic sweetness. Is this the tobacco providing this part of the aroma? Coarse snuffs have provided some trouble for me, and this is on the coarse side of medium. Not as large a grind as, say, Mull of Oa, but definitely coarse from my experience. Very moist and can clump when pinching. But it travels easily enough and stays in the nose rather well… Mull of Oa, in contrast, I sometimes feel as if I need to sniff so hard that I may invert my nose, and it still falls all over my chest and lap. Scent lingers for a while, but leaves me ready to renew the aroma in my nose within ten or fifteen minutes. The burn… it is there for me, but not off-putting. A little nic buzz accompanied my enjoyment as well. Fribourg & Treyer Bordeaux - again, ammonia present, but it fades with just a little airing. Medium brown. I get floral and citrus notes. Both are pretty strong in my nose. I can’t pick out individual flowers or citrus fruits, but they pair well together. Something a little sweet that just lifts the floral and citrus notes enough to round everything out. There is a lot going on and my nose likes it. The scent lingers for quite a while. I can get notes of it popping up 45 minutes or so after taking a couple of pinches. Oh! That reminds me! There is a little burn that this one brings into play and I like the feeling. The nicotine is there, but not a major player for me. Fribourg & Treyer Seville - soft, floral, perfumed… Some may say old lady, I say elegant madam. Out of the tin, it is perfume and baby powder. Once in the nose, for some reason these scents open up and actually soften. They are quite blunt from the tin in my opinion, but in the nose, they are very enjoyable. I know the primary scent is a flower from a citrus tree, but I seem to get the faintest hint of bright citrus scent in the background. Little to no burn. Not much as far as nicotine goes, but don’t let that be a determining factor. The smell is delightful and calming. I don’t know if I would want to smell this all day, but I do feel when I take this snuff as though I could be transported to a different place and time where me wore suits and hats and chivalry was the norm. It is just pleasant and I frequently go back for another pinch to top off the first one. Abraxas St. Casura - medium to somewhat dry moisture, and a medium grind. Out of the tin I get chocolate covered orange, like the ones you see at Christmas time. Is my nose playing tricks on me? I don’t know. The citrus gets stronger in my nose. But I still get chocolate for some reason. Am I the only one that gets that? In any event, I didn’t notice too much burn, but found this a bit of a challenge to take for some reason. I like it, but I definitely need more time to figure out how to get this snuff to work for me. No verdict on nicotine as I’m learning with this one, but I can say that I detect a little burn here so far. I need to spend an evening getting my technique on this one down. It’s just something about the grind and moisture level in combination. 6 Photo Kailash - Incense, floral, and something mentholated greet you from the tub… I got the 8 gram one to dip my toes into Indian snuffs. I get a decent burn from this. In the nose the incense intensifies… I almost get Nag Champa but the minty menthol makes it a little different. Definitely opened up the nasal passages and rather quickly too. Some rebound congestion at first, but I suspect the main culprit in this was the dry weather. I haven’t noticed it as much since. This is NOT a menthol bomb. But it is there, and it is effective. One drawback would be the duration of the scent… if you don’t like the scent or if you wish to partake in another scent sooner rather than later. It will cloud other snuffs until either enough time has passed, or you have somehow removed said snuff. Lastly, but certainly not least, WOW NICOTINE! This is delightful. I get quite the buzz from only a small amount. There you have it. Thanks for reading and I hope my fledgling efforts at a few impressions/reviews are informative at worst and helpful at best.
I love reading people’s thoughts on snuffs, everyone gets something a little different out of them. I remember when I had Seville it was my go-to for kicking back and watching mindless TV, one of those perfect ones for relaxing. Do you get any of the cedar/wood notes in the Bordeaux? I could never put a word to that indescribably quality until a friend said it smelled like church and I realized it was something woody. Hard to tell if it’s added or if it’s part of the tobacco, with F&T I can never tell where the tobacco scents end and the added scents begin (which is the standard for an excellent scented snuff for me). Santo Domingo is one of my favorites. Smells like potting soil to me. Like a lot of coarse snuffs (hell like all snuffs) it really comes alive when taken outside in warm weather. I probably won’t have it again for a bit though, there are a lot of great coarse plainer snuffs out there and I feel like nearly every one is “one of my favorites”, lol.
@horus92 Regarding Santo Domingo… potting soil seems to fit. I was thinking wet dirt. Haha. It has an interesting scent that lingers in my nose that I can’t describe, but I definitely like. I get a definitly floral scent from Bordeaux. Nothing woodsy for me, but we all experience them in a slightly different way, which is why I thought I would put my two cents in. Seville definitely puts me at ease. I actually took a pinch before an important meeting today and it seemed that the meeting went well. I’ll say it was because of the Seville. My lucky snuff? Haha. In any event, thanks for taking some time to respond. Cheers.
I agree with you. The soothening effect of F&T Seville is beyond doubt. An advice about Santo Domingo: check the tin out periodically if you ever take a break from it (though I doubt you will ;).