Can’t resist posting. I just received my third Sir Walter Scott snuff, Auld Alliance. My thanks to others who recommended it to me if I like Crème de Figue and for @Johnny for being it’s creator! Auld Alliance if anything I find even more remarkable with an incredibly long-lasting fragrance I just don’t find in other blends. I’m not very nicotine-tolerant so can only take small amounts at a time (and I find Auld Alliance strong and nose-runny in a satisfying way) and yet with a tiny pinch I could still smell it an *hour* afterwards! I actually left the pot open (oops) and could smell it from the other side of the room. I admire these snuffs so much because (like a good 19th century cocktail, don’t get me started on the Sazerac…) Johnny seems to manage to combine the scents to make an entirely integrated substance rather than more discrete “layered” smells I get from other snuffs. In other words what I don’t get is “oh it’s tobacco with some lemon and lavender on top” but a new experience of a scent I never imagined before. I get this from all three of SWS’s snuffs I’ve tried so far, and find myself craving Field of Junipers even though I’m not keen on toasts! Because the scent is so integrated I struggled to describe it in words unlike with other snuffs. For anyone who hasn’t tried it, the best I can do is say: it’s like a walk in the country in November with leaves under foot while nibbling a piece of Dundee cake and sipping on a glass of Armagnac. How did I do?
Never had this snuff, but…you should write reviews!
Good review! @Xander–if you like the review, wait till you try the snuff, it’s top notch.
I’m sure it is. I hear nothing but good about it. Polly’s description makes me want it even more!
Just received my order of this and this is one of the best snuffs I have had in a while. It is very coarse and moist. I find sniff it hard to do. Anyone else just have to pinch this and shove up your nose? I tried sniffing it and it just went in and then fell out as soon as I stopped inhaling. Been using too many toasts lately I guess, lol. What ever the right way to sniff this is I don’t care. This stuff is now my nightcap snuff. I can see myself getting home, grabbing a nice ale and then packing my nose full of this and watching tv and not bothering with it until my nose looks like it has diarrhea and needs to be wiped 
I do prefer AA over CDF. @Grim…waste not want not. You may want to take hold of practicing with a cheaper snuff with similar grind to Auld Alliance ( although I still can’t believe AA fluffiness in the jar, how it lays upon itself so delicately ) Anyway closest grind I could say would be a South African ( but not nearly the same … Excuse me Johnny! ) like a taxi or NTSU or BABATON. I just shiver in pain when I think of all the SWS AA that you may drop and not make it into your nose. YIKES!!
All the videos I have seen of people taking Taxi and other moist snuffs just shows them sniffing much much harder. I have a deviated septum so one nostril gets it while the other just half asses it. I find the pinch and shove method works just as well. It stays in. Like I said the back of the hand method doesn’t really work well and by pinching it will clump a bit. I just never thought I would find a snuff I used that was more moist than Schmalzers
Sorry I didn’t catch up on this thread and thank you all for your kind comments on my rather odd review 
AA is *still* one of my favourite snuffs! To be honest @Grim I just stuff it up there and sniff (gently, I find it has strong throat drip) but repeatedly and sort of squish it around til it stays. Gosh I hope that doesn’t sound disgusting. I do use my back of hand to do this and like @lunecat find warming it helps - in my case between fingers for a minute or two. @Johnny recommends this for flavour anyway, and the scent permeates the room - amazing. @AANYCAARDS I actually love Taxi Blue, and yes it’s even harder to keep up there
@polly I have been just pinching and shove all that fluffy goodness in the nose. I only bought the 12g vial because of the price. But at the rate im using this snuff it will not last long. I really do not feel any added nicotine or anything like that. I just put pinch after pinch in the nose until it cant hold anymore and then wait for the run/drip. It is so delicious. I may just have to suck it up and buy the 50g tin.
Yes. I am thinking the same @Grim . Expensive but I use less do to the great potency of this snuff. Love the very earthy and full bodied flavour. Same as with all of the Artisan snuffs. Good value in my opinion.
Just opened mine a few months old now and is full of mould.i guess this doesn’t last long.may be I should of used this up quicker.its going in the bin.expensive waste.live and learn.
@snuffykib contact SWS, there was a known problem with a batch with mold. i think its @johnny
Thanks,I’ll contact him see what says.
I have tried well over 100 different snuffs from various brands and styles. And although there are many here with far more experience than myself, I can say that Auld Alliance, to me, is one of the very best snuffs out there–certainly in my top 3.
Are there any other snuff in SWS’s or Abraxas range, which is similar to Auld Alliance in its ground and moist? (Thank you for your answers in advance.)
^ Abraxas Premium Batch (not fin), Connoisseur Cerise SWS Creme de Figue
Cracked open a pot of this today. Scent wise I find it very subtle at first, even with pre-warming, but not in a bad way - rather reminiscent of F&T Old Paris. The grind is very coarse, and so a little escapes the nostrils on snuffing. Once in the nose the snuff awakens further, and as the nic starts to take effect the scent becomes richer. It’s got a whisky like complexity and richness, but isn’t overwhelming. Unfortunately it also has a foul drip, though thankfully not as bad as Mull of Oa. Mull of Oa became unusable after a few snuffs as the drip became unbearable even if I gave a day or two break between snuffs, and Creme de Figue followed suit after a while though the drip was less severe. This Auld Alliance is akin to CdF regarding drip strength, and whilst it can be tolerated if a strong(ish) flavoured drink is on hand, it considerably impares the enjoyment of the snuff in my opinion. I think I’m going to have to mark this one down as another fail, and it is now the third wonderfully scented snuff I’ve tried from SWS that’s rendered virtually unusable by the drip - and these are expensive snuffs to fail like this for me. Looks like I’ll be sticking to Field of Junipers from SWS, as that has no adverse effects whatsoever - an excellent snuff. And aside from that I’ll be taking my snuff enjoyment from the two Kendal mills, Sharrow Mills, and of course Toque. Just took another pinch as I started typing this post, and the drip has now taken over - not pleasant, not pleasant at all … I need a drink now … shame … EDIT: Just had a good slug of brandy … and I can still taste the drip :-&
Sorry to hear of your experience. I find a coarse grind to be good. My only problem with Toque products is the fine grind which I do not care for. Perhaps we could trade. Have some Whisky & Honey and Cheese Bacon.
That’s a real shame for you,have you tried snuffing a much smaller amount and pushing up in very front of your nose,not to far up.This should minimalize the drip.
@jpsavage I am normally a lover of the coarser grinds, and am a big fan of the SG offerings, some of the F&Ts and Toques Berwick Brown. I may try mixing a bit with another snuff to see if that helps first - but thanks for the offer. @snuffykib I got the snuff just in enough to not fall back out when breathing normally. Hopefully a mix will do something to help it. Just need to try and find something that’ll work with it/them