Hi All, I have this stuff for a few days now… and… I don’t like it. Well, better way of saying is maybe : I don’t smell it! In the can it smells beautifully, but in my nose : Nothing! I love the Old Paris, but this… I don’t get why many people find it so great ? No smell, no Nic hit, no nothing ?
I felt the same way at first. It just take a few more pinches to get the feel of it. Nothing to write home about…imo. I much prefer Toque’s Natural Toast…or better yet…Tube Rose.
I’ve had a tin for about 5 months now and all I get from it is an irritating, dusty fragrance that I don’t seem to get from any of the WoS toasts. It’s my least favourite F&T by far.
There are snuffs, like wine and other things, that are aquired tastes - you may need time to get to like it. I thought toasts were pretty vile for a long time but now they are some of my favourites. In short, they are very fine and because of all that increased surface area quite strong and penetrating to take and come with what can be quite a strong burning feeling. I take them as follows; take a smaller pinch until you get used to them. Pinch by putting the thumb and finger just inside the nostril and breathe in gently but quite sharply - kind of like breathing in the smell of some good cooking. Doing this takes the pinch just very slightly further up the nose and can reduce the burn. That gets you into taking them and then its just by personal experiment to find the best way for you. In terms of brands; there are lots of great ones and most of us have favourites: good ones to try are FandT HDT, WoS HDT, The Toque toasts - flavoured and plain and also the vast array of great US snuffs which Tube Rose would certainly be one of. Then there are Indian snuffs that whilst not strictly toasts are very like them such as Kamal and Sparrow Cool. The old owner of Smiths snuffs used to say it was best to get used to SP types first and then when you are well used to them try some toast. My own opinion is try what you like when you like but sometimes you have to alter your technique a little to get the best from them.
I bought a very small tube of this (about the size of a lady’s lipstick) years ago from their shop in the Haymarket London. I thought on my first pinch a made the wrong choice, and it took me about two years to empty this. Now I would empty it in less then two days.
Times change, and so do our tastes.
I don’t particularly care for the new F&T version either. Sharrow’s No.22 is stouter in flavour and always perfectly consistent in quality. Although, as a traditionalist, I baulk at adding flavours to toast types one very agreeable exception is to add a fresh Tonka bean. The beans rarely yield satisfactory results in any sort of flavoured snuff but work admirably in both Sam Gawith’s Irish D and F&T High Dry Toast. This is possibly the oldest (and one of the best) ways of imparting a wonderful natural flavour to snuff.
Are you sure your HDT isn’t just really stale? It has a pretty strong tobacco taste that, to my nose, is nearly indistinguishable from WIlson’s Irish Toast No. 22. The nicotine hit is medium, I’d say.
My F&T High Dry Toast has an easily noticeable flavor. It helps if you go outside when you snuff to bring out the flavor, if you haven’t tried this. It works especially well for me on cold day.
It doesn’t have much smell if it’s in your sinuses possibly over snuffed. That’s been my experience.
tin_can, This is very true. For a long time I was having trouble tasting a schmalzer, but I noticed when i was outside I tasted it perfectly. I guess my apartment has too many smells going to fully taste snuff.
I think my cigarette use made me much less sensitive to the subtle scents of snuff. After several months of not smoking 2 packs a day, I started to enjoy snuff more and more and the scents are much more pronounced to me.
that definatly happens cigarettes damage your scent taking ability. It takes a while to fully recover.
@ Rans & Bob : That might be it… I quit smoking exactly one week now… 
I will try HDT again in a month or so!
I have also found that outside air (hot or cool) rejuvinates the snuff I have in my nose. It is a wonderful thing this snuff stuff. One day you like it the next day you love it. Haven’t found one yet that keeps on disappointing.
Guys, it’s amazing… 10 days of not smoking and my sense of smell get’s much better. I can see now why so many people like this snuff, it’s GOOD! Thank god for snuff and me not smoking anymore!
I quit smoking 15 days ago and HDT still smells like dirt to me, I guess it’s just one I’m not destined to like.
Personally, I started *really* appreciating HDT only recently after pinching it every once in a while - somehow, it feels like it needed aging and airing. The same is happening to all the other F&T’s I have: they’re getting better, a tad less moist but proportionally nicer, with every passing day. So, I suggest you leave HDT alone for a while, taking a pinch every few days to air it out, and just wait.
As I’ve said in many threads the HDT is my favorite snuff of all the ones i’ve tried. Only thing I’m sad about is ordering the 25 gram tin vs the 50… Once I place my next order it will most likely be my daily goto
Eric- how do you like the HDT compared with American scotches? When I tried my 1st UK toast, I was reminded of the scotches, but I like the toasts more.
Tom I really like the HDT better, don’t get me wrong the Garrett, tube rose, rooster are all great and I do visit them often, Its just something with the hdt I fell in love with, I put 100 grams on order a little while ago. I was really hoping Dave would have the Himalaya in but no go.