F&T recommendations please! I love Old Paris...

@Polly Once upon a time, they did just that.

Thanks all! I ordered F&T Macouba and Patchouli and some WoS Sherry. Seville will be added to my “wildcard” list! I wish F&T did tiny taster pots.

Be sure to tell u your thoughts Polly! Hope that you enjoy them :slight_smile:

@Xander wow, I’m such a noob. I would love those sizes! Thanks @MisterPaul, I have them in my hands now :slight_smile: I’ll give you my initial reactions purely from the scent from the tins (too early to snuff because I am a lightweight). It may be fun to compare when I actually take some. F&T Macouba: the tobacco looks the same as my beloved Old Paris! The scent is moreish in the extreme, very sweet (yum) and very complex. I am getting a sweet alcoholic drink, but it’s unlike anything I’ve smelled. My utterly dried out box of Molens Macouba put me off the idea, but this is definitely convincing me! F&T Patchouli: wow this is a strange one. Initially I get PAINT! And I quite like the smell of fresh paint :slight_smile: I do get that scent of thick patchouli from misspent youth but it’s not quite the same, there’s something added I can’t identify. It might be the ammonia, so might lessen. I don’t predict this will be everyday as it’s odd, but I am very intrigued to try. WoS Sherry: oh yum. I’m getting Toque’s Spanish Gem (which I love, although I find a bit short-lasting in taste) but it’s dryer - actually like a dry rather than sweet sherry. I think I may love this one.

IMO “reccomendations” are next to worthless because everybody’s nose is different! Try them for yourself and make your own decisions. Having said that, I haven’t seen any references to Morocco yet… BTW: If you get one that you don’t especially care for, don’t throw it away! One’s taste changes over time.

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@Polly Yay! I glad that you’re pleased with them. Macouba is probably only one of four of the F & T range that I consider good as an all day type snuff. From your comments I sure that this will become a firm favourite for you too. I agree that Patchouli is a bit of an oddity, likewise I think it smells a little odd in the tin - to me it seems longer and more earthy in the nose (Will have to have a pinch this evening now!). Some of the F&T range do seem to ahve more ammonia than others (fresher I guess), it’s worth putting a couple of shovels in a snuff box, if you have one, to dry a little. They do mature off over time too, the last tin of Bureau I brought was very fresh and to be fair I wasn’t keen on it initially, nearly a year on it’s really come into it’s own :slight_smile: Have fun and enjoy them anayways! :wink:

@howdydave totally agree - I’ve found some I tried and didn’t like before and now love them. I *even* managed to tolerate a little Lemon Toast yesterday! This may not seem odd, but I have yet to get on with *any* toast, too rubbery for me until yesterday :slight_smile: @MisterPaul thanks! I actually started to quite like that fresh smell of ammonia when I open a new tin… maybe it just means “fresh” to me. I think I have an odd nose!

Princes, If you like OP this would be worth checking out. Sir Walter Scott’s Creme de Figue is a premium version of Old Paris Expensive but worth the cost just to know what snuff should be. Also try Samuel Gawiths Kendal Brown Original. Must be good since produced for 200 yrs plus. (one of my dailys)

http://theartisansnuffsociety.com/

Belated thanks @jpsavage. Yes I’m already knee-deep in SWS Crème de Figue, I think it’s my desert island snuff. Can’t say I find it too similar to Old Paris though actually! I find them delicious in very different ways: OP more like a dusty old library and CoF more like a Autumnal stroll. And there’s two entirely unhelpful metaphors for you! I really must try Kendal Brown… thanks!

Princes with 20% Tom Buck. A mix from Prof. Griffiths that I use as a daily snuff. Very good flavour and long lasting.

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I delight in F&T snuffs - even though the characters of the actual ingredients must have changed over time - African, rather than Brazilian tobacco, for example - part of the enjoyment is in the heritage; the importance of which is reflected in the fact that Wilsons took over the recipes when Imperial tobacco closed F&T down. I can just remember going in to the old shop at 34 Haymarket as a student. Magical. It is an absolute tragedy that it was closed down. Macouba is a great favourite of mine and is scented with attar of roses. Beau Brummell liked this and used it as a mixer. After his exile in Calais, George IV passed through and caught sight of his estranged friend in the press of the crowd but each was too proud to approach the other and they never met again. However, the king ran dry of snuff and asked for some to be brought and someone went to Brummell, who sent some of his own mixing. The Prince exclaimed that he knew only one man who could mix snuff in that way and was told that it was, indeed, from Brummell. Some say that ‘Macouba’ might have been Dickens’ inspiration for the name of Mr Micawber in David Copperfield. Old Paris was another Brummell favourite, along with Bureau (to me Bureau is complex and sophisticated). Santo Domingo I rate as an after-dinner snuff. I simply cannot understand why Seville meets with such a bad press! Dr J R Justice and Morocco have some real fizz and zing. Princes is another after-dinner type (made black so that it would not show on the Prince Regent’s coat!), whereas Princes Special is lighter. There are still some F&T that I have not tried but I shall certainly get around to them.

@oldparis and @lunecat some fantastic historical and lit references there! i too love some snuffs partly because you feel you are sniffing history. I am in a bit of a tizzy with regard to F&T now. Old Paris has become one of my three or so every day snuffs along with the SWS’s. There is something in it that for me is so amazing I cannot ever be without it. Even more than Grand Cairo which I thought was my forever snuff; but it’s supplanted it. There is some strange and amazing scent in OP’s aroma that I can only describe of like the scent of /water/, or that smell on streets after rain. It’s utterly beguiling to me and I haven’t found it in anything else and don’t know what it is. After comments here I’ve tried a few more F&T’s and held back commenting because I am a coward and didn’t like them quite so much but felt it was a little rude to those who took time to recommend them to say so. But ok, in hopes that someone might direct me in the direction of something else that might have the OP mystery ingredient I crave, here’s what I found! Patchouli: *odd*! I tried this as a wildcard and it’s like old paint on a fence. Having said that, I quite *like* old paint on a fence. It’s a very interesting snuff and I couldn’t possibly take it every day, but its oddity makes me want to try it again every week or so. Quite chemical, and not quite like the patchouli I remember from youth. Macouba: I tried a nasty plastic box of this from Molens a while back and hated it (to the point of having to blow it out) but the box was dry as sawdust. Having tried it now from F&T I definitely like this much more, but it doesn’t have that OP thing I’m looking for. I think I’ve learned from this experiment that anything with too much violet (or is it geranium?) I can only take in small doses and when I am feeling up to it. Not a dream snuff for me, unfortunately. Santa Domingo: still my second best F&T. It’s nice, but again I think had violet? It’s nice but again only an occasional snuff for me. Dark and doesn’t have that moist springy organic whoosh that I find in OP. So I am still looking for worthy F&T’s that have that mystery ingredient I found in Old Paris! It might be the base tobacco maybe, or a scent I can’t identify. I know it’s nearly impossible to write about scent, but I’m prepared to keep buying and trying in limited quantities! Can anyone suggest other F&T’s for me? Edit: to be honest I’d even feel better if someone could tell me they understand my ridiculous attempts at describing that scent in OP! Describing it as “water” is utterly bonkers I know!

Old Paris is scented with arrack, which is a spirit made from dates.

Just to clarify - arrack can be made from other fruits too but my understanding is that it is date arrack used in Old Paris.

Ah! Well I love dates and this *might* be a clue thank you. Next obvious question: what other snuffs have arrack!

none that I know of.

I actually think I know exactly what you mean with its smelling like “water”. I find Dholakia Black has that scent in spades. I know you’re looking for F&T, just my .02.

Thank goodness @horus92 I thought I was going mad. Is Dholakia Black the one that will blow my head off? I never smoked and have to take small pinches of mild snuff!

Dholakia Black is very moist so there aren’t any issues with it hitting your throat. I’d say it’s medium strength, it can give quite a buzz if you take multiple pinches but I guess that goes for most snuffs, a normal pinch doesn’t put me on the moon or anything. I’m not sure why I want to describe the scent as “water”, it’s like being next to a creek on a humid day that has a cattle farm upstream. Also I’ve noticed some variation over time, the first batch/tub I had was my favorite, the last one didn’t have it as much, but I know there’s a new batch in now so we’ll see.

this has been a great discussion so far. Thanks, all!