After reading all the praise for these two, I ordered some to try.

First off, I would be 100% certain that these were made by Samuel Gawith even if I hadn’t already read all the discussion about it.  Medium-coarse, moist enough to clump up.  Fluffy.  Unperfumed.  Unmedicated.  The way I like it.  An, earthy, rich complexity that I’ve only experienced in Samuel Gawith snuffs.  They’re both fab.  They’re taking turns as my new all-day snuffs.  

The Brown:  Viking Brown is _exactly_ like their Kendal Brown, minus the citrus.  Which, actually, is a thing I had wished for several times.  I love Sam Gawith Kendal Brown, but was never able to try their “Kendal Brown Plain” (and apparently they’ve discontinued it anyway).  Viking Brown to the rescue.  Earthy, deep, rich, it’s like eating dark chocolate.  With your nose.  

The Dark:  I had so hoped that it would be the same as their Scotch Black.  Scotch Black is my all-time favorite snuff, and it’s been discontinued.  :(  Sadly, it’s not the same as their Scotch Black.  It’s in the same ballpark, but it’s lacking that fresh ink-on-paper fragrance the Scotch Black has.

I’ve also been playing with these two lately. They are indeed good plain snuffs, but in my book not better than the SG ones. (I always have fresh tins Kendal Brown, London Brown, Scotch Black and Black Rappee on hand and even bought some in bulk for the post-apocalypse). To my nose the Viking varieties are simpler, they don’t get as complex and deep layered as the SGs, but they are more pungent and in-your-face snuffs. They only aspect in which I find them superior is the consistency of the grind, they don’t leave any small ungrinded stones behind. Excelent flours anyway.

@Gilliat do you think the Viking has a more consistent grind? or did I read that wrong. For me SG has a far more consistent grind

Yes, @Aamon, I use a fat straw to sniff these moist coarse snuffs, and the SG ones have lots of small stones that are quite heavy and which dont stick to my nostrils and fall back, which doesn’t happen with the Vikings. Although I’ve went through only 4 tins of Viking until now (compared to innumerable tins of SG) I tend to think that is a clear difference. Maybe not consistency, they are both fluffy but the Vikings have far less un-snuffable stones.

I love them both, but also love London Brown, Black Rappee, all the Kendal Browns by SG, Gawith Hoggarth, etc. I mix them, buy a few in the giant 1lb tubs. They are snuffs I cannot live without. I saw a review on You Tube where one of our members said London Brown, after a while in the nose, acquires a “poopy” scent! I was outraged! Now, I admit the throat drip of this type of snuff can be little nasty, but to call it “poopy” is just too much!

@mrmanos it sounds like we’re together on loving the coarse, moist Kendal snuffs.  Which one’s your favorite?

Currently I can’t really decide between Viking Dark or the good ol’ traditional SG Kendal Brown.

I have to come back to these classics soon, but I am currently snuffing my way through half full tins of Santo Domingo, London Brown and Black Rappeee, and promised myself not to open more until there are done.