These arrived today from Mr Snuff, FUBAR; Grunt, R and R, Medic, and Shot of Rum, plus a bullet of Rockit cherry pop. Someone said in a recent post that these were not Dholakia products. They are. They have ‘made in India’ stamped on the side, come in Dholakia smash boxes and have that background quality to them. The Rockit also has ‘made in India’ on the label. Poo-Diddy wrote fairly in depth reviews, but Ill just add a couple of lines here: Fubar - Grunt: This is one of the strongest snuffs I’ve ever tried, truly potent, and has - as PD suggested - a pronounced coconut flavour in the after-taste Medic - Fairly similar to O and G in flavour, finely ground in texture. Shot of Rum - sweet, fine and tastes a bit like the inside of a liquor chocolate R and R - says ‘apricot flavour’ on the side but tastes like cough medicine. Awful. Rockit - Cherry pop. Ive taken about 5 consecutive hits of this to try and determine what its like. Slightly sweet and weak. Personally, the only one of the above I like is the Grunt, because its got a kick and is, coconut aside, fairly plain. The rest just seem contrived and synthetic. The snuff ‘renaissance’ has brought a lot of great snuffs onto the market, but I also think we will start to see a lot of contract manufactured ‘brands’ that are just rushed out there to cash in on the boom.
Wow, I’m impressed! I could never review a tobacco I had just got earlier that day, much less 5, awesome! I did read where TS stated Jaxon’s wasn’t a Dholakia product, but someone denied FUBAR wasn’t a Dholakia product neither?
I don’t mind the bags of Dholakia. They have a cultural integrity that I do admire. But I wonder about the ingredients of some of their newer scents. Who’s to say what they are using for flavorings. Not that there is anything wrong with modern scents but I think there is a big interest in tradition and history. I believe the tobacco to be top quality. Adjusting the grind for nasal use would be nice. With one hundred and fifty years of experience I’m thinking there must be some old recipes laying around somewhere.
Well I have nothing against Dholakia and really enjoy their own name snuff. I’m just not impressed by these fake new brands from supposedly new snuff companies - just seems to be verging on dishonest.
I agree with the consensus, it’s good to see a new line of snuff… but it would be much better to see actuall new snuff companies making there own new snuffs.
Snuffster, I have resisted replying to you, but feel I should if for no other reason than to set the record straight. “Verging on dishonest” in your last post is a little strong I think. To my knowledge nobody has ever denied that the snuffs are made by Dholakia. They are, and they are made to exactly the same exacting standards as all Dholakia snuffs. As I have discussed previously, the Dholakia family and we (my family) have developed a strong relationship that goes well beyond business. We have visited several times and have seen first hand exactly how the snuff is produced from field to final package. You should go see for yourself sometime. They are an upright, honest family and as far as the production of snuff goes, it doesn’t get any better. The brands are not ‘fake’ in any way. They are as ‘real’ as any other brand. To refer to them as ‘candy’ is just plain mean. Labels do not affect the product itself. As you noticed there was no attempt to hide the country of origin. The only other information we could have added I suppose was something to the effect that it was manufactured exclusively for…etc, or words to that effect. However if you take a good look at the snuffs in your collection you will find that many are made under contract. It is fairly safe to assume that unless it states country of origin at a minimum then it is made under contract. So for example as I look at a couple on my shelf right now I see Wilson’s: “Made in UK”; Ozona: “Poschl Tabak, Made in Germany”; Dholakia: “Made in India”; Chapman: “Made in Germany”… Pretty clear there I think you will agree. Admittedly some packaging may have changed since I bought these snuffs over the past few years, but I have the following: Smith’s: “Distributed by”; Zuka: nothing; Toque: nothing; McChrystal’s: nothing on some brands and an enigmatic “Prepared and Packed” on others. So where exactly is the country of origin of these snuffs? Who makes them and where? I don’t know. And further, without country of origin (yes origin, not where is is repackaged) you are not supposed to import and sell these products in the US. While I would love to have my own snuff mill, right now is not the time. I have found myself a fantastic partner in our endeavors to bring snuff into the 21st century and to a new younger market. This was always the plan way back when it first seemed like a good idea. Some of you will remember my initial naive forays with Snuv way back when. I have learned a lot since the early days, and continue to do so every day. BTW: thanks to everybody here for the continuing education! Namrata is gung ho about revitalizing the snuff market and taking it to it former glory as the pre-eminent way to enjoy nicotine. At least that is the plan. Just so you know, this is not some flash in the pan; we have been at this for nearly four years. It is not an easy task. Nor is it cheap. While we may not be a “snuff company” in your eyes, I like to consider us so. After all, that is all we do. We may not actually blend and grind the tobacco leaves, but everything else, we do. This is how we are attempting to make a living. Of course you are absolutely entitled to your opinion. But to have you be so virulent in your attacks makes me wonder if you have some sort of other agenda. I can’t imagine why I have upset you so much. Sure, I understand you not liking brand names or packaging; to be honest I would be concerned if you did: you are not part of the target demographic. I also understand if the flavors are not to your liking. What bothers me though is a feeling that you had made up your mind to trash the product before you even gave it a proper tasting. It seemed like you posted your comments impossibly soon after receiving them. Then you show some disturbing inconsistency: for example you gave She Cherry Snuff 4 stars and yet you gave Rockit! Cherry Pop 1 star and added a few choice epithets. It is exactly the same tobacco and the exactly the same flavor; only the the grind is slightly finer on the Rockit version. I could understand dropping one star for the finer grind/slightly harder nicotine hit, if that is not your bag, but to go from great to awful seems a little harsh. Further you stated that FUBAR Medic is a fairly close copy of O & G except a bit finer and lighter. If it is fairly close it should deserve fairly close ranking don’t you think? Again you gave it a one star where O&G got 4 or 5. I don’t want to belabor the point. As I said you are absolutely entitled to your own opinion, and as more than one person on this forum has stated before, the world would indeed be a dull place if we all agreed. All I ask is a fair hearing and perhaps a less vituperative, emotive review. Thanks for your time. Apologies up front if any of this is offensive. It is honestly not meant to be.
Thank you Roderick. Much appreciated.
After a couple weeks with the FUBAR Medic I still feel it is absolutely nothing at all like McChrystal’s O&G. To me it’s flavor is very similar to Toque Menthol or Many of the Wilson’s SM’s or most specifically the Super Menthol flavor. It also tatses similar to Hedges as the Medic has that citrus like note to it. Now the QWS Ice cool and the Rockit! Ice Cool seem much more like McChrystal’s O&G to me. A much more mellow menthol. All very well done snuffs in my humble opinion as I have been enjoying most of them with the exception of the Rockit! Naked which doesn’t do much for me at this time, but who knows many snuffs have grown on me after some time…
I recently ordered a tin of FUBAR Shot of Rum. Hopefully it will be here in a few days, so I can see how it is. I debated ordering all the FUBAR flavors, but decided to try one first and go from there. I’m really looking forward to trying it.
I would hope my posts get taken with a grain of salt. Some of us are grumpy old men in pain no less. Some of you are starting to sound like drug pushers. You are drawing a line between us here with some of these comments. Now we’ll let you be you if you let us be us. Otherwise your just alienating some of your potential clients. Sorry for chiming in here Snuffster.
Hay, Mr. Snuff you keep putting out new ones and I will try them. If I like it I will buy it again. I think some snuffers are vary wrapped up in the history and don’t want things to change. You are moving with the times as a good businessman must. I have been reaading Old Snuffhouse 1720 to 1920 about the history of F&T. It seem clear that they lasted so long because they changed with the times. Many snuffs came and went in that 200 years. If a product you have been making for 50 or 100 years no longer sells you must make a new product or die. Most young people would never want to use the same old snuff that garandpa/ma used. I love your grunt and the shot of rum is nice too. Keep up the good work!!!
Hi Juxtaposer: Your point is well taken. I would definitely not want to alienate anybody here. I say that not because of the potential client aspect, but more because I really enjoy this forum; I respect the opinions voiced here; and moreover the active debate is fun, entertaining and often enlightening. Please view my comments in that light (and sprinkle some salt if necessary): the debate is the thing. No intention on my part to draw any lines, that’s for sure. I didn’t really mind the opinions on the snuff. Each to his own. It was the implication of dishonesty that I thought needed to be addressed. Now I have said my piece, as far as I am concerned, we can relegate this particular discussion to history.
Thanks Jarhog, much appreciated. Another great book which is out of print I think is “Smokeless Tobacco in the Western World” by Rogozinski. I got it on Amazon from one of these resellers. It was old stock from a library in South Dakota. Probably sold for pennies because nobody had checked it out for years. Isn’t the internet fantastic? I would never have found that book ten years ago.
What does FUBAR stands for?? And should not Rockit be spelled with an F ?
I can’t help it… This is not meant to be rude. Growing up in Ontario, Canada FUBAR meant (F*cked up beyond repair) one may say it in this manner, " i crashed my car and now it’s f.u.b.a.r.'ed. Or if you drank to much you “got completely FUBARed” I remember a band, when i was a kid, called FUBAR. They got pissed the whole set then, destroyed everything for the grand finale. But I’m sure in this situation, It means something totally different.
OK!!! So FUBAR and FOCKIT, I mean Rockit, are almost the same?
this is a free forum opinions are allowed I expressed an opinion without agenda of any kind. Apart from anything negative I may have said I also said that I hoped the brands do well. Im frankly amazed that the opinion of one insignificant snuff user should create a heated discussion like this. Mr snuff are you under some kind of impression that my opinion counts for anything? I don’t know whether to be flattered or amused that you wrote an essay in response to my post. I’ve obviously offended you deeply, but I was just expressing an opinion about what is to me just a consumer product, like a chocolate bar or anything else. It doesn’t really matter if my opinion is wrong, ill founded or just plain stupid. Its just one member of the publics opinion. Don’t take it too seriously folks, its only powdered tobacco. And for the producers and suppliers out there - don’t get too precious; snuff isn’t everyones life.
I don’t know for sure Pieter but I think Rockit is a play on rocket, like spaceship. Maybe it does mean fockit though, didn’t even occur to me before.
That makes even more sense.
Nightcap…you are quite correct. The R is either Repair (if mechanical) or Recognition (if organic). It is a tongue in cheek name. I have a couple of friends formerly in the US military and we had a good laugh coming up with the branding.