Hello everyone I’m rather new to the forums, and would just like to say that this is a great site with lots of helpful information. That being said, I have a few lingering questions. I know on some forums they have an unofficial rule where new people can’t create topics for some time, so if I’ve broken this rule apologies in advance. To business then… So it seems like Poschl is a decent brand for beginners, right? Is that the general consensus? Ive never tried snuff before but have decided to purchase 10gs of Poschl Gletscherprise and Lowenprise respectively. What do you guys think of this for a beginner with experience in cigars and pipes who has never tried snuff before? Secondly, if possible I would like some advice from any fellow Canadians as to the import duties/pst/gst I would be facing by having Snuff shipped to me from the United Kingdom. Grand total for the 2 varieties is about 4.50 CAD plus shipping, so what am I looking at in terms of tariff/tax addons? I really dont think it will be too much extra, but a mate of mine has put the fear of CBSA in me by saying he was charged something like 90% tarriff on imported alcohol once. Im not too worried about extra fees on the aforementioned small purchase, but if I plan on making large purchases in the future it would be nice to know. Thanks to all in advance!
I’m not Canadian, but I’d avoid menthol at first.
- Welcome to the forums, John! And no, you didn’t break any unwritten rules, as far as I am certain. (The important words being, “As far as I am CERTAIN”). The Snuffhousers are a rather amiable bunch. 2. There has been talk about this, about a progressive sequence of snuffs to try as a beginner. Personally, I’d stay away from the menthols, high-nicotine snuffs and toasts at first. Menthols are strong, they make your head explode and your nose run to no end, if you aren’t careful. High-nicotine snuffs will blow your head off. Period. Toasts… They take a certain level of finesse in snuffing, I’m afraid. Having said that, I did start off with a mentol myself (McChrystal’s Original & Genuine), I kinda wish I didn’t. But then again, others (like me) like the mentholated snuffs intesely, others hate them with equal passion. I would suggest trying medium dry, medium grind and medium nicotine snuffs at first, until you get the technique right. Take it from someone, who tortured his sinuses unduly with dry toasts and menthols from the beginning. You’ll enjoy snuffing a lot more like that. Me, myself would recommend Wilsons of Sharrow Vanilla for an absolute beginner. Mild, easy to snuff and no fuss. But every snuffer here will have his own “Best for Beginner” snuff. 3. As for the third part of the question… That, I do not know. Atleast here in Finland, they don’t really bother unless it goes over a certain limit (45,45e or there abouts), then it’s taxes according to the basic VAT. We have heard some horror stories about 90% added tax and stuff like that, but I highly doubt it’ll be like that in your case.
I’m from Canada and I’ve never had to pay duties on any of my snuff orders, even the larger orders.
In terms of recommending snuff for beginners, there isn’t an answer. Some people love snuffs that others can’t abide, so my advice is just get stuck in and buy what appeals to you. If you don’t like what you’ve got, don’t be put off, there’s a huge range of stuff out there. That being said you might want to avoid finer grinds till you’ve had some experience… then again, you might take to them like a duck to water.
If you want to try a mild menthol, I would suggest Samuel Gawith menthol. Gletherprise has an oil base (Columbia Oil) which to me has a funny whang to it. When I order, I try to get enough to make the shipping cost worthwhile. Everyone has a minimum charge for shipping, I think. If you order two tins you might pay as much to ship as for six tins. Snuff is cheap, international shipping is not.
John, what I is the following: purchased 10/20 different brands per order to try out. Here in my city there are no more than 3 types of snuff. I am now up to around 200 different snuffs and stuck to few 10 for daily use.
High dried toast and Scotch snuffs can be hard on the nose if you have never snuffed before but apart from that I don’t go along with the idea of beginners snuffs; just try as wide a range as you can and you’ll find something you like. The main thing is pereverance if you want to aquire the habit rather than the type, fact is all snuff is a big departure if you’ve not done it before. Menthol causes congestion in a lot of people - its best to try it after you’ve done a few of the others so you have a frame of reference; some new users may think all snuff is like that when it isn’t. Poschl is ok and has its fans but probably most long term snuffers wouldn’t put it on the top of the list. My advice for what its worth is try Wilsons of Sharrow and Toque snuffs out first - in my opinion they are nice and easy to take.
I agree that you should order at LEAST 10 or 20 different snuffs to try out. Shipping 1 or 2 tins of snuff overseas is a waste of money, the shipping will cost more than the snuff. If you find you really don’t like some of them you can just trade them with people on this site for ones you do like.
Thanks a lot guys! Purchasing 10-20 varieties seems like a good idea, seeing how the tins aren’t the most expensive items. I’m going to call up Canadian Customs and get a definitive answer on tariffs/duties so I can make a large purchase. So ill stick with my two original ones, but get a couple from Wilsons and Sharrow as well. Excuse my ignorance here, but could you guys possible suggest a few that would range on a scale from “intense” to “light on beginners”. I realize this is probably a pretty stupid question but it would help me alot and id be indebted to all of you.
I agree with snuffster that you should try a wide range of snuffs you never know what your going to like best. My fav. Snuff from my first purchase was the HDT’s which many people say is not for beginners but it was love at first sniff for me. Starr scotch is a good intro into the world of scotches as it is the easiest to take. Most Toque blends are easy to take as they are all the same grind and tobacco just different flavours and they have a great 10 for 9 deal with free shipping if ordered directly from Toque. As far as contacting Customs goes, I’m quite sure they don’t even know what snuff is. Of the many tobacconists in my area only one knew what snuff was and its their job to know tobacco! And again I have NEVER had to pay duties on snuff even large (over 1 pound of snuff) orders.
Wilsons of Sharrow makes a sample pack of six 5 gram tins which are a pot luck assortment, usually an SP a menthol, a plain and some fruit flavours etc. Since you dont know what you like that might be a good thing to include if available from the distributor you are using. It costs about $10.00 or so.
Hey @John8363, welcome to the forum! Hmmm, @n9inchnails, the more I hear about your experiences, the more I think that you have just been lucky. Customs DOES know what snuff is (TOBACCO, which they just ADORE taxing) and they love to tax both large and small orders. I have the recent tax bills (scars) to prove it. CANADIAN TOBACCO TAXES: In Canada, tobacco is taxed at both the Federal and Provincial levels. The Federal tobacco surtax is something like 10 cents per gram, while the Provincial one varies by province. In BC, it appears to be about 35 cents per gram (Fed+Prov) plus HST. You have the best chance of avoiding these exorbitant tobacco taxes by using mail as your shipping method. They just don’t inspect every package. Roderick at Toque suggests that Canada Customs gives the full Customs experience to only about 1 out of 10 packages, although my experience suggests it is quite a bit more than that. The courier companies give you the worst Customs experience - they will charge you an extra fee for brokerage, and usually screw up the clearance too. UPS has been a disaster for me for years and years - at best they ensure that you pay at least 100% of every tax they can find, and often much more than that. For example, they cleared a MADE IN CANADA item for me at 40% duty, when it should have been 0%. They have done those sorts of things repeatedly for me and most everyone I know. The vendors will put tobacco declarations on your package to make it easier for Customs to spot. Toque and Wilsons, for example, declare grams tobacco content as well as value. My last Toque order was about $30, mainly bullets so a small tobacco weight, but Customs dinged me $35 for tobacco taxes. They also opened up the package, opened tins and such, didn’t repack it, and spilled the contents all over the inside of the envelope. My last Wilson’s order came though unscathed, although Wilsons mistakenly put the shipping weight, 2 kg, as the tobacco weight. Had Customs been involved it would have cost me hundreds and hundreds of dollars in taxes for my $70 purchase. Some vendors are particularly Canadian-friendly. NicotineRush packages their stuff VERY NICELY for Canadians. That is all I will say about that, other than to recommend them for all long-suffering, tax-abused Canadian snuffers. My orders from Tom at NicotineRush sail through customs unscathed. So basically, Customs is a crapshoot. You have to count on at least some of your packages being intercepted and possibly charged enormous surtaxes. The ones that aren’t should be considered a bonus. Currently I am running about 50% inspected versus ignored for tobacco-containing packages. Obviously everyone will be different. My non-tobacco overseas purchases tend to just get HST charged, with probably 7/10 ignored altogether. ---------- Beginner Suggestions - everyone has different tastes, so all suggestions will “depend.” Some snuffs ARE easier for beginners though. Sun snuffs seem easy to sniff - they seem to be a bit oily and don’t fly up my sinuses too easily. Toque Berwick Brown and Chocolate are both easy to take for me (and I like the flavours). Wilson’s of Sharrow Brunswick is so coarse and moist that you have to physically stick it up your nose, so no risk of over-sniffing. The regular Poschls (like President) are somehow a bit waxy and also easy to take. Dholakia Swiss Chocolate and Manjul aren’t difficult either. The thing is, after a few hours of trying, most medium-grind snuffs will be easy for you to take too - as long as you sniff gently and take your time (rushing is the enemy of the beginner snuffer - sniff gently, allow it to take you many seconds, even a minute, to take that pinch, rather than “must do it instantly” and you should be fine). For me, I like Sun Pari, Toque Berwick Brown and Chocolate, Wilsons Brunswick and Strasbourg, F&T Bordeaux, McCrystal’s Hops, Dholakia Chocolate and Manjul and Ganga etc. and they are all relatively easy to take. The more challenging ones are the Toasts and the Scotches (and Dholakia Black and White), which might require you to either physically place the snuff in your nose, or to do a “wet pinch” or similar, until you get your technique sorted out. Good luck!!! Best Regards, Geraldo
Cheers to everyone who was able to help me out with this stuff. Hopefully i’ll really enjoy this stuff and be able to weigh in on some varieties in the future.
@Geraldo: Now that you mention BC I now know why you have such bad experience with customs. You are aware that more illegal drugs are smuggled into BC than any other province in Canada. BC is the hard drug capital of Canada. Why do you think they actually opened your snuff tins? It was to make damn sure they weren’t filled with illegal drugs thats why. Smuggling illegal drugs into BC through the mail is a common occurance. If they see anything fishy, or even the slightest error in the customs declaration your package is getting checked for drugs, which is why so few of your packages get by unchecked, and if their going to waste their time searching your packages you better believe their going to make it worth their while. I’m from Ontario and most of our hard drugs come from BC. So its not that I’m lucky its that you unluckily live in BC. And I agree that you should always use regular mail to get your packages. I once ordered a telescope eyepiece via FedEx and got raped in duties, and my telescope which is much bigger, heavier and more expensive that was shipped standard mail by the same company cost less in duties, couriers RIP YOU OFF!!
@n9inchnails, lately everybody tells me that I am unlucky to live here… Your explanation makes sense, and might explain my very different experiences. I have to add that I have tough customs experiences in general (like the $8 or $9 they charged me at the border for about 10 cigarettes, which I DECLARED). When I go over the border, the US ask about my job, purpose of visit, if I am bringing anything (pot) in, etc., while the Canadians only ask whether I have tobacco or alcohol in the car. They have never shown even slight interest in anything else. I did NOT know that BC had any higher illicit drug smuggling in than any other Canadian Province. I only know that they have the largest smuggling OUT to the good ole USA (BC Bud, BC Bud and more BC Bud - a larger export than lumber or minerals). I assumed the hard drugs were all centered around Vancouver, and as I live 7 hours east of there, in the wilderness, I assumed it wouldn’t be considered an issue here… What have you heard about Alberta? I have relatives there - maybe I could convince them to take my packages and then send them on to me here and avoid some of the pain. And is there some place I can look up this sort of information? Geraldo (in drug-crazed BC, apparently)
Actually to the best of my knowledge Victoria BC is the center for hard drugs. A friend of mine went backpacking across Canada a couple of years ago and he said he saw more crackheads and druggies in Victoria than all other cities he visited combined! And sending your packages to Alberta does seem like a good idea and if you do have to pay duties they will be less because Alberta has less tax than any other province. Before this HST bullshit they had 0% PST.
Toque has a great deal on their sample pack of 10g tins…and they all tend to be pretty beginner friendly. Plus shipping is free (I think it’s still free) Whiskey and Honey is a very popular one they offer that seems to have a wide appeal. But they are all quality