A forgotten snuff for me. This is the only snuff I can get locally and I saw a can in a shop today, about 25g and had to renew my aquaintance. When I found menthols - my first snuffs - prone to give me a kind of rebound congestion, I looked around for something else and in the days before the internet your choice was very limited. I found No 1 - my first SP and the first snuff I used heavily every day. Ive been using it all day for the first time in about 25 years and really enjoyed it. There is a sort of pleasant cheapness about it, like the enjoyment you can get from a rough red wine and some bread and cheese; not gourmet, not sophisticated, just good and plain. It has the same mill and basic scent common to all SP’s and a smoky flavour that has some further notes hanging in there - bergamot, citrus? I don’t quite know but its good. It burns when you take it, which I like and has a decent nic hit. It can’t compare with the newer brands - this is rough brandy to Toque’s Hine antique - but its good. I like it and I am pleased to find it still being shoved out in a store half a mile away.
Nice comment Snuffster. I had a time when I started snuffing that J&H Wilson’s Medicated no. 99 was my favourite snuff. Its still a hell of a good snuff, packs a punch. I like the J&H tins too - they have a ‘bullet stopping’ feel to them. I also like the minimalist tin design. Never tried the SP though, I may have to pick it up.
J&H was the first snuff I ever tried back in the '80s, you could find it in pretty much every newsagent and corner shop then - proper working men’s snuff. I didn’t even know there was any other kind! When I started snuffing in earnest a few months back I bought a small tin at G Smiths, purely because I remembered the brand. I took O&G (which I also bought that day) almost exclusively at first, but found myself reaching for that little blue tin more and more after a couple of weeks. This topic had me rooting round for it - I’ve still got a little left. Yes, there is a burn to it and the nic hit is great. I think that it’s scented with bergamot. As you say, Snuffster, it can’t hold a candle to Toque or F&T snuffs, but sometimes you don’t want anything too fancy.
I think J&H is to the UK as WE garrett is to the US. I know the garrett makes me feel like a good ol boy redneck working stiff. I do feel a bit pretentious sometimes snuffing F&T with a silver spoon and using an English hankie. Plain can be a good thing sometimes. I do like freezing my nose with the medicated No. 99.
LOL, I like the image jarhog! It would be doubly funny if you worked in construction or something!
Funny that you should start this thread snuffster, you will have hear’d of our weekly meeting in the local pub with ermtony, and a few other snuff takers. Well only last Wednesday I took 25g tin of J & H Wilson S.P. Nº1 tin with me and my comment was a very overlooked snuff. The bottom of the tin is showing through now, but I can get this at my local post office shop and only a walk on 5 minuets, OK not a 25g tin, but the little fiddling little blue containers. They stock this and Top Mill and the medicated.
I have not worked construction in 20 years. I hung drywall to put myself through school the first time. I worked in material handling systems then later broadcast electronics for the last 20 years. I am now back in school to be a paralegal. I think the garrett takes me back to that 20 something mind set. Not that those times were “better” but deferent and more free. I like that feeling. WOW, I never thought some brown powder could do that.
I found the SP 1 in the bottom of my collection a few days ago. I had forgotten I even had it. Although I prefer McChrystal’s SP, the J&H is pretty good too.
I must be honest, I was surprised this thread got any posts, I didn’t realise it had much use out there. And yeah Jarhog, the brown beats any other colour hands down. Good luck with those studies. Like to join you for a beer one of these days tony.
Cool snuffster. Spyro lives near me in Texas. We have met and exchanged some great snuffs. Where are you? I would love to meet you if you are near by.
London I am afraid. Coming over anytime soon? There’s some pretty good pubs!
I just ordered this. Never had it before.
I forgot I had this snuff. I bought a big tin a year or two ago and it is still as fresh as the moment I bought it, rough and ready stuff but quite nice. I like the tobacco that J&H Wilson use, especially in Medicated No.99, that is almost chocolately, I hope that Top Mill No.1 is the same tobacco as I think I would like that one also. I’m going to order a big tin of that from thebackyshop.co.uk and see what it is like. I’m quite impressed with J&H Wilson, nothing fancy but solid all round snuffs. Stefan
This is great stuff, both SP no 1 and medicated 99 are in my top 10.
Its on my list for my next order!
I’m still a newbie, but I think that this snuff beats out all of the other SP’s I’ve tried, from Toque (even SP extra) to Wos, to McC’s, to SG. I haven’t tried all of the SP’s out there but so far, this one definitely takes the cake for me. My tin is nearly empty and I’ll be ordering more of it in a week or so. It’s got a real nice burn, real nice, and a more complex flavor than the others. I love it so much that I think it would be one of my deserted island snuffs.
I’m waiting for my 25g tin of SP No 1 on it’s way from NicotineRush. The package got stuck somewhere along the line.
Its rough but good snuff/No points for finesse just a good work a day snuff.
I’m quite impressed with J&H Wilson, nothing fancy but solid all round snuffs. I totaly agree walrus well put. I like how it’s just very well done solid snuff. The medicated 99 is one of my all time favorites. First non-dean swift snuff I had tried.
I expect the SP No. 1 in the mail tomorrow.
I love this snuff because of the nice real tobacco taste. But I did miss the citrus flavor. I’ve added a bit of St Clements and that has done the trick.
This is one of my favorite snuffs. I keep at least 100 - 200g around.
It really doesn’t have any citrus or lavender, maybe a tiny bergamot. It does have a nice peaty tobacco smell though and some nice nose burn.
@jarhog – texas?! whereabouts im over in ebtween san marcos and san antonio, in that little german town along 35
The 25g tin is way better than the little blue box, it was rather hard to open 2 American quarters didn’t get it opened but the blunt side of a rather large knife worked well. This is so good. I really like the smokeyish flavor it gives off a great all day snuff, not overly complex but still really good to get in the nose and go. Are these vacuum packed or just pressed on very fresh tin, but then I did get it from tom.
I must have strange tastes because when I first opened my 25g tin, I got cocoa and ammonia smells and I just hated it. I have aired it for a couple of weeks now and think it is improving. I’m not sure vacuum packing has helped really. I will re-review it soon.
I got a big tin of SP No 1 today, and this is another nice J&H Wilson snuff (along with the great Medicated no99), IMO. At this stage I would say I prefer the Medicated no99, as menthols are generally more my cup of tea, but this is still good. Other peeps have said that this snuff has a chocolate aroma, but I’m not getting that at all, at least not so far.
I found it takes a long time to air out, nice stuff once it does.
Has anyone bought this recently in the tap tin? Just wondering about freshness…
I just got a few of the SP No1 tap tins, and the one I just cracked open seems really dry compared to the 20g tin. Like Garrett Scotch dry. It has lost any trace of the bergamot, and I am getting a sort of baby powder hit off of it. I am going to try and rehydrate and see if that saves it.
That is depressing to hear…
That should be expected of any tap tin, unfortunately. Any exceptions are luuucky
The Germans taps always seemed alright to me…
Most of those snuffs are oiled (mineral oil, paraffin) which keeps the snuff moist. They still lose water, volatiles/aromatics, and can get scent contaminated. When I compared the 25g sachet of Poschl Original to the 10g tap boxes of Poschl Original around the house I found the airtight sachet snuff more aromatic and even with a hint of fruit. The oil keeps the snuff though from falling below a tolerable moisture level for a long time even in the tap box. Eventually (such as with the old stock Poschl and Sternecker smalzlers) the dry oiled snuff starts to feel gritty between my fingers, but still easy to take!)
I can see all that yet I am still attracted to buying those tap boxes perhaps out of convenience or laziness… the silver dollar dispensers are awful though.
The J&H Wilsons tap tins are identical to the Silver Dollar ones… I was pretty disappointed when I discovered this, as I was under the impression that they came in the blue square tins. I don’t mind the Poschl tap boxes so much(would rather have a plain sealed tin still), but I really hate those twist tap tins.
Oh crap, that really sucks…Mr Snuff should update the photos on their site as I would not of ordered one if I knew that.
I really hate those and it certainly dries out the snuff, oh well…
@snuffandsympathy, I was presented three tap tins of JHW SP No.few months ago, bought at some tobacconist in South England. Unfortunately, all were dried out. I opened them, all three were half-full only (3/5-full). Weighed the snuff, there were only 4 g per tin. Original moisture content being app. 20%, they were bone-dry in there. I rehydrated one tin, added some menthol and eucalyptus oil, making the texture right, but still there was a feeling of old snuff (no ammonia, mild nic).
Rectangular tins were always full, despite of coming fully dried-out as well. Those were followed by current WoS-type 5 g tins, but I believe the recipe was changed back then. It’s not the same snuff anymore. In all fairness, I find the current JHW SP No.1 more palatable in bone-dry state than the one in small rectangular boxes.
j ahd h wilsons snuff and hedges owned by mac baren tobaaco these days
not sure who makes it for them thou
Aside from being disappointed in the tin I also did not expect this snuff to have such a barnyard profile…