Did you see this, @Jonny ? From their X account:
Might have been nice if they let you know before you bought out all their leftovers! Still, it remains to be seen if they’ll truly be the same. McChrystal’s dry, fine style is the antithesis of Bernard’s moist fluffy grind.
That is excellent news. I am really pleased, that has made my day. It saves us so much bother and means we can keep on selling good snuff, probably now with less hassle from the authorities.
Well, let’s see how things work out in the real world of course, but I think that on the face of it, that is outstanding. Great minds think alike 
It is a fine snuff, hopefully they hire someone from Bernard as a consultant to ensure it’s up to snuff!
I would take this news with a grain of salt in terms of the matter of what actually ends up being produced in the end. Sure, the label art will look the same, but the rest, well, we’ll see… Personally, I do not have very high expectations.
But why be so pessimistic? McChrystals is a professional company producing snuffs for 100 years. I take them at their word. Please detail your reasons for thinking otherwise.
Thanks. Graeme
They don’t grind their own tobacco , they’ve only recently been making their own snuffs again . Their style is alien to the Bernard style .There’s real doubt they can even make (most of) the snuffs in the original way . There’s plenty to be concerned about with the announcement . I’m just hopeful they can pull it off ,
Liste der Zusatzstoffe in Tobakprodukten 2004
One might still be able to download the above document as a pdf or some other format. It is a list of additives in (German) tobacco products 2004. The Bernard snuffs are included and a sample page is enclosed.
I’m not qualified to say but wonder if, perhaps, some of the additives would not be permitted in UK snuff production despite German safety standards being high. Perhaps the expert who posts as Volunge will have something to say.
As pointed out, Wilsons of Sharrow is now the only remaining facility in Britain that can manufacture snuff flour on a commercial basis. They would have to supply McChrystal’s .
I’m guessing Poschl is still a viable route for suitable bases too .Even finished snuffs under contract . In my opinion the source tobacco is the smallest hurdle for McChrystals to make the stuff inhouse .
I hope they manage to sucessfully resurect these snuffs.
It’s a damn shame the EU bureaucracy brought on the end of so many iconic brands and snuffs.
Bernard is particularly galling . You could argue that artisan producers and makers like Rosinski or De Kralingse were already revivals of long dead traditions and didn’t have the standing for special consideration . It’s different with Bernard : a virtually unbroken line of living heritage snuffed out by bullshit
But the children might get access to snuff if snuff is being made!
Only if degenerate half wits give it to them.
“Oh the children!” The battle cry of every prohibitionist.
Give it a rest or find a more suitable thread to antagonise.
Sweet! Hopefully this pans out.
And, on top of the additives matter, as far as I am aware Wilsons of Sharrow does not currently produce anything close to the base flour type(s) characteristic of the Bernard’s schmalzlers (or others, such as the venerable Gekachelter Virginie and Kownoer). I suspect that Pöschl would be the obvious choice to supply prepared flour to McChrystal’s, in the Teutonic style, but even then what about the subsequent processes that Bernard utilized at their full leaf-to-tapbox operation in Bavaria? McChrystal’s is good at what they do, applying scentings to prepared base flours and packing them in tins for sale, but unless their operation has changed dramatically recently, I seriously doubt they have either the knowledge or the technical capacity to do proper justice to anything in the Bernard’s catalogue, past or present.
The deal has been done and it appears as though no one else stepped up, so I guess we’ll see what transpires.
Claudia is fluent in English and she previously confirmed that Pöschl will not take on the responsibility for Bernard. However, what I didn’t consider, until I read your post, Demigros, was whether they would supply the flour to McChrystals. Feel free to send her an email and ask.
Claudia Schratzenstaller at Claudia.schratzenstaller@poeschl-tabacco-de
Of course it is not possible to judge the result before it has happened - but I stand by my claim that it is impossible for a different manufacturer to duplicate a snuff so that it is indistinguishable from the original.
Witness Fribourg & Treyer and the Viking range – and these are English snuffs still made by an English manufacturer. They are good in their own right but they differ from the originals.
Charles from McChrystal posted this on Pipe Smokers Den:
“Please rest assured we have spent many hours with them learning they’re processes that we honor their traditions and provide you all with the products that you know and love. we have spent many hours with them learning their processes that we may carry them on.”… and “we will be using the same recipes of that I can assure you.”
As for the speculations about ingredients allowed in UK snuff, apparently the “British tobacco Purity Laws” is something of a myth. Not only did it mainly apply to tobacco itself rather than processing or flavoring, it was rescinded in 1986.
Did Claudia say why they didn’t want to take over Bernard? They would have been the obvious candidate.
