I third that, I have been advising people to get the bulk WoS for years, they are simply different animals. PhillipS - Are you Prof Griffiths?
“I’ll second that, PhilipS - the Bordeaux I have in my box today is indeed a mix of Wilson’s Princes and Tom Buck, in similar proportions and both from large tubs bought direct from Wilson’s, though I tend to add slightly more of the SP, whichever one I choose to use. I think it is worth experimenting with different SPs in the mix.” Thank you for your input, Tony. An endorsement from a fellow who has possibly sampled more snuffs than anyone still living is a ringing one indeed. The professor himself has difficulty in fine-tuning Bordeaux. The ratio varies from 1/SP - 5/Princes to 1/SP - 4/Princes. I’ve experimented myself and favour the latter. Bordeaux was the first snuff I tried and the olfactory memory of that occasion is awakened by Griff’s mixture. It takes me back 46 years whereas the current F&T awakens no memory at all and, for my taste at least, is too perfumed to enjoy. The other good thing about sealed drums of Wilsons Princes and SP - apart from the quality and value - is that you have, in effect, three classic snuffs at hand. I’ve tried recreating Asthoroth without success and wouldn’t even know where to start with the favourite of snuffy Charlotte - Masulipatam. During the reign of George III this was, I believe, sold in pint bottles with a device like a corkscrew for pulling it out. Along with other F&T snuffs this is now lost forever. “I still have a few odds and ends of some the original F&T snuffs, carefully guarded of course!” I too determined upon saving my last tins (as well as various vintage wines and port), but the deaths of several of my contemporaries made me wonder what I was saving it all for. Consequently everything has been snuffed or drunk. Fortunately Samuel Gawith and Wilsons still produce a few snuffs to keep me happy. Most samples, alas, I either throw away or give to my neighbour.
"PhillipS - Are you Prof Griffiths? " How nice of you to wonder that. No, I’m not the venerable professor and hadn‘t even been born when he first took up snuff.
“I third that, I have been advising people to get the bulk WoS for years, they are simply different animals.” Yes, the flavour and pungency of snuff is lost to a marked degree when sold in tins from WoS. Purchasing in drums not only gives one the taste of freshly milled snuff, but it is also cheaper. One value of tins, of course, is that it allows sampling of what the ‘real stuff’ is like. I believe that the only tins that keep snuff in reasonable condition are the tall F&T ones.
Well, you have a similar depth and turn of phrase, a pleasure to read your post. Yes, tins are good for sampling but with the condition of some of them its more a question of predicting what the snuff is really like, such is the degradation when they have sat around on a shelf for ages before purchase. The F&T ones are good but a little unwieldly. Nothing beats the pleasure of decanting fresh, aromatic snuff into your favourite box; my turn of the century silver snuff has a blend of WoS Rose and Best SP in it, taken from the excellent pound drums. The SP is nearly finished and is very nearly as fresh as when it was first opened 6 months ago.
Ah… Masulipatam. I still have a very small amount of that left and I wouldn’t know where to start if I wanted to try to recreate it. As for sampling lots of snuffs, I guess I’m just a glutton for it! But I know which snuffs I come back to again and again. Unfortunately I’ve never had the pleasure of trying Asthoroth. A shame as it does sound good from the comments I’ve heard.
listening reverently to the old timers
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I’d get some too, of course. Another job for the ISTA?
As I understand it, Wilson’s only bought the rights to the 13 F&T blends they still producing. I guess those were (and hopefully still are) the profitable ones. I guess it couldn’t hurt to ask them though.
It crossed my mind a few days ago to ask them the same thing. Maybe if we all asked them we would get better results.
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Apparently they do make short runs of snuff to order, providing a minimum amount is purchased.
That’s interesting snuffster. Whether it applies to the others F&T snuffs or not, who knows. I reckon I’ll have to ask next time I order from them. If they don’t have the rights to the other blends then I expect Imperial Tobacco still has them as they bought out F&T in the early 80s.
Excellent thread - has anyone seen Milverton68’s video on YouTube about re-creating F&T’s famous (or mythical) Asthoroth?
Links sir would be nice.
Milverton68’s Asthoroth VideoB4Man75’s response to Milverton68 I’ve seen a few of Milverton’s before this, but the sound is never synchronized with his mouth. Its very distracting for me.
anyone else think that Milverton is patton oswalds secret brother?
He’s fix the synch issues in his more recent videos, and the professor takes some rooster in one of them!
I came across this thread as Sleepwalker mentioned it in a recent post. It bothers me that I have been happily sniffing away at Bordeaux for a good few years thinking I was sniffing an authentic old time snuff! I have just ordered some princes so I can try the mixture above. What else bothers me is that information like this will inevitably be lost. What does any one think about creating a snuff facts sticky? (as opposed to FAQ) to try and keep gems of information like this safe?