Lard used to be used in schmalzlers. Now they too use a syntheic version. Having an animal fat in there makes them go bad very fast, which is probably why British law forbids the use of it, and apparantly why by the letter of the law there are no British snuffs with any oil whatsoever. This is why, I suspect, that Gawith Hoggarth contracts with Pöschl to make the Gawith Apricot and Gawith Cola for them. The paraffin in German snuffs nowadays is all food grade. Candy and lots of things people eat contain paraffin. I don’t think its an allergic (biological) reactions anyone is having, I think its physical reactions. For me they get slippery and slide up my nose and get caught halfway into the throat making me hack. Bernards, Straubinger, Lotzbeck, and the schmalzlers from Pöschl all have much less of this effect on me, but they do to a tolerable extent. The regular Pöschls on the other hand do it to me Gawith Apricot particularly so. It may be a different type of wax they use or it may be the combination with menthol. @ Mr. Snuffypants: Yes, spermaceti oil which is only found in the head cavity of sperm whales is a versitle oil. That was one of the biggest money makers in the whaling trade of old. New England is loaded with whaling museums and there are places that show how it was done. Candles used to be very expensive consquently. It was also used as a lubrication oil for clocks and other precicion instruments. The sperm whale uses the oil sort of like we have a fluid pocket in our inner ear. Its the only deep diving (and largest)toothed whale and it can regulate its equilbrium under great pressure that way. Other toothed whales (Orcas, dolphins, pilot whales) do not go very deep. Balleen whales (they have big plankton strainers made of baleen instead of teeth) dive deep, but I don’t know how they do it. They don’t have the fluid in their head.
The paraffin oil being used as part of the snuffs from Pöschl is running as “food oil” and is regarded as being neutral in these low concentrations. German snuff is produced under food law. Menthol though causes a swelling of the mucous membrane after a short time. So, having another pinch of menthol gives you the feeling of being better able to breath… and the swelling increases. So you might start a circle there. Ultimately you reach a point where you´re hardly able to get a pinch up at all. As ALL Pöschls contain menthol (besides their Schmalzler) it´s clear why you have that effect with them, if you´re not careful and overdo it.
That would be an explanation of why the Zweifacher stuffs me and the other Bernards I like don’t. The light menthol touch I put in my blends doesn’t seem to do it, I add two taps to 5gms and the menthol develops over a time. I find that you don’t need to add hardly any at all to get a good effect. So maybe it’s an issue of concentration. The Zweifacher concentration didn’t seem to be rudely over the top like Poschl, and that’s why I wasn’t thinking it was the menthol. I’ve decided to try adding a little mineral oil, and glycerine in a separate experiment to some of my home blends to see if that causes anything. I also have food grade palm oil, I’ll try. Eventually.
@Xander, I don’t think Gawith Hoggarth have an association with Poschl/Bernards. I believe it is Samuel Gawith and they use the same containers these days and have some export agreements to countries outside the EU. But I may be wrong.
Samuel Gawith and Bernards have a cooperative relationship of sorts judging by their websites, yes they share some distrubution agreements and those horrible containers. Gawith Hoggarth and Pöschl have a sort of relationship, again judging from GH’s website at least, which advertises some Pöschl snuffs.
What you need is one of these suckers. Saw this in SkyMall recently, and I’ve been meaning to post it here. Link goes to Amazon. http://tinyurl.com/yz3psts
Why do folks complain about the Bernard’s containers ? I presently have 4 of their snuffs , and have no issues at all with the containers. They don’t leak in my pocket, and the opening is easlily adjustable to measure the doses. Kein problem…
I agree, Z_2K. I wish that Wilsons would switch over to this design. Kein problem indeed.
So English snuffs are water based, and German snuffs are oil based, is South African aloe based? As in the aloe and ash I read about with that “statistic;” if any recall.
I don’t like them because they force me to tap out onto something. That makes taking a pinch more difficult. If too much pours out, I can’t easily put it back in. I also find that they are less airtight as smells exude from them and will likely contaminate my other snuffs. The design of the box is more complex, meaning there is more cost for the container, meaning the cost is passed onto you the consumer. I can’t tell when the box is empty unless I pry it apart. I can look at the snuff before I use it, and compare its color and other visual characteristics against another snuff. Metal is also more readily recyclable than plastic. Is that enough reasons? I don’t know what ‘Kein’ is. I’m already cheesed off at Samuel Gawith for switching to this design. More so than Bernard’s actually. Wilson’s, while not perfect (the domed lid being the biggest sore spot with me) are superior in their simplicity. If Wilson’s switches to the SG/Bernards design, they will lose a great deal of their granduer and elegance in my estimation.
I have some Bernards that are still just as fresh as when I bought them. I tap out onto the back of my hand, then pinch from there. Sure, it’s another step, but simple enough. Another problem with the Wilsons tins is rust. I just opened a new tin of Best Dark, and I can already see the corrosion taking place around the lid. Wilsons tins also have the tendency to lock up when snuff gets inbetween the two halves. For me the cons add up against Wilsons. Kein means no/none.
Toque-like twisties are the best.
About the only time I like Pöschl tap boxes and the like is when driving, it seems to make things easier for me to shake a bunch out on my thumbnail, but otherwise I tend to agree that Toque tins are nice. I wash the ones that seal well, pull the label off (and save, for some reason) and suddenly I’ve a perfectly good, very inexpensive, snuff container for everything else. I don’t mind the Wilson’s tins, so long as I’m just sitting at my desk…has anyone noticed that McChrystal’s 10g tins’ lids don’t stay on as well as Wilson’s? That seems to be the case for me. As for Paraffin in Pöschl’s … it doesn’t seem to bother me…but Pöschl’s are never an all day snuff for me…I think I’ll devote a day to just Pöschl and see what happens! How goes your experiment, Tom? I think we’d all hate to see you abandon snuff because one type is ruining it for you!
Well, I don’t think I’d abondon it entirely, because I like it, and I like menthols. But yesterday I did no menthols at all. Did have some stuffyness… And today, I didn’t bring any snuff with me to work. Should be getting some new Wilsons non menthols in the mail today. So, it’s an ongoing experiment. I still think it may be seasonal too, and as I have read, stuffiness happens to more than just me, so, I don’t know. I just know I was chain snuffing menthols alot, esp before summer hit, then it really hit me, and I was stopped up terribly for a while there. It has gotten better as it’s gotten colder. I’ll lay off the menthols for a good week, and see how it goes. Might just assign one day a week to do menthols if I find I am cleared more without them. Thanks.
Isn’t it funny when you research anything about snuff you end up back here. (Home)
I have some Bernards that are still just as fresh as when I bought them.
It’s likely to be the snuff rather than the container. The oil used in them means they won’t dry out as fast as water-based snuffs.
@HR_pufnsnuff he knows that now. We who have survived are all a lot wiser than we were three plus years ago. 
I think paraffin oil is a wrong way to go in the sense that you might want something healthy and absorbs easy. I kept thinking about this and the only natural thing I can think of that would absorb into the nose and help promote health. Is a friend to vitamin C would be Vitamin E Something to think about
@tom502 You can add some finely powdered egg shells (99% Calcium carbonate) or silica gel as moisture absorbent agent to your snuff. If you decide to use egg shells, wash them with water and let them boil for 20 minutes before grinding to kill any potential microbes.