I’m a big fan of Viking Blonde; it’s like a toast, but its moisture makes it easy to take large pinches with none of the side effects. Just for fits & grins I soaked a water pillow with distilled water, dumped some ancient Levi Garrett Scotch (amber bottle ca. 1980-ish) into a mason jar, put the pillow on top, sealed it and forgot about it for two weeks. The results were fabulous. All the flavor and nicotine hit of the dry version, but no sneezing, throat assault or brain freeze. Retirement leaves a lot of free time to indulge esoteric hobbies like snuff http://www.famous-smoke.com/waterpillows+humidifier+12+pk/item+23188

Maybe don’t belong in your group? I dip my american Scotch Dry between my lip and gum. The way I have always seen it done By the old people here in the mountains of West Virginia. The only Place I have seen snuff inhaled is on TV. How does inhalation Work? And how long does it take to get used to? I would Like to give my lip a rest.

@johnbelcher‌ you don’t really “inhale” snuff through the nose, the word you might have meant was “insufflation” but you still don’t inhale it. What you want to do is lightly sort of smell the snuff from your fingers using the pinch method or from a snuff spoon or back of the hand. You don’t want the snuff to go into your lungs or your throat, it should stay in the front part of the nose and after a while, 5min, 30min, 1hr however long you want you blow your nose and most if not all should come out. It takes some getting used to, me maybe 3 weeks to a month before I started to get good at controlling my breathing so I get the snuff in the correct part of the nose.

I like my fine and dry scotches. It is what I learned on and as result, tend to lean more towards dry snuffs in general. While I can see the merits in adding moisture (i.e. easier to take, etc.), I think it takes away from the wonderful nature of this genre of snuffs. While American Scotches have morphed through the years into something than can be taken via dipping, this American prefers the traditional nasal intake.

To the answer of how long it takes @johnbelcher, most seem to take effect less than 2 minutes for me. Interesting @md363. I have never known when to blow my nose from snuffing. I usually take a bunch and, blow my nose when it becomes too hard to breath. I might switch to more nose blowing just to see how that works. It is interesting blowing out a whole days worth of snuff. It takes time and, comes out in layers in which I can taste each one of the day.

I posted this thread in response to some folks being put off by their initial impressions of Scotch snuff, fearing they wouldn’t revisit this wonderful snuff and piece of Americana. I meant for this to be used as a temporary fix to that problem, and in retrospect I did a poor job of clarifying that. The strategery was to use this moistened version as an introduction, gradually moving on to Scotch in its original dry form. For that oversight, I apologize. I agree with Southern_Snuffster, dipping Scotch seems to be a bad waste of good snuff.

My grandfather dipped Scotch snuff (Garrett). Once when my father was trying to quit cigarettes he tried dipping scotch snuff. -I remember laughing very hard at my father having a very hard time with an accidental mouthful of very dry snuff leaching all moisture from his mouth. To each his own, but I have to say sniffing snuff is the way to go. Very enjoyable and the snuff goes a long way. One issue is that in the USA the word snuff is used to name products that are dipping tobaccos- really a misnomer. I have been indulging in a 1.15 oz (36g) container of Garrett for 6 days and have only made a noticeable dent in the amount. For the enjoyment it is an inexpensive hobby (I would rather not say habit -at least not yet) @chefdaniel - I’m beginning to think your something of a chemist as well as a chef. I saw your post on alkalizing for increasing free nicotine, now rehydrating…very interesting

Before my return to the culinary world I managed a degree in Chemistry and another in Physics. Much to my surprise when I got back to the kitchen, both came in very handy. Of course I’ve managed to forget most of it due to lack of practice. Thankfully my senior moments are sporadic.

@Igglet‌ I usually do the same, about the blowing the nose when it gets too hard to breath, but sometimes when I want a fresh “palate” I will blow my nose for that reason.

cooking is chemistry and when it’s great cooking it’s alchemy.

@lunecat‌ That book is considered The Bible of food science and was a textbook in both food chemistry and food physics classes (my major area of studies). The only reasonable explanation of The Maillard Reaction, among other subjects. We had to study Maillard for an entire semester complete with the most boring text ever written. If there weren’t snuff and coffee graduation would have been an iffy proposition at best. Strongly Endorsed.

I meant for this to be used as a temporary fix to that problem, and in retrospect I did a poor job of clarifying that… For that oversight, I apologize.

@chefdaniel‌ I don’t think any appologies are necessary. Frankly, the water pillow idea is ingenious for hydrating snuff (not to mention many of the other tips/ideas/etc. you’ve conveyed on the forum!) Good stuff!

Don’t forget! The Maillard Reaction does wonderful things to tobacco.

@Southern_Snuffster‌ Thank you sir. Much appreciated, as are your considerations on American Scotch snuff. I’m a toast fan first, but always have a selection of Scotches and Sweets at hand. Nicely smoked, and as a Southerner I like smoky things like pork ribs and shoulder, and good tobacco. A bit of practice and they are indispensable. And no stuffy sinus issues. @Juxtaposer‌ Very true! Without The Maillard Reaction we wouldn’t have some of our favorites; Toasts, Scotches and in a category all of its very own, Sir Walter Scott’s Havana Toast. I just received a 15 gram tin in a trade. Methinks it will be a great weekend.

Nice try lunecat…I came close to checking my dog eared copy. I thought maybe I was having another senior moment and just forgot about the AND TOBACCO mention.

Personally i think i’m not a frequent enough snuff-user to learn (and remember) how to take really dry snuff as i’m mainly a cigar smoker. So the way i take Scotches and Toasts it to simply take an overloaded snuffspoon, while having my nose tip level to the table, insert it in the nose while holding my breath and simply turn it over to dump the snuff. Then while still holding you breath, pinch your nose together for a little while and Voilà! Glorious tobacco scent without hassles and a throat full of snuff! PS Don’t forget to start breathing after you’ve stopped pinching your nose!

Wouldn’t using less just be easier??

Less doesn’t work for me. It’s counter intuitive, but I get better results from a massive spoonful with short, shallow and sharp sniffs after taking a full lung filler breath of fresh air. Then again, I’ve been hoovering HDT by the barrel load for 40 years.

Counter intuitive. Massive amounts in each nostril.

I’ve tried hydrating toasts, and I didn’t get the effect that you got with scotches. All I achieved was damp toast, and it wasn’t very nice. It tasted like a wet cigarette butt smells, and (somewhat paradoxically) became very sneezy Nice to know that it works with scotches though, maybe I’ll revisit a few.

where is the correct part of the nose is it the very entrance a little above that the middle or high up?

It’s up to the individual as are just about everything else relative to snuff. You may want to avoid the high up sniff, at least until your nose finds its sea legs. That’s a mental picture I won’t be able to erase anytime soon.