Most of my snuffs are from Sharrow Mills, either under the Wilson family banner or F&T. The main reason for this is having grown up in that area all my life, it made sense to get to know the “home grown” stuff first … and despite it being there since the 1700’s I never even knew it existed! Doh! I think I’m now starting to get a “feel” for Wilsons and F&T, but there’s so many different offerings out there, I want to try and streamline my exploration of the other companies, and not get caught up in their “periphery” offerings. So my question is … Which one snuff best embodies each particular mill? Not which is their best snuff necessarily, but which best characterises them?

For Samuel Gawith, Kendal Brown Original is where it’s at. I can’t really speak to other manufacturers but SG KB is superb.

taxi red or blue will cover you for the whole style of snuff id say. coarse, moist african.

All the SG Kendal Browns and Darks are good. KB Orig KB Scented KB Special Menthol Brown London Brown Black Rappee Scotch Black Lavender Dark Cob Dark Peppermint Dark Also SP Scotch and SP No.1 High Mill are also great. These are the SGs I buy in bulk.

All the SG Kendal Browns and Darks are good. KB Orig KB Scented KB Special Menthol Brown London Brown Black Rappee Scotch Black Lavender Dark Cob Dark Peppermint Dark Also SP Scotch and SP No.1 High Mill are also great. These are the SGs I buy in bulk.

Thanks Snuffy, but is there one which best defines SG to you? If you only had to choose one to best characterise them, which would it be? I know it’s a weird question, but as an analogy if I was to do the same with Heinz despite their huge range of products it would be baked beans or tomato soup (whether I actually thought they were their best products or not). Not sure if that makes the question more clear or less :-/ I only have Firedance from SG at the moment (unopened), but whether I like it or not, I won’t know if this characterises the mill at all i.e. whether it’s a good representation of their other offerings. I think my next order will probably getting these “signature” snuffs which for me will help me choose whose products to sift through next. As it stands there are so many different varieties and flavours, with everyone having different tastes and faves, it can be a little overwhelming for a noob as to what to try next. Choosing just one or two snuffs which best sums up the mill will help immensely B-)

Any of the Kendal browns, probably London Brown, but I’d hate to be without those others I’ve listed. They are ALL excellent.

Understood! Many thanks :-bd

As far as Toque goes, I’d say Whiskey and Honey, Quit, SP Extra, and Spanish Gem are the iconic ones (to me).

Thanks Tom. Toque is another with so many offerings, it’s tricky to know where to start

De Kralingse Latakia AO 1800. Its like a campfire in your nose.

@lunecat Thank you, I had spotted these and it was that which inspired this question/thread, as I simply didn’t know where to start. I noticed one of the retailers was doing a “6 for 5” deal, so that makes the suggestion from @TomStrasbourg very doable as he’s already picked out four of them for me @hdsale Thanks, I’d not even started looking at the overseas (to me) brands yet. Can’t beat a good bonfire, so that’s definitely noted So that’s Toque, De Kralingse, and Sam Gawith narrowed down for “important” samplers Here’s where I’m at with the others … The WoS exploration has told me I need to keep Tom Buck and Royal George in the line up, and these are the first two snuffs I’ve re-ordered in bigger tins (just 25g though, as I still have a wide range of others to work through). I’ve also just placed an order this morning for some glass jars for better storage. With F&T, Macouba in going to be a mainstay I reckon, Bordeaux needs more time spent with it and I have a tin of Princes Special still unopened. I’ve avoided HDT for now till I get a little more experienced in the trickier snuffs.

Don’t ignore Abraxas and Sir Walter Scott

I have an unopened Dragun Menthol already, and should have some Dragun and FireDrac coming to me in a trade soon. Sir Walter Scott seems to carry a hefty bill and be harder to come by I believe, so I think I’m fairly happy to work with the more mainstream items till supply issues sort themselves out

I’ve pretty much done the same as yourself 50ft except I very much dislike royal george instead vastly favouring the No.22 Toast. I like the Wos and F&T’s very much but I’ve just opened the Fields of Juniper and Lundy Foot I ordered and this has been a good move I think, to get a couple of large tins of those, so although expensive I think I would recommend it, or try the smaller tins which are more available but since the tobacco in them seems so good I think you may want the larger versions. I think the other brands will be more similar to the ones you already have so I’m glad I’ve gone for something a bit diffferent but of obvious quality.

Thanks for your thoughts on that, @I_snuff_therefore___ . I’m certainly not averse to trying the Scott’s range, but it seems the price of one of those pots could get me 6 different samples of other stuff. Besides, I wouldn’t want to peak too early I have a trade happening soon which should give me a few that I think I should try; Dragun, FireDrac, McC Clove and a couple others including Hedges. I get the feeling the Hedges is a landmark on snuffs and should be sampled by anyone trying snuff, and so far it’s passed me by. Other makers I would like to know all your opinions of signature snuffs from include McChrystals, G&H, and Dholakia which seems to be mentioned quite a bit EDIT: I think a better way of describing what I’m trying to do with this exercise is establishing the key points of reference for exploring other snuffs in the future

I’ve only tried Dholakia White and Black but I’ll never pass up an opportunity to recommend the Black. It’s heaven in a plastic tub. Doesn’t get half the attention it deserves.

Noted Heaven in a pocketable format is not something to be sneezed at … errmmm … I mean … oh, you know what I mean

Just so I can keep track of everything together as this list takes shape, I’m going to post a quoted link by Mouse in another thread as it just sounds wonderful

@50ft_trad : http://www.snuifmolenswebshop.nl/Webwinkel-Product-10658518/Musinotabak.html

This means the tick list is currently: SG Scotch Black (trade pending) SG Kendal Brown / London Brown Toque Quit Toque Whisky & Honey (possibly the SPs too) De Kralingse Latakia AO 1800 (trade pending) Abraxas Dragun & FireDrac (trade pending) Hedges (trade pending) Dholakia Black Musinotabak (SWS will get checked out after I’ve laid these foundation stones )

Looks like a good list to me, I’ve only tried three of those but they were all awesome.

I think it was basement_shamen who mentioned in another thread about SWS ruining everything else if a noob tries it first and in case he’s right I thought I’d get some of the others “processed” first. Besides, not buying a couple of SWS will pay for eveything else I haven’t already got coming in a trade :)) In all seriousness, I do want to map out some points of reference before going for some of the more elaborate stuff. There are exceptions though such as Musinotabak which has me very intrigued

McChrystals: O&G definitely is their signature snuff. Mild Lemon is very good and I’ve heard good things about the Violet. Gawith Hoggarth: I’d say the Kendal Brown definitely, possibly the Sea Breezes (lightly mentholated and herbal) and Dry Orange Dholakia: perhaps Ganga or Manjul, both good solid snuffs. Have fun sampling, whatever you end up getting!

Excellent! Thanks @toffeenose

Well … I remember having a few beers last night :-? … and I remember placing a couple of orders 8-| … and I have no real recollection of what those orders contained #-o Time to check the emails and see how bad the damage is :-SS

Oops! :-"

I wish there was … check out my latest entry in the “What’s in your mailbox” thread for damage assessment 8-}

I think it was basement_shamen who mentioned in another thread about SWS ruining everything else if a noob tries it first… In all seriousness, I do want to map out some points of reference before going for some of the more elaborate stuff. There are exceptions though such as Musinotabak which has me very intrigued

I would completely agree with @basement_shaman about SWS being a wonderful problem to have. SWS - together with Abraxas - produce the most outstanding luxury snuffs. I have to attempt to keep them for the evening as if I start the day with any of them then that will be my all day snuff that day. But De Kralinsge / Molens are well up there - particularly if they get round to releasing the St Omer snuff. Obviously everyone’s tastes differ but I find the Musino to be an excellent snuff. Good to see that you also have some Toques on your list. The SP Extra is a very good all day snuff as is Berwick Brown if you wish to extend your list of Toques to include one with a slightly coarser grind. I was nervous about the Whisky & Honey as it is a very fine grind but I actually had no problems using it and the aroma really grew on me. Those four producers together have really changed the world of snuff over the past few years and I would be quite happy to spend the rest of my life using only their products.

Many thanks @chris As I said in another thread …

… Maybe when I have more experience with snuff, I’ll consider exploring the premium brands more, but I fear it would be like giving a pig a strawberry at this stage and just be wasted on me.

Thanks to a little late night drinking as mentioned before, I now do have an assortment (lucky dip) of Molens and Toques inbound. I genuinely believe though, that it’s still way too early in my snuff taking days to fully appreciate the subtle nuances of many of the snuffs available. I do liken it to whisky drinking where it takes a while for your tastes to develop before you can reap the rewards of the extra expenditure. Pretty much everything I’ve acquired so far (with the exception of the Dragun Menthol I refuse to open yet) has been at cheapo prices, just like I’ve been buying ultra cheapo pipes to explore that realm too. I’m not saying I won’t try them, but I’m as unlikely to start stocking up on SWS as I am to start investing in high quality meerschaum pipes, or exotic pipe tobaccos. I’ll save all that for later once I’ve got my head round the basics and feel I’m ready to appreciate them

Gawith Hoggarth: English Rose is pretty iconic, and their Sandalwood if fresh in a tub is spicy and wonderful–I use it daily, typically as the very last snuff before bed Samuel Gawith: Black Coffee (in the tin) is many people’s favourite coffee snuff–sadly I’ve just had the tap box, and it was/is pretty dry Bernard’s: Doppelt Fermentiert for an iconic sweet schmaltzer and Zwiefacher for a Bernard snuff with a refreshing hint of menthol