@newbiesnuffer, I only had small amounts of both - a 6 g tub of Dragon Madras and that nice sample of SVS you have treated me with last year. Never had a chance to do a side-by-side comparison, but I recall them both being equally satisfying. I was referring to both as “the most potent snuffs” on the market numerous times. And while there actually might be even stronger products – honestly, I could mention quite a few: NTSU Black, Six Photo Cheeta, the discontinued V2 Thunder range and some of my own concoctions – each of those stronger snuffs has some properties, which I find upleasant. For me, Dragon and SVS stand for a plain perfection. I enjoyed every single pinch and used them sparingly, as a treasure.
With an exception of Umbrella (and maybe NB), I don’t get any taste or smell of ghee in Madras snuff, but most of them are greased. Whatever it is - true or fake ghee (vegetable oil) or mineral oil, it’s there. You can tell the presence of grease by the texture - most Madras snuffs, pinched harder, stain your fingers. I mean, the powder sticks to the fingertips. It is a tad harder to wash than a non-oiled snuff, and I feel the grease, rubbing my fingers under the tap. First batches of MG Madras were really sticky; current one is way less so (I’m even considering to add some extra ghee, but I’m not in the mood of making my own right now). DC is probably non-greased at all, and the last batch of Dholakia Madras Toast I tried about two years ago also seemed grease-free. And if there’s any ghee in Dragon and SVS, the amount is smaller than in Umbrella, NB or MGM. I can’t tell anything about the grease in NC Arya, but it is great snuff and I heartily recommend to arrange a trade or swap with a fellow who has an access to it.
None of the Madras snuffs you send were stale. At least I didn’t notice anything weird or off-putting in any of them. And I never received spoiled Madras from snuffstore.co.uk, bar the last 100 g tin of MGM, which I find odd - very different to all previous tubs and tins I had. It smells ok, but has unusual powdery texture (less greased than previous batches) and is lacking in potency; as if slaked lime has reacted with ammonium carbonate during the prolonged storage of snuff in the warehouse and formed calcium carbonate (=chalk) flakes, or the latter compound was used instead of slaked lime; or ammonium bicarbonate was used instead of ammonium carbonate - something like that).
I use snuff relatively fast and never hoard it. 100 g MGM tin used to last me about 2-3 months; a small tub contains one week’s worth amount. Just for the record, the air humidity is very low inside during cold season in my place. The only change in Madras that I have noticed during 2-3 months is the evaporation of ammonia. There’s only a slight whiff of it in fresh Madras, but it dissipates completely towards the bottom of the tin. Still, fresh MGM used to retain satisfying potency till the last pinch even after 2 months.
It would be interesting to take a look at spoiled Madras and to try to figure the reason of spoilage. Did that off-putting sour odour in NB and Umbrella originate in airtight jar-stored snuff, or in the factory-sealed tins? Under dry conditions and stored in a tightly close container, ghee should slow down the natural conversion of slaked lime to carbonate, which otherwise would happen in snuf faster. On the other hand, I found NB and Umbrella being less alkalized - maybe the amount of slaked lime and (or) any other alkalizer present there is too small for preserving the snuff for longer time. And one more question - if you have tried taking a pinch of any spoiled Madras - did they become any weaker, potency-wise?
P. S. If I understand it right, in previous times most small manufacturers of Madras snuff used to sell fresh snuff, matured for 5-7 days. I think no one used to store it for long in the warehouses… It was more demanded back in the day. However, all the Madras snuffs I tried have different composition (in some cases - different amounts of alkalizers, in other cases - different alkalizers and their combinations; also, different amount of grease and different tobaccos). Their shelf life span is probably different. A clear winner here, I would say, is Dholakia Madras Toast.
P. P. S. Have you ever stumbled upon S-S-S Madras? https://www.grocibro.com/index.php/product/sss-madras-snuff-nossi/?fbclid=IwAR1fZQyo-CqxTmr09KD-anP2FodVfHCYqrRNt4tCekMEkOyaHOUWXkj3vh4