In my recent trip through NW Europe, I wasn’t very lucky with snuff - aside from a “Mentolino” from Switzerland (made by Swedish Match in South Africa, medium coarse grind, light brown colour, pretty dry) I only found very common tobaccos, and mostly they are in a rather bad condition, as I guess is the norm these days with walk-in tobacconists. I learned a very important lesson, though: using the wrong container is a crime. Case in point is my first experience with McChrystal’s O&G - I found a convenience store in Switzerland sold the 8.75g tins; since I never had the chance to try it, I bought it and started snuffing right away while waiting for the horrible, 4km-long, line to St. Gotthard tunnel to clear. It was a revelation, something like my Platonic ideal of a medicated snuff - honestly, if I could only snuff from an endless supply of that tin, I’d be pretty much ok with it. Flash forward ten days, Koeln: Peter Heinrichs, while a wonderful place for a pipe aficionado, has no love for snuff takers. They only carried a terrible, terrible Bernard that smells like used socks (I forget the name), a few Poeschls and, luckily for me, McC’s O&G in a red tap box - which I immediately bought and snuffed and wished I didn’t buy. I thought it was only a matter of moisture (the tobacco was horribly dry), so I put it in my freezer, which is a bit more humid than I’d like for most applications, but is perfectly fine with reviving dry snuff; a week later, I tried it again. Well, the moisture is back - the taste isn’t. There’s absolutely nothing to tell it apart from a ground cigarette, if said the cigarette has no flavour whatsoever. If I close my eyes and concentrate very hard, I can sort of detect a vague memory of distant menthol, but then again it might be smell of plastic. As for the other, wonderful notes that make O&G such a delightful experience, absolutely nothing. I mean really absolutely nothing. Needless to say, I’ll keep the box for display purposes only - but I wonder: if someone new to snuff was to try that same box, after reading that it’s one of the finest snuffs money can buy, wouldn’t it really put them off from snuff altogether? I know that, had it been my first experience with snuff, I wouldn’t have tried again.
A lot of people have had trouble with the McC’s tap-boxes, including myself. They leak and if they leak they also let in air, which damages the flavour of the snuff. I had a red tap box of McC’s Mild Lemon, which I’ve decanted into a ‘normal’ McC’s metal tin but have never seen O&G in one. This is, to my mind, a criminal way to treat such a fine snuff.
stay away from the red tap out boxes, worst things ever made for snuff
Not only that, but they are oooooollllllllddddddd. I don’t think McC is using them any longer.
@cstokes4: I suspected something like that seeing that most online stores don’t seem to carry that kind of box… Still, I do wish that manufacturers would start adding a “best before” date to packaging when selling to brick-and-mortar shops. But then again, I suppose that would hurt sales more than anything.
I had a similar issue with McChrystals Highland Ice. I tried a minor tin (3g?) of this and absolutely loved it, however when I ordered another tin from a different supplier it came in a red tap box. The snuff was dry and shot down my throat, and lacked the clean smell that I loved about this snuff when I got it from a tin. Same snuff, different experience.
My local smoke shop unearthed a couple display boxes of the red taps last week. They were stored well, but something tells me I need to use them up rather quickly. Luckily, that won’t be a problem. 
I had a similar experience with Highland Ice and English Menthol. Both were bland and dull in the box, but fresh and pungent in the tins. As bad as tap boxes are in general for leaking, those red ones are the worst. Sometimes they even leak snuff the gaps are so large.
@ pgcd: Have you found La Nazionale Mentopin? I think that’s either Swiss or Italian. Here’s a link: Kiosk Marketplace
This sounds terrible! O&G is my choice snuff, and I would hate to see it in such a state.
@Xander: after checking that page, I’m thinking that “Mentolino” is a generic name for snuff, in Switzerland. When I bought it, it was on display along with Ozona Snuff and Gawith Apricot (what else =)), but when I asked the lady for “A tin of Mentolino”, she replied “Which one?” - as if the Poeschl’s were mentolinos as well…
‘I’m thinking that “Mentolino” is a generic name for snuff, in Switzerland.’ No, you’re wrong. I wonder, where you bought it. Here in Switzerland the O&G stands almost as a synonyme for snuff (no surprise, you got a fresh tin). Both ‘mentolino’ and ‘nazionale mentopin’ are very difficult to find. I think, they are no longer in production, so it’s just old stock on the market. p.s. sorry for my bad english