The title says it all why do we say it for nasal snuff
because your taste buds do a surprising amount of work to enhance your snuff experience if you’ve noticed, actually sniffing a snuff in the tin tastes/smells different than when it’s in your nose
That’s a very interesting question. My take on it is that scent or aroma comes from something outside of the body - flowers, the smell of baking bread etc. Once inside the body/consumed it becomes a flavour, as Pike Mopers says, taste buds do play a part in the enjoyment of snuff. For example, tomatoes have a scent, but the taste/flavour is different. I don’t know if that makes any sense at all, it’s hard to explain!
It makes all the sense in the world to me. I have already suggested to Roderick in his suggestions thread he should do a tomato vine snuff. I love that smell in the summer but am always disappointed when I eat the tomatoes so most of the time eat them strait from the vine standing next to the plant to get the smell and flavour at the same time.
Flavor is the combination of taste and smell. Taste refers only to what can be perceived through the taste buds (sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and maybe unami). IMO the term flavor does not apply to snuff, unless maybe you put it in your mouth!
Silly question, but honestly curious… people have taste buds. Do we have smell buds? Only connection I know of is reverse. If the nose is cloggy with illness, food tastess different, not as good. Maybe that’s imagined, but seems that way.
There are sensory cells but those are much more complex than the taste buds. I think I read somewhere humans can differentiate like 10 000 different odors, but only 4 different tastes. So yes, smell takes a very important part in food appreciation. But still, even when you can’t smell with your nose you can still taste salt, sugar, sour or bitterness.
If I took a Ketchup scented snuff I’d puke!
@Pipe Mopers I think that is because the smell develop and change chemically inside your nose to the contact of the nasal mucosa.
Ketchup snuff: ground dried tomatoes, vinegar, water, salt, and sugar. But would it be good with pickle relish snuff? *grin*
So really we should be saying aroma and not flavour
I generally use any of the three terms depending on the snuff, eg. F&T’s are scented snuffs, Toque Cheese and Bacon is flavoured, Indian snuffs are aromatic to me. Thinking about it, where does that leave toasts and scotches? I guess they’d be plain.
I’ve seen references in older books that called it perfuming. Not sure if I find that fitting for a masculine inclined product. From a distinctly American perspective… Joe: “Les just grind up the baccy an’ slap on some o dem menthol an’ other good smellin’ oils. Imma hankering for a good ol’ sniff up the honker ta get ma day started” Jakey: “Good smellin oils? Ya mean like WD-40?” Joe: “Heck, ain’t never tried no WD-40 in it… lemme go an git some” *big grin*
@toffeenose Good call. I agree.
I’ve read about people who, due to neurological injury or disorders, lose their sense of smell. Most report that food seems tasteless to them after such a loss. The olfactory sensors in the nose also connect to the most primitive and emotionally/instinctively motivated parts of the brain, which is why scent is such a powerful evoker of memory. I suppose it’s merely a matter of preference whether one refers to “flavor” or “scent” to describe the sensory delights of snuff, but somehow, to me, “flavor” seems to capture the complexity of the experience better. The senses of smell and taste are so intertwined to begin with, it doesn’t seem to make sense to separate them. Maybe we should develop new words to describe the experience of snuff-taking.
I’m having to take Atenolol for my heart condition I’ve said to people if I don’t get water down quickly, then they taste like petrol (auto. gas). People have said, Have you drunk petrol? No, but the taste resembles that smell.
I’ve gotten peculiar looks from people when I’ve said something had “a copper-like taste, similar to blood.” I suppose a few folks thought for a moment I was a closet vampire. (lol) If the strange looks persist, I’ve been known to respond with, “Have you never bitten your tongue?” Some may wonder yet why I would get the notion to lick a penny, I suppose.
Are you a horseshoe crab or a Vulcan? Those are the only creatures I know about with copper based (green) blood. My blood should taste like iron.
Hey everyone been to busy to post much but here’s my 2cents, I think a lot of it is due to most snuff being “engineered” to smell exactly like they are supposed to taste and since it smells the way we would expect it to taste we just say it that way. Could it be so? 
@Xander Jeez man- how intelligent ARE you? It seems you know EVERYTHING! lol