I can’t imagine why anybody would not want a snuff named “Grimstone’s Eye” What a cool name! Even Bob would like it then. I can’t imagine canceling Grand Cairo. A few members on this forum practically live on it (think Guild Navigators in Dune). I’ve had nearly all their current line up by now. Grand Cairo is certainly among the 5 best ones they make. This is an objective opnion, having not grown up in that culture or knowing anything of regional peculiarites of snuff in England before joining this forum. Burgundy…I would be sad to lose it, but won’t kill myself. I can think of 5-10 they can drop if they are looking to save some money.
I think it is citron spice that’s added to the Brunswick. Like in the Strasbourg. I absolutely love it! Though my hairline has been receding quite steadily.
“I’m looking for a somewhat more subtle dark, moist snuff I can fall in love with” Aren’t we all? What’s Roderick up to these days anyways? So saith Juxtaposer. Since we all are, lets hope for fewer snuffs that smell like food. The one thing I never “got” about snuff is some peoples’ love of food scented snuffs. Not only is the idea strange, but it’s intensely uncomfortable to have the smell of some food in your nose for a long time, without being able to attain the satiety that comes from eating it. It’s like watching porn with both your hands tied behind your back.
@LHB…Agreed!
@ Xander: 10-4 on the Grand Cairo. I think that and Gold Label are their best. They could do away with some of their duplicates. They have a ton of spearmint snuffs and even more nondiscript SPs which all seem the same. For example why have Tom Buck and Queens Extra Strong. I guess London barristers, especially QCs like to flourish the Queens label and miners in Yorkshire wouldn’t be caught dead with it in their pocket, but prefer a snuff with a manly name like Tom Buck.
Kunugaa: I doubt either of us is correct. I was simply linking the snuff to a place that is near and dear to me. Kind of like Grand Cairo. I am obsessed with Egypt, so that is the main reason I love that snuff so much. Grimstone’s Eye sounds like something Blackbeard would snuff. Or maybe an ingredient in a Witch’s potion.
I would definatly snuff grimstones eye! I can think of one bussiness reason not too use such a great name. How could any snuff really live up to such an amazing name. Grand Cairo Is truely a grand snuff. It’s a prime example of just a little more goes a long way in the scent department. It’s a basic sp with a hint of spice added which really makes it so much grander and exotic seeming. Definatly one of my favorites and always quick to disapear.
Interesting information there. Grand Cairo is one of my favourites, too.
Ha ha yes at least it used to be!! Now we only have Northern Slesvig, as the rest was grapped by Bismarck in 1864 :o(
PhilipS, thank-you for sharing from that article. Tasty tidbits of info like that keep me coming back, and make me miss the late, much lamented “Pipe Smoker’s Ephemeris”. I wish I could link to an outside website; googling “grimstone’s eye snuff” will be quite surprising. According to the Lancet of 1855, the original snuff contained no tobacco: it was a mixture of various herbs and…salt. Ouch! One of the more fun websites for things like this is www.thequackdoctor.com
“I wish I could link to an outside website; googling “grimstone’s eye snuff” will be quite surprising. According to the Lancet of 1855, the original snuff contained no tobacco: it was a mixture of various herbs and…salt. Ouch! One of the more fun websites for things like this is www.thequackdoctor.com” Alcyon - How nice that people can chat about irrelevancies like Grimstone’s Eye. Read your interesting source on the quack properties of Mr. Grimstone’s snuff for improving sight. It is also mentioned in ‘Snuff Yesterday and Today’ by C.W Shepherd. I therefore dug out my 1984 copy of Tobacco (to check the veracity of my earlier claim) and read the article concerning Grand Sharrow by Sonia Roberts (in conversation with Mark Chaytor). I’m afraid my memory failed me, for which I apologise. The relevant text is as follows: “The range is complemented by Burgundy and a revival of a line popular in the 19th century called Grimstone’s Eye. Obviously in 1984 we are making no medical claims for the product, but with so much current interest in folk remedies and the alternative medicine scene we thought it would be fun to bring this product back as part of the Grand Sharrow range, and in a pack which we think is probably a very fair simulation of the Victorian original.” Mark Chaytor, Tobacco May 1984 For reasons unknown I remembered Burgundy as Grimstone’e Eye. The eight new snuffs in the Grand Sharrow range* of 1984 include: Brunswick Extra Crumbs of Comfort Grand Cairo Jasmine Glacier Burgundy Grimstone’s Eye The eighth snuff in the range is not named. It was Grand Cairo that, along with Grimstone’s Eye, was revived. Found references to Grand Cairo in Arthur Hill Hassall’s 1855 description of food, drink and tobacco published in 1855. Unfortunately this particular snuff is not subjected to chemical analysis. It is described as a moist snuff. “The only snuffs that are ever scented are brown and black rappee, Grand Cairo, and prince’s mixture, amongst the moist snuffs, and Scotch amongst the dry snuffs.” “The moist snuffs, of which there are a great many varieties, are known in the trade under the following names: Brown and Black Rappee, John Bull, Hardham’s 37, Princeza, French and Dutch Garrotte, Masulapatam, Prince’s Mixture, Grand Cairo, and a great many others, which derive their names either from the fancy of the maker or the fashion of the day.” ‘Food and its Adulterations’ was commissioned by the Lancet. It contains detailed descriptions of the various methods of snuff production including toasts, and is available on the internet. Hope that readers misinformed by my last post didn’t try rubbing Burgundy into their eyes to restore impaired vision. * Mark Chaytor also introduced the Celebratory Range in 1977 (Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee). This included the fruit snuffs like strawberry, which was then marketed as Strawbourg! When I started snuff the Sharrow mill only made a dozen or so snuffs. Illingworth was the largest company. Due to Mark Chaytor’s determination to get younger people on board Wilsons now market about sixty.
@PhilipS Thanks for the book title. Gotta love Google Books and Gutenberg Project and the like. Took a quick glance through the chapter on snuff, fascinating with out doubt. Anyone else interested here’s a link to Food and its’ Adulteration: chapter on tobacco
Philp great post. That’s very good to know. I"am glad to have the name of the man I should thank for some great snuffs.
“Irrelevancies”?! I don’t think so! Maybe to the outside world… Originally, according to various sources from the search, the eye snuff not only didn’t have tobacco, it wasn’t even sold as a tobacco snuff. It was just a different way of taking one’s medicine. The eyes do share a connection with the nose, don’t they? I wonder how it made the transition from a “remedy” to a snuff? I don’t know when “All About Snuff and Snuff Taking” was printed, but it gives both Wilson’s And Tranter’s as suppliers of Grimstone’s, as well as J&H Wilson producing twenty-six varieties of snuff (including the Illingworth’s and Rumney snuffs)! Now pardon me while this young lad (!) partakes of a hefty pinch of Grand Cairo.
When my left hand goes limp is when I stop taking my Blongaro! May God look upon me and stop me before it is too late.
Well, I was actually happy for Grand Cairo being a modern snuff but don’t mind heritage either. Actually everything from late 18th/early 19th Centuries is modern.
Brunswick is a great snuff and one I use as an all day snuff a lot of the time, along with what I regard as its sister snuff; Burgundy
I just noticed this thread again and it made me pull out my Brunswick and take a pinch. Great snuff!!
Fresh directly from Wilson’s mill… Friend’s if you think your current snuff lacks flavor, staying power or is generally lackluster and kind of just lies there like your old girlfriend, then you need to try WoS Brunswick. This is a wet, black, flowery, soapy, and leathery monster of a snuff.
I second NOmad’s description. All your posts here made me break down and crack open the tin of Brunswick I recently got from Wilson’s (I have a whole lot of other ones I haven’t tried still sitting here…). I like it. I wonder though if others had my trouble: my tin was downright WET (“moist” would be the understatement of the year). It certainly isn’t “sniffable” - I literally had to take a pinch and stick it in my nose and rub it around. Sort of like spreading mortar…except it hopefully doesn’t turn hard like cement. Nice long-lasting scent. No burn, which I appreciate. Of course, no chance of getting into my sinuses - my fingers are just too fat to shove anything THAT far up my nose… In some ways, this is an excellent beginner’s snuff, as it is pain-free and goof-proof. Try saying that about Dholakia Black or White, or any of the HDTs.