Hi chaps - This is my first post on this forum. I’ve been lurking for a week or so and have noticed a few members from the pipe forum I’m on, so hello to all you reprobates. I’ve been taking snuff off and on for a year and a half now, but have only recently started getting obsessed with it, so my knowledge is still somewhat ropey! On to the question: I’ve just noticed on the WoS website that Queens Extra Strong is listed under SP, rather than mentholated. Am I confusing something in the QES for menthol, or is menthol an allowed component of SPs? I’m aware this is probably a simple question, but would appreciate any input.

There is no menthol in Queen’s (or Tom Buck which is the same mix under a different name).

There is no menthol in Queen’s (or Tom Buck which is the same mix under a different name).

Is there anything that could possibly be confused with menthol in there - eucalyptus maybe? I am actually considering the possibility that this is a mislabelled tin.

mislabeled tins have been know to happen, there is nothing like menthol in QES. You may have contaminated it if you kept it in close proximity to mentholated snuffs.

I agree with both statements above. No menthol in it whatsoever maybe contamination? If not something is definitely wrong

Wilsons definition of an SP is much more liberal than what most of us here would call one. They consider Best Dark and Irish High Toast to be SPs for instance. However, Queens Extra Strong is certainly an SP. It gets it name derived from Queens which is now known as Best SP. It has a higher level of bergamot in it than Best SP. It is identical to Tom Buck (which gets its name from Tumbak which in turn is a corruption of “tobacco”). There is absolutely nothing mentholated or medicated in Queens Extra Strong or any SP.

I guess if you’re not familiar with menthol you might mistake the spicy, old-spice sort of effect from heavily scented SPs as menthol, but most likely a mislabeled tin.

Queens is my favourite SP as well as Best SP. Queens is slightly stronger regarding nicotine and has less Bergamot. I bought Tom Buck at the same time as the Queens and they were very different the Tom Buck being much more a plain tobacco snuff and I found it a bit dull so my experience is that they are not the same snuff in fact barely similar. Queen’s is much nearer to Best SP.

@I_snuff_therefore___ Incorrect. “Queens” is an archaic name for Best SP. Queens Extra Strong is identical to Tom Buck, even Wilsons oF Sharrow will confirm this. QES is not any stronger in nicotine, it has more bergamot making it “extra strong” flavorwise. If your Tom Buck was a bit dull than likely you had a stale tin. I have a half pound in bulk and its luxuriously rich!

@Xander your knowladge makes me think. Tom Buck= Tumbak reminds me “tömbeki” which is used for hokka tobacco. Tombeki was also used as snuff tobacco.

@I_snuff_therefore___ Incorrect. “Queens” is an archaic name for Best SP. Queens Extra Strong is identical to Tom Buck, even Wilsons oF Sharrow will confirm this. QES is not any stronger in nicotine, it has more bergamot making it “extra strong” flavorwise. If your Tom Buck was a bit dull than likely you had a stale tin. I have a half pound in bulk and its luxuriously rich!

I was of course meaning Queens Extra Strong and my experience was as described. Why it should be so different from yours I have no idea? Maybe Wos have changed something? If you read the WOS web info I think they name Queens Extra Strong and Tom Buck as the highest for nicotine hence my reason for ordering them and that was about 2 months.

i ordered tombuck extra 2 months ago. It is usual tom buck as described.

Oh, the Queens… Tom Buck rehash with a twist question. I refill my Tom Buck cans from a big old tub of QES, and never have doubted the truth! They do add unicorn dust to the Queens ES, but strongest Nicotine is a fairy tail…! They put all the extra Nicotine in the SG Banana…

Thanks for the replies folks. This must be a mislabelled tin.

Oh, the Queens… Tom Buck rehash with a twist question. I refill my Tom Buck cans from a big old tub of QES, and never have doubted the truth! They do add unicorn dust to the Queens ES, but strongest Nicotine is a fairy tail…! They put all the extra Nicotine in the SG Banana…

Thanks guys for clearing that up. Hope it helped the OP or maybe he wishes he’d never asked. My Tom buck ended up as a failed blend as I tried to inject some life into it. Now it’s composting nicely. Must have got a bad one and the Queenbuck seemed wrong also but I have a re-order tin to open in about 6 months or so.

You know, the more I think about this, the more I think I may have got confused somewhere along the lines. I carried this tin around in my pocket for ages so all the writing wore off. Starting to think maybe I bought a menthol at the same time as the Queen’s, and somewhere along the lines I lost the Queen’s and thought the menthol was the Queen’s. Who knows. Who cares. It’s good stuff whatever it is!

Or maybe the tin lids got swapped around… Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done that.

There is no menthol in Queen’s (or Tom Buck which is the same mix under a different name).

Is there anything that could possibly be confused with menthol in there - eucalyptus maybe? I am actually considering the possibility that this is a mislabelled tin.

Certainly not Eucalyptus, menthol or anything like that. Queens/Tom Buck is a good, strong SP - strong tobacco base and a fairly high bergamot content. Damned good strong SP.

@buistd Welcome -see what you started! keep up the questions you liven up the house (

@Fretless - I just took a spoon, I agree, no menthol notes, lots of citrus and floral characteristic of Bergamot. A very lovely snuff indeed, and one for future orders! @buistd - There was a bit of a sting from vitamin N at the initial sniff - that plus citrus could be confused for menthol I guess.

@I_snuff_therefore___ Incorrect. “Queens” is an archaic name for Best SP. Queens Extra Strong is identical to Tom Buck, even Wilsons oF Sharrow will confirm this. QES is not any stronger in nicotine, it has more bergamot making it “extra strong” flavorwise. If your Tom Buck was a bit dull than likely you had a stale tin. I have a half pound in bulk and its luxuriously rich!

I should have been clearer in my previous post about this. I received a 25g tin of Queens Extra Strong and a 25g tin of Tom Buck, both fresh from Sharrow in the same delivery and I opened them both immediately on arrival and tried them both there and then and as I have already described they were clearly different. You are incorrect I’m afraid and on all points. They are not the same. Queens is stronger in nicotine than Best SP and Tom Buck. Queens is not as strong in Bergamot than Best SP and Tom Buck even less so. Try the 2 (or 3 if you include Best SP) side by side for an actual real test as I did and if you find your results are according to your post then they are correct for you and mine are correct for me which is the case so we are both correct.

Don’t forget that all snuffs can and do vary between batches due to many reasons. I’ve had Best SP significantly different in both colour and grind between batches. No big deal I reckon.

Don’t forget that all snuffs can and do vary between batches due to many reasons. I’ve had Best SP significantly different in both colour and grind between batches. No big deal I reckon.

No big deal absolutely. No decisively correct or incorrect (it’s like I open some rose and someone says no incorrect it’s best dark) but for me I won’t order Tom Buck again based on what I tried. Colour and grind wouldn’t bother me at all it’s the nicotine and scent I worry about and I find it strange that if QES and TB are the same why they differed in the same order delivery. Surely they should have come from the same batch i.e. make up a batch and fill QES and TB tins/tubs whatever. I’ll just get the Queens Extra Strong again which I have waiting to open once I get through my Best SP. That was a big variation I seemed to receive and as I say it has resulted in my not having a good experience of Tom Buck but it’s not a problem for me. If this Queens Extra Strong I open turns out to be different again then what to get in future will be pretty confusing though. All my Best SP orders so far have been absolutely consistant as has every other Wos snuff that I have reordered. Maybe technically QES and TB are supposed to be the same. I don’t know. I only know what I got in my order.

there is extra version of tombuck as well lool.

Try the 2 (or 3 if you include Best SP) side by side for an actual real test as I did and if you find your results are according to your post then they are correct for you and mine are correct for me which is the case so we are both correct.

I have done this very thing. Several years ago one of my first orders of a large variety of Wilsons snuffs included all three. I snuffed them side by side by side and posted about it here. I too thought I detected differences between QES and Tom Buck, but three or four tins of each later I have reached the conclusion that it was simply batch differences or age differences in some cases, and that the veteran snuffers who were telling me they were the same thing were right all along. Wilsons traditionally had two different names as they were marketed in different regions for different demographics. There are threads about this somewhere too, but WoS will tell you the story if you write to them. I now have Best SP and Tom Buck in bulk, but not QES. Seriously, there really is no extra nicotine in there, its a bit of a myth since its name is often paired with the words “Extra Strong SP” folks have taken it upon themselves as to what that means and kind of created a bit of an urban legend. WoS pretty much use the same flour for 90% of their blends so most of what you are paying for is flavor differences. @linguist There is no such thing as Tom Buck Extra. (I must have said that somewhere before :-? ). That’s a misprint on the Mr Snuff website that has caused much confusion. It also stems from the pairing of the name with “Extra Strong SP.” Someone cut it short at the wrong point.

Thank God they don’t make all their snuff’s the same only in differently labeled tins. and thanks to WOS for the complimentary Morlaix.