Islay Whisky Portion

[Snusconny]

Thanks Mate

[squeezyjohn]

Is that really Conny Andersson?

Welcome to SnusOn Conny ... I'm sure I can speak for all of us to say that we are truly honoured to have you here! Many of us - myself included are BIG fans of your work!

Thank you for the information - it totally answers my questions.

[Snusconny]

Tsna

I am a big fan of this snus, and am also very curious about the TSNA levels. I wonder whether the text "sweat the tobacco in the fire room instead to pasteurize it" is imprecise, and is meant to read "sweat the tobacco in the fire room instead of pasteurizing it". That would be consistent with the rest of the text (i.e., the snus is made in the pre-1981 manner).

TSNA formation on tobacco hangs on too tight during the drying, you want it airy in the drying barn. Another critical state is at harvest and salvage of tobacco, you do not want the tobacco to come into contactwith something that has germs that such soil. A clean handling pursued. It would not be a lower level of TSNA by pasteurization than if you "sweats" But cigar tobacco contains slightly higher levels of TSNA and low Nic, but great taste. We just use a bit of that tobacco in the blend.
TSNA is not higher than some of GN Tobacco's other products. If the case had been so had you already heard it from my last employer.

[squeezyjohn]

Oh Dear :-(

[jagmanss]

And No, Dear Mr. GN I will not elaborate you know what you did and who you owe.... Sorry not buying the Mr. innocent act anymore.... you owe what you owe Period...

[jagmanss]

Yes GN... I just stand out by the mailbox and wait....and wait....patiently. I wave at the kids and pet the dogs that pass by. It gets cold and rather lonely at night....but I know you would never let us down..

Skelly and I are having a contest on who has to wait the longest, so far czechzar has us both beat by almost a year.

Yeah! Yeah! We all waited by our mail box and found out it was all a bunch of BS from GN... He is not a man of his word... period!

[piks101]

Yes - Chad simply used Google Translate in his blog which is always an imprecise science! If you're going to translate something properly it really needs a bit more research than just copy and paste and a language algorithm! However it's difficult to see even his translation as saying that the tobacco is pasteurised unless you don't read the whole thing!

The text in Swedish says:

Vi använder oss av gamla traditioner, vi svettar tobaken i värmerum istället för att pastörisera den.
Pastörisering är en effektiv och snabb process och har sina fördelar i en massproduktion.
Den tidskrävande svettningen var det sättet som allt svenskt snus producerades fram till 1981. När man svettar tobaken och inte stressar den, får du fram en renare och tydligare tobakskaraktär i det färdiga snuset. Vissa saker var bättre för

Which means:

We use the old traditions, we ferment tobacco in a warm room instead of pasteurising it. Pasteurisation is an effective and quick process and is an advantage in mass-production but before 1981 all Swedish snus was produced by means of a time-consuming fermentation process. When you ferment tobacco, it retains far more of it's natural compounds and aromas giving a clearer and cleaner flavour in the finished snus. Sometimes the old ways are the best.

Good detective work. The reviews on taste have been excellent. Now what about the TSNA levels using the fermented tobacco? That would be good info to know.

[Skell18]

I like it, john I'm glad someone else gets the sourness in it, I have ordered 5 rolls!

[squeezyjohn]

In fact ... here you go ... my attempt at a translation of the whole blurb on www.islaywhiskysnus.com written by Connie Andersson:

"The coming together of a tobacco expert and a small company from the north (of Sweden). Ancient traditions and craftsmanship is brought back to life and mixed with new ideas. Good tasty tobacco is brought back to Jämtland. The tobacco is aged in barrels from Islay and without stressing it, we sweat our tobacco in the warm-room...

Tobacco
We chose the tobacco varieties simply based on their taste, so some of them are not commonly used in snus production. Today, our colleagues in the tobacco industry choose their varieties based on price and TSNA count - and of course that is also extremely important for us. But flavour is always our main priority.

100% Lamina
The snus industry today uses the mid-rib (stem) of the tobacco leaf along with plant fibres as a cheap filler - these things give neither taste nor nicotine. We take the more expensive route and use only pure tobacco (the lamina) to make this snus as high-quality and flavoursome as possible.

Fermented Tobacco
We use the old traditions, we ferment tobacco in a warm room instead of pasteurising it. Pasteurisation is an effective and quick process and is an advantage in mass-production but before 1981 all Swedish snus was produced by means of a time-consuming fermentation process. When you ferment tobacco, it retains far more of it's natural compounds and aromas giving a clearer and cleaner flavour in the finished snus. Sometimes the old ways are the best.

Barrel Aged
We store a percentage of the tobacco in used whisky casks from the island of Islay in Scotland. This is a method sometimes used to produce premium cigars giving an extra dimension to the tobacco. Then we flavour the tobacco with our favourite whisky from Islay - the same one where we got the barrels.

I've made this snus for myself with flavours I like. I enjoy good tobacco and spirits ... and if no-one else likes it I have enough snus to last me many months!

Conny Andersson"

That makes a lot more sense than whacking it in to Google translate does! Chad - if you need me I am available at very reasonable rates!

[squeezyjohn]

Yes - Chad simply used Google Translate in his blog which is always an imprecise science! If you're going to translate something properly it really needs a bit more research than just copy and paste and a language algorithm! However it's difficult to see even his translation as saying that the tobacco is pasteurised unless you don't read the whole thing!

The text in Swedish says:

Vi använder oss av gamla traditioner, vi svettar tobaken i värmerum istället för att pastörisera den.
Pastörisering är en effektiv och snabb process och har sina fördelar i en massproduktion.
Den tidskrävande svettningen var det sättet som allt svenskt snus producerades fram till 1981. När man svettar tobaken och inte stressar den, får du fram en renare och tydligare tobakskaraktär i det färdiga snuset. Vissa saker var bättre för

Which means:

We use the old traditions, we ferment tobacco in a warm room instead of pasteurising it. Pasteurisation is an effective and quick process and is an advantage in mass-production but before 1981 all Swedish snus was produced by means of a time-consuming fermentation process. When you ferment tobacco, it retains far more of it's natural compounds and aromas giving a clearer and cleaner flavour in the finished snus. Sometimes the old ways are the best.

[piks101]

Here is an exert from the text you quoted..........it actually states right the opposite

Well... you're inserting "of" it say's "to" pasteurize, so two different meanings. The the text specifically says a different method to pasteurize not that it isn't pasteurized. We need someone from GN to chime in to clarify.

[Snusdog]

What text are you referring to? The text I posted states pasteurized. I would also be interested in the TSNA content vs today's standard Swedish pasteurization process.

Here is an exert from the text you quoted..........it actually states right the opposite

"We use the ancient traditions, we sweat the tobacco in the fire room instead to (i.e. instead of) pasteurize it.

[R.B. Kazenzakis]

I am a big fan of this snus, and am also very curious about the TSNA levels. I wonder whether the text "sweat the tobacco in the fire room instead to pasteurize it" is imprecise, and is meant to read "sweat the tobacco in the fire room instead of pasteurizing it". That would be consistent with the rest of the text (i.e., the snus is made in the pre-1981 manner).

[piks101]

No - it isn't pasteurised ... it is fermented - that's what that text says and also the blurb on islaywhiskysnus.com - the swedish word is Svett which means literally to sweat the snus - it is the old way of making snus and because it happens at lower temperatures it allows some microbial action on the tobacco ... which leads both to a delicious flavour ... and unfortunately to the production of TSNAs too.

I don't know whether fire-cured is definitely used ... but it sure tastes like it is ... and there is no liquid smoke included in the ingredients which is the case for many brands of snus.

I can definitely taste the fermented nature in this snus which is why I find it so delicious - but I was asking specifically if the snus had been tested for TSNAs and if it was much higher than average for a modern snus.

What text are you referring to? The text I posted states pasteurized not saying it is correct. I would also be interested in the TSNA content vs today's post 1981 standard Swedish pasteurization process.

[Snusdog]

Great review SJ!!!!

And also a good question........I hope GN will find time to pop in and give us some clarification (he has had some health issues- so keep him in your thoughts and prayers)........

Regarding TSNAs.......my guess is that the levels are still negligible.........but it would be interesting to hear.

Also, I loved your suggestion to try it as los...........the test version I had of this was los and it was fantastic!

GN........how about a special snuson release of Islay los


Get better brother!