Granit Loose

[mercvrivs]

I just received my tin of Granit loose. The plastic container is good, although the labeling seems to be subpar. The first thing I noticed is that this tastes to me just like General tasted when I first tried it. I find that I still love General, but it is not as strong on my palate as it used to be. Granit, I find, has that peppery taste and the citrus, although I can taste it better. A little more burn under the lip, but that might be because I haven't switched sides in a while.

I think that this is a snus I could do all day, every day. Unfortunately, I'm finding that the only snuses for which I can make that claim are the more plain-flavored (RL, General, etc.), but not my beloved Anis loose.

However, more importantly, Granit somehow manages to have that comforting superb tobacco taste underneath the flavorings. I suspect they use lower quality tobacco than, say, General, but I honestly can't tell. I am extremely happy with this purchase and may have found a new favorite. This is a badass no-nonsense classic snus along the lines of the old Generalsnus recipes.

I still have to try my Prima Fint, Julesnus, and LD Loose; so we'll see about those.

Anyone else have any thoughts on Granit loose?

[TBD]

Good to hear. I am just entering the world of Loose. Granit is one of 3 that I ordered. LD and Gus are the other 2. My first can of loose was Phantom Blue. It's pretty good, but a bit boring.

[lxskllr]

General's over rated. I like Granit much better for a "General" type snus. I also like LD Red a good bit, but the bergamot's pretty heavy and might not be to everyone's liking.

[mercvrivs]

Just tried the Prima Fint, and it's just like Roda Lacket without any flavorings. Same consistency, same base tobacco, no fruitiness or licorice. I think I prefer RL.

Opened up the LD and tasted a little, seems similar to the style of Granit except with some Bergamot and a different base tobacco. I'll have to pop a pris later.


Let me know how the Gustavus is!


Do they still sell LD Red, Gold, etc.? It looks like they just have loose and portion now.

[lxskllr]

When I say LD Red, I just mean the plain old LD which along with the black is all they currently have. LD Blue, and Guld are both history.

I like Gustavus a lot also. It's General like, with more salt and a nice earthy character. I also like it better than General.

[holnrew]

Just tried the Prima Fint, and it's just like Roda Lacket without any flavorings. Same consistency, same base tobacco, no fruitiness or licorice. I think I prefer RL.

To me, they taste exactly alike.

[mercvrivs]

Yeah, RL has that fruitiness to it though, which changes as it goes slightly bitter. Other than that, they taste the same pretty much.

I tried the LD Red and it is like Granit but I don't taste the tobacco as much, instead the bergamot and citrus are more prominent. It's good, but not as good imo.


I want to try Gustavus and Grov. I have some Grov on the way. I like the marketing behind it (robust ) but I don't know how I'll actually like it.

I know that Gotland Gul is supposed to be a traditional blend, but to me it tastes highly flavored with citrus and frankly it's quite bitter. I can stand and even enjoy the bitterness of the anis loose, but the Gul has to go with coffee or I don't like it.

Are there any companies that put out a product that's actually as old as Ettan, besides SM?

[lxskllr]

Are there any companies that put out a product that's actually as old as Ettan, besides SM?

The Swedish Government took over all tobacco production in the early 20th century. That's when all companies ceased to exist as a private entity. I believe it was in the mid 60s that control became private again, with SM having 100% of the market :^/

If Swedish Match doesn't produce it, it's a newer brand. I'm not even sure there were any other snus companies until the 21st century.

[chainsnuser]

I'm not even sure there were any other snus companies until the 21st century.

There were, Tiedemann in Norway, Fiedler & Lundgren (a former Swedish company, founded 1835, that left the country in 1915 because of the snus-monopoly and moved back to Sweden in 2004) and Orlik in Denmark.

I'm sure there were some other small companies, but these are the ones that I know. Inside of Sweden, yes, it seems that Swedish Match had 100% of the market not only from 1915 till 1967, when the monopoly ended) but also till the early 21st century.

Cheers!

[lxskllr]

Thanks for the clarification chainsnuser. I thought F&L was a Swedish company. Did they move back, or are they still in Denmark? I knew about Orlik, but I completely forgot about them. I never heard of Tiedemann. Here's a product list from their website. It looks like BAT products...

http://www.tiedemanns.no/sw20082.asp

[chainsnuser]

I remember that one of our Danish members some time ago talked about F&L as a Danish company. I don't know whether they are still active in Denmark. Their website ( www.flsnus.se ) is kinda informative but does not reveal much about their company-structure (which is quite typical for small businesses and sometimes even for big ones). I'm also not overly interested to further investigate it.

You can be quite sure though, that most of the smaller snus-producers are owned by some cigarette-company. I remember when I first informed myself about snus (and I informed myself quite a bit before I made my first order), most smaller companies, like Skruf and Gotlandssnus mentioned their owners or co-owners (cigarette-companies!) quite prominently on their homepage and nowadays seemingly refuse to do so, for what reason ever.

BTW, my reason to inform myself heavily, back in 2006 was that I couldn't believe, that snus really is as good as it is, since it was almost totally unknown. Yeah, after I had tried snus, I recalled that some of my comrades during my military service mentioned snus, 20 years ago, but they all were smokers. Well, I informed myself 2 weeks till i decided to place an order, but to everyone who lurks around here and reads this, I can only say, don't hesitate, just order the stuff. Snus may not be for everyone, but it's a hundred times better than all the rip-off-stop-smoking products, big pharma produces.

Cheers!

[lxskllr]

I remember when I first informed myself about snus (and I informed myself quite a bit before I made my first order), most smaller companies, like Skruf and Gotlandssnus mentioned their owners or co-owners (cigarette-companies!) quite prominently on their homepage and nowadays seemingly refuse to do so, for what reason ever.

Well, for a niche product like snus, I think most people would prefer that the products are made by very small producers. That makes it a little more romantic than knowing big tobacco has their hand in the pie :^D

[inge-liv]

Eww... granit.

I hate it, imo it tastes like old tombstones and rottened carcasses...

[mercvrivs]

Well, all the snus companies I've researched (Gotland, F&L, Gallaher, etc.) are owned by larger parent companies that somehow have a stake in making cigarettes. The snus companies are still small, and still make only snus; it's just that they've been bought out. This is true of most industries.

LD is unique in that it actually is also a cigarette brand owned by Japan Tobacco International. They also manufacture cigarettes under the Camel and Winston name, as well as others.

I'm still really digging the Granit. I'm not a huge fan of Bergamot, so the LD won't be a roll-worthy snus for me. My Grov should come tonight, so I'll see about that.

Anybody have any more historical info on the old-time "general" snus blends?

[Gowrie]

Our Walgreens drug store used to carry Ettan and Norrkoping some years ago. Back before tobacco went behind the counter.
Norrkoping must have passed on.