V2 rest review - Dark Vanilla

[Xobeloot]

DARK VANILLA

EXPECTATION LEVEL: Very High

PORTION: Light to medium brown and very wet

SCENT: Very mild. Has the scent of moist tobacco wuth a faint hint of vanilla.

TASTE: Initial flavor is salt, salt, and more salt. The vanilla is very faint. I taste more of a bitter sweet tobacco than anything. After about 10 minutes, the overpowering salt fades, but I am still tasting tobacco more than anything. The vanilla is very much a back-note.

INITIAL OPINION: In comparison to the Nordstrommen Loose version of this same flavor, This one is lacking the flavor that I love so much in loose form. This one needs a bit more flavor to balance out the tobacco and salt. This is just my first attempt at this one, but so far this does not come close to the loose version. A bit more flavoring and I think this one could be decent. I'll continue to update as I go through these portions.

[jamesstew]

Very insightful

[bearcat87]

I expected more, :roll:

[Premium Parrots]

Reserved

I wholeheartedly disagree.

[GenuineSpirit]

Hmmm,

a snus that reduces your vocabulary to one word?

[GenuineSpirit]

Is it long lasting?

Maybe, a great gift snus!

[RobME]

Now I get it. Excellent planning, good logistics. That's thinking ahead.

[sagedil]

Re: Xobe's OR LE '09 Reviews

MOONSHINE

EXPECTATION LEVEL: Very Low

PORTION: The portions are a light brown and extremely moist

SCENT: These smell like alcohol. A warm, stinky, tastes like ass but will knock your dick in the dirt alcohol.

TASTE: This was an interesting one. At first, it truly had a taste reminiscent of some of the higher quality mountain shine I have had from the hills of Georgia. After a while, as the portion warmed up, it started taking on more of a sake-like flavor. Mildly sweet, but also a hint of bitterness.

The whole time I had this in, I was trying to pinpoint exactly what it tasted like. Finally it came to me. After the first few mins of Moonshine/Sake-like flavor, I cant help but think that this tastes exactly like a dirty martini. It has that alcohol-like taste, but something in there actually tastes like bitter green olive.

INITIAL OPINION: As strange of a concept as this is, I find it strangely enjoyable. I went into this flavor with very low expectations and came out quite pleased. I will see if it grows better or worse over the next few days.

You just had to go an be different. You know though, the reason I set up the format i did was to make it easy for Patrick, and more importantly, keep all the conversation in one thread. I was gonna be cantankerous and just post this in that thread. But instead, I will ask you sweetly to copy both of these replies and put them in that thread?? (cutting out this part of course)

I am not surprised you like this. And the big reason it is on my recommend list even though I hated the flavor. I know it is an honest snus. And i do imagine a few, if not a lot of few, would like this. Your reaction just confirms my thoughts about it.

I am gonna give this another try when I do my 2nd round of testing.

[Xobeloot]

Moonshine review moved and thread renamed/changed to follow format.

Now if only we could get ice or zero to do a thread cleanup.

[sagedil]

Thank you!!! I know I was being anal, but..... :lol: :lol: :lol:

[TBD]

I'll throw my two cents in....

Initial Impression: Smell of vanilla, dark appearance.


First day testing results: Nice tobacco taste with a touch of vanilla. Salty at first, but fades to a good flavor. Reminds be a bit of the taste of my Grandma’s homemade vanilla ice cream, with salt. I like it, but it needs a tad more vanilla to bring that taste to the forefront. As is, the tobacco is the main flavor.

Even with slight changes needing to be made I can see me chainsnussing this one. I like it.

[mercvrivs]

Dark Vanilla Review

Scent/Appearance
This snus is nicely moist and pleasant to look at, just like the other offerings in this test review. I immediately noticed a pleasant vanilla scent upon opening the can, and I was very excited because (as you can see) the Nordstrommen Dark Vanilla loose is one of my top five snuses.

Flavor/Comparison
I have tried three portions of this snus so far. It definitely tastes like vanilla to me, but it is a more subdued and subtle vanilla than in the Nordstrommen loose. I taste salt, tobacco, and vanilla undertones. Personally, I think this is a very good snus, but I think that it will be a lot better if the vanilla flavor is a bit stronger -- but not too much stronger.

Edit: It's been a couple days since I used this flavor. A few minutes ago, I selected the biggest, juiciest portion left in the tin. This time, the flavor of vanilla was much more pronounced. The snus tastes just like the Nordstrommen's Dark Vanilla Loose, except a bit saltier. I'm not sure if V2 should increase the vanilla flavor; I think it's just about right. What I love about the Dark Vanilla in both loose and portion is that it does not taste like candy. Instead, it has a refined taste similar to a fine pipe tobacco: the vanilla is slightly sweet, but balanced with a dark, deep, and rich flavor that makes it a distinguished, complex, and delicious snus.

Conclusion
I am very happy to see that this snus is being produced in portions, because I think that vanilla is a flavor that should be available as a regular snus flavor in both loose and portion. I believe that the snus might need a tiny bit more vanilla flavor added. This snus is definitely one of my favorites from this test batch.

[sagedil]

Two portions in, and I'm not ready to say anything yet. This one confuses me a bit.

[RobME]

Dark Vanilla - This was the first of the V2 experimental flavors that I tried. I mean, who doesn't like vanilla? Gotta be something wrong with you if you don't like vanilla. Vanilla goes with almost everything (except in the case of V2 coffee vanilla snus) - and maybe that's the fault of their old coffee and vanilla flavorings. Who knows? I like the old V2 coffee vanilla but it is funky, and not natural tasting. I think it could use some improvement. Maybe we're due for a new and improved Coffee Vanilla snus one of these days from V2.

It's a good bet that V2's discovered a new source of supply for natural tasting flavors that couple well with snus. All of these new flavors share a common theme. A lack of artifice. The flavors taste natural - and for me as a consumer - that's major.

(OK enough BS Rob, How's the damn thing taste?.....)

Open it up and you can see the drops of moisture clinging to the insides of the can and the lid, the portion bags just glistening in wetness. These portions were the wettest of all. The smell is of dark, vanilla (duh)... extract. It smells like dark vanilla extract. I know "dark" isn't really a smell, but it's the best I can do.

These are not sweet to taste.

It tastes of vanilla extract, and that's not a bad thing but, it's lacks balance. It NEEDS more flavor.

I think V2 is deliberately trying to not make these flavors taste too sweet. That's understandable. Too sweet or sometimes any sweet is often looked down on and rejected. They want to hint of the flavor but not throw it in your face. That's how I see it - but WTF do I know?

In the case of this Dark Vanilla; It needs more sugar. It needs some more flavor. Patrick! Bump it up a notch or two. Don't be afraid. Almost everyone loves vanilla.

Vanilla and tobacco are a great combination when they're done right. You guys are just on the verge of it, but just not there yet.

My expectations for this were very high. They weren't met but I wouldn't call this bad. This offering falls somewhere in the middle of my own personal rankings. I've a few more comments to make on the others so I'll be back.

Later,
Rob

[sagedil]

I appreciate you guys helping me with this one.

I too so really want to love this one. When I first saw the list of flavors, I thought surely this would be my favorite. And t IS better than what V2 has done before. The Offroad version never even came close.


And I sort of, *think*, maybe I like this one. But there is just again, and I hate to overuse this word, but there is just something off" about this. Maybe sweeter would be a bit better. Has anyone ever eaten bakers chocolate, the unsweetened kind?? It has a really strange off flavor. Beyond just the lack of sweetness. But add sugar and it all suddenly balances. I think this one is just unbalanced from a lack of sweetness.


Unfortunately, I expect this one will be on my reject list. Will give it another try. But I am 4 portions in and I seem to be disliking it a bit more with every portion.