Islay Whisky Snus review – Original Swedish snus

Even though I’m not a regular snus (moist powder tobacco product placed under the upper lip) user, I just had to get me some Islay Whisky Snus when I heard about it. As a big fan of smoky Islay whisky, I just had to get this product. Like the name suggests, Islay Whisky Snus is flavored with Scottish Islay region whisky.

Islay Whisky Snus is made of 100% pure tobacco leaves (lamina = no plant fibers or other screed material). This is a small batch, apparently high quality snus, which has had some additional curing in unknown Islay distillery whisky casks.

Good taste but lacks Islay

I am no expert in snus but I must admit: this is very good snus. To my disappointment I must add: there’s no traces of Islay. Well, except the good quality, that is like Islay in whiskies. But in this case, the whisky cask flavoring has nothing to do with the good quality of this snus.

So I say, you should definitely buy this product if you like good snus. But for whisky enthusiasts it doesn’t offer anything special. The taste of Islay is not present, unless you use your wild imagination and pretend it to be. Like I did. I liked it and loved the fact that someone wants to make craft snus like this.

And that someone is Conny Andersson, who says:

“I have done a snus for myself, by my liking and taste. I like good tobacco and good liquor. And if nobody else likes it, I’ve got snus so I’ll be fine for a couple months.”

High quality snus

The tobacco has been chosen after the manufacturer’s taste. It comes from Nicaragua, USA, Ghana and South Africa, and is taken to Jämtland in Sweden. The snus is manufactured by old methods: tobacco sweating in a thermal suite. Which was the only way of snus making in Sweden until the ’80’s, which introduced pasteurization. Pasteurization suits nicely for mass production, while sweating is more time consuming. Tobacco sweating makes the snus more clear and gives it pure tobacco character.

And what’s the most special thing, is the aging of tobacco in old whisky casks. That same method is familiar with premium cigars, because whisky gives the tobacco some extra dimension. After aging, Islay Whisky Snus is seasoned with Conny’s favorite Islay whisky, which comes from the same distillery as the whisky casks. Too bad I don’t know the distillery.

Product information:

• Type: Original Portion
• Nicotine: 12 mg/g
• Portion weight: ~1 g
• Snus weight: 20 g/can

Islay Whisky Snus is…

…barrel aged…

…and small batch snus