My order of Kardus Superior Blend 2009 arrived today! I read through the review by Larry Waters and even though I am a snus newbie with an inexperienced pallet, I just had to try it! The box is thick and heavy, with the look and feel of spanish cedar, without the heavy aroma of spanish cedar. The box is wrapped with a nice ribbon that also held down a booklet which, I'm sure, contains the history behind the snus. Upon opening the box, I noticed another ribbon over the top of the can with the number 268 handwritten and initialled.

With some trepidation, I opened the can of snus and was floored by the wonderful aroma! The snus smells heavily of rum, and not any ordinary rum! This rum is dark and heavy and hangs in the air with the scent of the tobacco. There is absolutely no ammonia smell with this snus.

I hand-baked a pris and popped it in. Now, I haven't been a big fan of the los because the intensity of flavor always seems to be a few orders of magnitude lower for los than it is for portions. Not with this snus! Good God, what flavor!! The tobacco is strong, very strong. But not overly peppery, or even bitter as some stronger tobacco can be. It was like a smooth, but firm, blast of tobacco flavor. The rum, while dominating the aroma, melded so perfectly with the tobacco, it was heavenly. The nic hit was like a nic blast. I needed to get a glass of water to ward off the hiccups.

After a few minutes, the intensity of the flavor and vitamin-N settled down and the flavors began to change. It almost seemed as if what started off as two distinct flavors were morphing into one that is very difficult to explain. The flavor has a fruity/spicy/woody quality that kept modulating between the three characteristics.

Sadly, after about 90 minutes, the flavor began to wane and I knew it was time to let this one go. The good thing is that 100g of los is a lot of snus! I will thoroughly enjoy every bit of this fantastic snus. This is the best, in my short experience, I've ever had. The snus is pricey, but one pris and you'll know where that extra money went.

EXCELLENT REVIEW - you have a knack for writing!

Mine came in today as well, didn't get time to try it yet, but I look forward to doing so tonight!

Meh... I was pretty underwhelmed. Last year's was great. This one tastes kind of bland. Like smoked Ettan. If you like smoked Ettan, then you'll probably love it.

Wait, I just read where you said yours was numbered. Where is the number at? All mine has is "Kontrollerst av" and the initials CB. I thought it was kind of weird because last year's was numbered next to the initials but this one isn't.

It was numbered on the ribbon inside the box, over the can of snus.

Sorry for the crap picture, but you can barely make out the initials on the ribbon, but no numbering. Hey, maybe I got a rare "numberless" variant from SM. I'm taking bids on it now!
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psrichter wrote:
It was numbered on the ribbon inside the box, over the can of snus.
Mine is #163. I'm really glad you didn't heed my warning and got a box. Your review was outstanding!

I can't compare it against Kardus 2008 like feck can, but I thought 2009 was great. The evolving complexity of the flavor didn't remind me at all of a smoked Ettan. It wasn't as much the smoke as the hit of rum and tobacco at the beginning which slowly melded into different tastes the longer it was in my mouth.

I found the tobacco stronger than the Ettan blend yet incredibly smooth. No burn and everything balanced so...elegantly. I also like good rum so that doesn't hurt either!

I am kicking myself now for not getting Kardus 2008 so I could make a comparison like feck can. My advice to wait, both to myself and to others, on Kardus was a mistake.

I wouldn't go from Camel SNUS directly to Kardus, but even if you've only had a month or two experience with Real Snus, buy Kardus 2009 if there's any still available. You will be able to appreciate it and it will put everything else into context in a good way. It is worth the money.

Paul, I'm going to copy your review over to the Larry Waters and Friends snus review section tomorrow....it will also serve as an apology for my stupid advice to new Swedish snus users (and myself last year) on Kardus.

Thank you for buying it despite my admonitions, for a really great review, and for kicking me in the butt when I needed it. (don't make a habit of it though and no piling on, Mick!)

Larry

feck wrote:
Sorry for the crap picture, but you can barely make out the initials on the ribbon, but no numbering. Hey, maybe I got a rare "numberless" variant from SM. I'm taking bids on it now!
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If you bought it from our snus store, it may very well be collectible..don't lose the ribbon. SM is going to be pissed though....they don't let any product from Kronan to Kardus leave the factory unless EVERYTHING is absolutely perfect.

If you got it at a discount from a Russian website, it could be counterfeit Kardus! :ohmy: It could be Ettan with a little rum thrown in and 2 drops of smoke..... :unsure:

B) I'm sure you're OK but someone at SMAB is in a world of trouble.... they really are fanatical about everything being perfect including the labeling or they literally junk it.

Unfortunately I got it from those Moose people. I got the newsletter and pre-ordered it like two minutes later since they were the only ones that had it at that point. I wish I had waited a day or two, because even with the free shipping it would have been cheaper through you guys or Buysnus.

I may have been fairly harsh in my initial assessment. It's a little spicier the second time around than it was at first. I can accept it for what it is now instead of what it isn't, because it definitely isn't the 2008. From what I've read from the other people that have tried last year's and this years Kardus, I don't think I'm alone in my disappointment.

Regarding the number, last year's batch had the number written directly to the right of the initials. That was the first thing I noticed when I opened this one up. I figured maybe they weren't doing it this year, but I see it's a weird variant now. I'm really wondering now what number mine was on the assembly line- I know SM is pretty stringent, especially on the Kardus.

Maybe I should send out more newsletters ...and now I'm really kicking myself for not getting Kardus 2008 so I could talk intelligently about the two.

On the bottom of the wooden box where Kardus 2009 is burned into the wood, is the sticker above it in Swedish...or Russian!

The book that came with mine was in Swedish - did everyone elses come like this?

chadizzy1 wrote:
The book that came with mine was in Swedish - did everyone elses come like this?
Mine did. Not so sure about feck's though......

Spent some time with Kardus tonight, I'm an hour into my first pris and greatly loving it. The flavor of rum is very strong, and the tobacco is very rich, the flavor is very pure.

Here's some pics of the arrival.


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The top of the box.


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A little book comes with it, on top of the box - this one in Swedish.


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My handwritten number, this is can 184.


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Kardus 2009 etched/burned into the bottom of the box. And the *blech* label.


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The box that it came in, a very attractive cherry color.


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A size comparison of the Kardus snus can. About the size of 3 snus cans in size, but the snus itself is loose and fluffy, so I'd assume it equates to about 1.5 cans of los, just looking at it, but didn't weigh it so that may not be entirely accurate.

Thank you, Larry, for the initial review, without which I would never have known about this wonderful snus, let alone tried it. When I got into cigars years ago, my views on trying "the best of the best" were a lot like yours. I felt I did not have the pallet or the experience to really appreciate what the good stuff had to offer. At a cigar crawl, a friend had gifted me a Montecristo A, a cigar I was intentionally avoiding for these very reasons. Against my better judgement, I lit the cigar and it was the best I had ever had. My pallet could not distinguish the more subtle notes, and my brain could not piece together the correct adjectives to properly describe it, but I knew it was fantastic and I had just enjoyed something special. Over the years, my pallet has advanced, but I still long for a time like the first time I tried a Montecristo A. Because I have never enjoyed another one in the same way I enjoyed the first one. So now, I go out of my way to try the best of everything.

I can honestly say that my experience last night with Kardus 2009 was the snus equivalent of my Montecristo A experience. I wish I could taste it for the first time all over again.

Larry Waters wrote:
chadizzy1 wrote:
The book that came with mine was in Swedish - did everyone elses come like this?
Mine did. Not so sure about feck's though......



Yep, mine is identical in every other way to Chad's. No Russian Mafia insignia that I can discern.

mine dose not have a number on it and i dont like it at all gave it a fair shot in my option its very over rated dont like it