For those of you who prefer snus with a higher nicotine content (known as Strong, Stark, or Sterk snus), the two most popular brands available to date have been the Nick and Johnny Original or the Skruf Stark. Both come in regular portions although inside sources at both companies tell me a not to be surprised to see White Portions of each in the not too distant future.........

That may wellbe the caseas Swedish Match’s General brand has just introduced the General Sterk white-portion snus. They say this General strong snus has a distinctive taste; a powerful tobacco flavor with hints of pepper and citrus zest.

Since this description would fit most General snus’s, I’m curious as to whether it tastes more like the General White Portion or the General Onyx. And unlike the new Nick (&J) West which is Strong but has a lower amount of snus (20 grams versus 24 grams), General Sterk contains 24 pouches each weighing one gram.

General Sterk contains more nicotine than the most common snus types and the major target group for this strong snus, according to Swedish Match, is cigarette smokers and those who just like a stronger snus. General Sterk contains about 11 mg of nicotine per pouch. Consumer surveys they have conducted concluded that many smokers in America and Norway (strangely enough, not Sweden) want a stronger snus to satisfy their nicotine cravings ….or in my case, to wake up in the morning.

Even though the portion pouches have a fresher and whiter appearance, the moisture content is the same as the original pouches. The white pouches of General Sterk’s are arranged in a unique pattern in the can, known as a star formation, the same way as the premium snus General Onyx. Hence my question earlier concerning taste: is the star formation just cosmetic or does the General Sterk taste more like the Onyx than the General white-portion? It was time to Buy Snus and Ijust received my latest snus order from the SnusCENTRAL.com Snus Store so you will probably try the General Sterk before I do: please leave a comment or drop me an email as to your thoughts on the taste.

Many snus users, especially new ones (and me) prefer white-portion snus as, while taking a few minutes more to “get started”, the taste lasts longer than the regular portion. This may account for white-portion’s growing popularity among snus users in general.

For first time customers who Buy Snus at SnusCENTRAL.com, click on either of the two links in this paragraph or the banner below and use Coupon Code LV2F8F at Check-Out:you’ll receive an additional 10% off your entire order as well!

Swedish Match’s introduction of General Sterk is very significant. Strong snus is currently offered by only a handful of snus manufacturers. General’s entry into this market, one way or the other, will definitely have a significant impact on the other high nicotine snus offerings. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

General Sterk Snus:
DECLARATION OF CONTENTS: Water, Tobacco, Humectants (E 1520),Taste enhancer (table salt), Acidity regulator (E 500), Licorice Flavour substances incl. Smoke food flavour

ANALYTICAL DATA: Water: ca 50 %; Nicotine: ca 11 mg/pouch; Salt: ca 4 %
One can contains 24 grams

As significant as this is, it may just be a harbinger of things to come: there is insider talk of a new class of Sterk / Stark / Strong snus's: The Extra Strong /Ekstra Sterk / Ekstra Stark Class. These are rumored to contain nicotine levels anywhere from 12mg to over 16mg!

Personally, I think it's more than just "talk": Based on skruf's great success with their 14mg/nicotine skruf stark, I think it's going to be a reality and from a number of Swedish Snus manufacturers. I also suspect it will happen before Christmas 2008....maybe even Thanksgiving. We'll have to wait and see if I'm right....but when it comes to Snus, I usually am.

Humbly yours, :-)

Mr. UNZ
The Snus Guru

July 2nd, 2008

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