General Mackmyra Whisky Snus – the Worst Kept Snus Secret now Official

Since 2014 Swedish Match and Mackmyra Whisky have been secretly collaborating on a premium whisky snus project; General Mackmyra Whisky Snus.  The release was timed to occur in 2016; the 150th anniversary year of General Snus.

Not a word of General Mackmyra leaked out until December 2015; 5 months prior to its planned release date and 3 months prior to the official product announcement.  Numerous pictures, reviews, and product information spread like a virus throughout social media, much to the chagrin of Swedish Match.  

It seemed there was little more to know about General Mackmyra prior to the official 15 Feb 2016 (GMT+1) product announcement but I’m happy to tell you there is some tasty information left plus some snus trivia which I can finally now share with you….

 General Snus Celebrates it’s 150th Anniversary with Mackmyra Whisky

2016 is the 150th anniversary of General Snus, the largest selling brand of Swedish Snus in the world.  Manufacturer Swedish Match has a number of special editions and products which will be introduced in this General Snus milestone anniversary year.

Swedish Match and Swedish Whisky maker Mackmyra Whisky combined their expertise in tobacco blending and whisky making over a roughly 18 month development period.  On the General Snus side,  Master Tobacco Blenders Lars Jonsson and Mattias Schyber joined with Mackmyra Master Whisky Blender Angela D’Orazio to create the unique and quite tasty snus.

General Mackmyra is a tobacco-centric snus flavored to contain a subtle tone of fruit with notes of cedar and Mackmyra Svensk Ek Whisky. Svensk Ek, or ‘Swedish Oak’, is matured in barrels made from oak trees planted on the island of Visingsö centuries ago, oak originally intended for shipbuilding.

 Interesting trivia point:  both Swedish Match and Mackmyra have a band in common:  Motörhead

In 2012, Swedish Match released Motörhead by Grov Snus.  It was a limited edition version of Grov portion snus with Motörhead can graphics.

To celebrate “40 years of eardrum crushing”, Mackmyra in collaboration with Brands for Fans released Motörhead Whisky which is still available today.  Motörhead Whisky is completely different than the Mackmyra Svensk Ek Whisky used in General Mackmyra, aged in different casks and has bourbon is a major flavoring note.

I’ve spent the last week comparing General Mackmyra with premium whisky snuses already available; Islay Whisky Portion Snus and Crafted Snus Whisky Portion Snus. 

With both the Islay and the Crafted Snus, I’ve had the advantage of being able to purchase the whiskys used in both snuses and compare the taste to how it appeared the snus.  In the case of Islay Whisky Snus, Ardbeg Whisky (which is my now favorite whisky) while with Crafted Snus the highland whiskey Glenfarclas was used.

I’m a little handicapped in that Mackmyra Svensk Ek Whisky doesn’t seem to be available in US fine spirits shops.  Shipped, the price would be around $110 for a bottle over the internet; not a price many American snusers would be able or willing to pay for a comparison of their own.

I’ve probably had Mackmyra Svensk Ek during my trips to Sweden as Snus Legend Moe Unz runs my bar tab up considerably during every trip.  I can say the next time I visit Sweden, I will specifically be bringing a bottle or two back.

In the meantime,  this tasting note by the folks at Master of Malt should give us all an idea of the flavor of Mackmyra Svensk Ek Whisky: