Greetings Snustopians!I know it’s been awhile since we’ve sat down and reviewed snus but it’s been a pretty hectic month here in Skruf Square. The Christmas season is Snustopia’s busiest time of year as well as our favorite. We’ve all been busy getting ready for the holiday festivities by decorating the square with lights and baking cookies as well as picking out gifts for our loved ones. And since it’s the holiday season, actually Christmas Day, I thought to myself what a better time to review the snus all Snustopians hope will be under their tree this year, Kardus Superior Blend 2009! So, grab your favorite hot drink, a portion of snus and let’s begin to see what this year’s “Most expensive snus in the world” is like.
Ever since Swedish Match began releasing the Kardus brand back in 2005, it’s always been a limited edition loose snus as well as an expensive one and with good reason. For one, it’s a completely handcrafted snus! “Hey Snus Guy, all snus is handcrafted, isn’t it?” Actually, no but, let me explain what I mean by “handcrafted” and you may see what I’m talking about. Most snus is only handled up to the point of grinding, once the tobacco enters the grinder, it’s never touched by human hands until you open the can. Flavoring is done mechanically and the vats resemble large stainless steel tumblers. Kardus on the other hand is manufactured much differently.
First, the tobacco for Kardus is specially chosen each year while other brands use the same mix
of tobaccos throughout their existence. This year’s Kardus is made from two specific types of tobacco from two different growing regions; Air cured tobacco from the Nueva Concepcion and La Maquina districts of Southwestern Guatemala and Sun cured tobacco from the province of Salta at the foot of the Andes Mountains in Argentina. These two completely different tobaccos are what give Kardus 2009 its base flavors. While this is but one element in the handcrafting of Kardus, the next step is what makes Kardus stand out.While other brands of Swedish snus use tobacco that’s mechanically ground to specific sizes, the tobacco for Kardus is hand cut. “Do you mean that the tobacco is actually cut up by someone with a pair of scissors Snus Guy?” Yes! Well, not with scissors but with special tobacco knives and it’s cut kind of like cutting lettuce leaves or, if you’re a culinary type, “chiffonade” which means cutting into extremely thin ribbons. This method of tobacco cutting is actually the original way Swedish snus was made back in the 1800’s and is pretty much a lost art now but, Swedish Match does have a few master tobacco cutters that have been trained in the art of tobacco cutting. They are the folks that do this precise and time consuming task for the manufacture of Kardus. “Is that the only thing that makes Kardus so special Snus Guy?” Nope, there’s one more step in the process and this one is the flavoring process!
Each year, Swedish Match chooses a flavoring for Kardus that they feel will pair well with the tobacco but not in the sense that you may think. While most snus flavorings are chosen by what the manufacturer thinks will be a popular one from a sales standpoint, the process of choosing the flavoring that will go into each edition of Kardus is much more complex. Since the types of tobacco change with every edition of Kardus, the flavoring has to change as well. For example, Kardus 2008 was flavored with Single Malt whiskey paired with Indian sun cured and Hungarian Air cured tobaccos. The whiskey helped to bring the tobacco’s earthy flavor to the front while the tobacco took a bit of the harshness out of the whiskey. This year’s Kardus uses tobaccos that have tropical flavors like chocolate, tropical fruits, nuts and tea so a flavoring needed to be chosen that would not only be part of the tropical theme but, would also compliment the flavors that the tobacco has. The flavoring that was chosen for this year’s Kardus was Rum, but not just any rum!
A “once a year” snus needs a rum that is special in its own rite. Anyone can just dump subpar rum into vats of tobacco and call it a tropical flavor blend but this was not the case with Kardus.
Swedish Match wanted to add rum that was just as unique in flavor as the tobacco it’s self and searched for a type of rum that would not only compliment the flavors in the tobaccos but add its own dimension in the overall flavor as well. After months of searching and testing, they found a unique brand of Guatemalan dark rum that not only had the same base flavors as the tobacco but, added its own slightly sweet, caramel and spice flavors. This Guatemalan rum is aged for 23 years in American Oak barrels and is considered one of the finest rums in the world. Some rum connoisseurs liken it to a fine Cognac and it’s this rum that Swedish Match settled on for Kardus 2009. “Ok Snus Guy, we’ve read about the manufacturing process for Kardus 2009 but, how does it really taste?” Well, let’s get into the review and see!I know I may have gone a bit overboard on the basics of Kardus 2009 but I felt that in order to understand the actual review, you needed to understand how it was made first. For example, Kardus 2009 is a loose type of Swedish snus and is hand cut. What this means is that it’s not like any other loose snus out there in mouth feel and the ability to mold a prilla with it. Kardus 2009 is a loose snus that you pretty much have to hand bake a prilla with but, I have managed to get a 5 ml Icetool to make a pretty nice one but with either method, the feel of Kardus in the lip is different from the standard loose. Since the tobacco is hand cut, you would think that the prilla would be a bit rough on the gums but surprisingly, it’s pretty comfortable. If you’re an ex-dipper, or a current one, you will probably recognize the same lip feel with Kardus that you do with the American smokeless types, without the burn. Overall, I had a prilla of Kardus in my lip for over 2 hours with just a small bit of irritation to the gums but this was probably from me moving the prilla around. Ok, I know everyone is waiting for the flavor reviews so, let’s go right into it.
When I heard about Kardus 2009 when I was in Sweden back in June I had thought in the back of my mind that Swedish Match had a job on their hands trying to top Kardus 2008’s flavors.
Once I received my Kardus 2009, I was actually a bit confused since it came in the same type of handmade wooden box that last year’s Kardus came in. Don’t get me wrong, the box is pretty cool in its own rite but, I was thinking that each year would come in a different vessel. Once I opened the box though, that all changed! The first thing that hit me were the scents that came out of the container and the old adage, “never judge a book by its cover”, came flowing into my mind. The scent of the 23 year old Guatemalan rum was the first thing that hit me. After that scent dissipated, I could start to get the other scents that make Kardus unique and began to understand why Swedish Match chose it. Scents of the earthy tobacco began to come up along with the woodiness from the oak barrels that Kardus’ tobacco was stored in.Next, you can really smell the high quality of the tobaccos that were used since the scent from the can, after leaving the top off for about 10 minutes, began to smell like a fine cigar. Initially, I thought that once I got the snus in my mouth, it would have a strong rum flavor but I was wrong! The flavor is nothing like I had initially thought. While you can taste the fine Guatemalan rum in Kardus, it’s not up front and you really have to look for it. What does come out first is a slight saltiness that’s really different from last year’s version but it’s pretty quick and begins to fall to the background. The next flavor that comes out is an earthy, leathery flavor but not like other tobacco flavors. This tobacco flavor is truly unique.
In past reviews, I often describe tobacco’s earthy flavor as being like sitting in a pile of freshly raked fall leaves while smelling a leather baseball glove but the flavors of this blend of tropical tobaccos is different. The peaty flavor that normally found in tobacco is not present in the Kardus tobacco blend but seems to be replaced with the flavor that I can only compare to the smells you might find on a tropical island! “Snus Guy, are you listening to Jimmy Buffet and wearing a Tommy Bahama shirt? What do you mean by Tropical Island scents?” Well, I am wearing one of my Tommy Bahama’s but, let me explain! Picture yourself sitting in a tropical forest, the scents of sandy soil and palms lying on the forest floor, the tropical smell of driftwood that’s just washed up and the floral scents of tropical flowers in the background. Add a bit of the scents of the sea and a hint of sweet spices, turn it into a flavoring and you have the taste that’s pretty close to Kardus 2009!
I know you all are used to me reviewing snus from an unbiased point of view but this edition of Kardus has flavors that I have never tasted in a snus and is more like the flavors one would expect from a fine cigar, dipped in rum. It’s actually very unique! The length of time the flavor lasts is pretty unique as well. Like I said, I had a prilla in for over two hours during my week of reviewing and each time I was ready to take the prilla out, the flavor was still coming out with just a small bit of weakness. Overall, I was really impressed with this year’s edition of Kardus Superior Blend and I positive you’ll be just as impressed as I am.
As you seasoned Snustopians already guessed, this is the part in the review that I normally give my drink pairing suggestions with the snus that we’ve reviewed. While reviewing Kardus 2009, I’ve tried a myriad of different drinks and have decided that just enjoying Kardus on its own, is the best pairing! I say this because the flavors in this year’s edition are so complex that pretty much all of the non alcoholic drinks that I’ve tried, with exception of H2O, skewed the flavors in the snus. As a matter of fact, I had one of our long time Snustopians give it a try with the very same rum that Kardus is made with, just to see how it would fare and the results were surprising. What he said was by adding more of the rum’s flavor notes kind of dulled down the tobacco’s notes because the flavors in the rum it’s self are so unique. So, my suggestion for using Kardus 2009 with a drink is this; use Kardus 2009 as a substitute for that relaxing after dinner drink. As a matter of fact, I think that’s exactly what I’ll do after tonight’s glorious feast here at Chateau Snus Guy!
Like I said in the beginning, the Kardus line is renowned around the world as the most exclusive snus in the world and the team at Swedish Match outdid themselves with this year’s offering. I hope a few of you Snustopians managed to get on Santa’s “Good” list this year and found a box of this unique snus since this year’s run was limited to 500 boxes. If you did miss it, take it from That Snus Guy to invest in next year’s edition. You really will not be sorry you did!Well Snustopians, I hope you found this extensive, albeit late, review of Kardus 2009 Superior Blend snus enjoyable and informative and invite you to leave any questions or comments you may have and I’ll do my best to answer them. Also, I would like to take the opportunity to wish all Snustopians, and their families, a happy and safe Christmas and a prosperous New Year from all of us here at Snustopia.com!
So, until next time Snustopians, as always,
Happy Snusing!
That Snus Guy
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