Nick & Johnny East and West portion snus. A review of a unique pair of Swedish snus!

Greetings Snustopians!

You all may be asking yourselves why I picked Nick & Johnny East and West portion snus to do a review on today. Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, Nick & Johnny East and West are truly very unique, from their Nicotine contents to their tastes to their cans! Second, I’ve been meaning to review them for a while now but the last reason is the most important one! I’ll explain later about the last one but let’s get right into the review of Nick & Johnny East and West portion snus!

I know what you’re thinking, “Snus Guy! Why are you doing a review on just two of the Nick & Johnny family when there are a total of three? ” True, there are three in the Nick & Johnny family but, like I said in the beginning, there is a big reason why I want to only focus on these two for now. I promise it’ll all become clear towards the end! So, on to the review!

Both Nick & Johnny flavors are made by the folks at Swedish Match and are white portion snus types. As you remember, white portion snus do not go thru the additional wetting step and the portion material is white. Both have portions that have about .84 grams of snus per portion and 24 portions in each can. The material is the same soft, tea bag type material that Swedish Match uses in all of its white portions and has a pretty comfortable feel under the lip, even after 3 hours but, I recommend about a 2 hour max!

The cans that Nick & Johnny come in is the first unique thing about them, the cans are often referred to as “Coffin” cans due to their shape. Take a look at the cans to the left. You can see that the cans do indeed resemble coffins but that’s not really what Swedish Match had in mind when they designed them.

You see, Swedish Match developed Nick & Johnny East and West to be a snus that would cater to Snustopians that were in their 20’s and 30’s or “The Hip Crowd” so, they started with the can. The can was actually made to resemble a cell phone! If you take another look at the cans, they succeeded in doing just that! The cans even have a used portion compartment under the trendy graphic on top. Speaking of the graphic, it too is unique in the fact that they differ not only between East and West but, differ within each brand! By the way, Nick & Johnny are, in fact, real guys according to Swedish Match! I know…..”Enough about the cans Snus Guy! What kind of Nicotine punch do Nick & Johnny East and West pack?” I’m glad you asked that actually.

Another unique, albeit disappointing, thing about Nick & Johnny East and West is their Nicotine contents. The Nick & Johnny family is pretty interesting in the fact that 2 of the 3 snus varieties are strong portions. East is the black sheep! West has a Nicotine content of 11 mg. per portion while East has 8 mg. per portion. The disappointing thing is that it can be confusing to new Snustopians. In the beginning, it was to me! So, remember Snustopians, N & J East has a lower amount of Nicotine that West does and you won’t be disappointed like I was at first! So, let’s go on to tastes.

East and West have two very different tastes. Although they look the same, they taste completely different from one another! Let’s start with Nick & Johnny West. West’s flavor is described by Swedish Match as ”A strong snus with a higher level of nicotine, classic and full tobacco taste” but, there’s more to it than just tobacco flavor! Tobacco does play the lead in West but, lemon and just a bit of a peppery note are there as well. I liken it to a dulled down Onyx taste with less pepper. There is a slight burn in the back of the throat from the higher Nicotine level but it’s pretty subtle.

Nick & Johnny West’s flavor lasts a pretty respectable amount of time as well! I’ve had a portion in for about 2 ½ hours before the flavor went a bit flat so, I recommend about a 2 hour max. Now that you know about Nick & Johnny West, let’s meet his little brother, Nick & Johnny East! The difference will surprise you!

Nick & Johnny East is a complete 180° from Nick & Johnny West, flavor wise. Swedish Match describes Nick & Johnny East as “A snus with full tobacco taste and an oriental influence with hints of cardamom and citrus”. Here, I believe, Swedish Match’s description is good but, some Snustopians may not really know what cardamom tastes like so, I’ll do my best to describe the taste. The taste of East is really close to same flavor of a fruit flavored gum called Juicy Fruit. “Snus Guy! Nick & Johnny tastes like Juicy Fruit?” Well, yes and no.

The juicy fruit flavor is a background flavor. East’s flavor is a mild tobacco in the front and a lightly sweet, fruity flavor in the background along with a bit of spices. Cardamom is a sweet, Far Eastern spice that’s used mostly in baking and exotic dishes. Swedish Match wanted East to have an exotic, Far East flavor but, I feel they created a snus with an exotic, tropical flavor when they added the citrus taste to it. To be honest, Nick & Johnny East could be a close replacement for Camel SNUS Spice, in the flavor department and the Nicotine department!

Nick & Johnny East’s flavor lasts just as long as West’s flavor does and, I recommend the same time of 2 hours max with East as well!

“Well Snus Guy, you’ve told us about most of the unique things about Nick & Johnny East and West but, you’re not forgetting the big reason why you wanted to review it, are you?” Nope! Let’s go into that now and I’ll give you my recommendations after.

Nick & Johnny East and West were among the first snus brands I purchased back when I started using Swedish snus. Both were launched early in 2008 which makes them relatively new snus varieties but, sometimes a snus variety will be discontinued by the manufacturer for many reasons but the most common reasons are popularity and sales. Unfortunately Snustopians, this will happen to Nick & Johnny East and West in May 2009.

As you all know Snustopians, I try my best to write unbiased reviews and basically stick to giving you an honest and accurate account of whatever snus we happen to be reviewing. So, in knowing this, I must say this one time, that I, my fellow Snustopians, will be saddened to see Nick & Johnny East and West go! So, now that I have that off my chest, let’s look at what to drink!

As you all probably know by now, my staple drinks are Diet Coke and Monster energy drinks so, let’s start with them! Diet coke did do well with Nick & Johnny West but, didn’t fare well with East. The Diet Coke made the flavors in the snus go a bit weird. Monster had the same effect with East. The best thing I have tried so far was iced tea, Green tea to be exact. The light flavor of the tea helped to bring out the tobacco flavor in both but not to the point of being overpowering. In Nick & Johnny East, it actually enhanced the cardamom flavor as well!

My overall recommendations for Nick & Johnny West and East Snustopians, is this; For Nick & Johnny West, this snus would be great for the new Snustopian that wants to begin to explore the world of strong snus. With 11 grams of Nicotine per portion, it’s basically the ground floor! Experienced Snustopians can’t go wrong with a can or two as a mid level Nicotine snus as well!

For Nick & Johnny East, Snustopians looking for a snus that has a bit of sweetness with a little spice flavor will really like Nick & Johnny East! On the other hand, Snustopians that are fans of higher Nicotine snus varieties or the Extra Sterk/Extra Strong/Extra Stark snus types, will find Nick & Johnny East a bit too weak.
In any event, if you have never tried Nick & Johnny East or West, I recommend you try, at least one can of each before it becomes discontinued! Prices for Both Nick & Johnny East and West average between $3.00 USD and $4.00 USD depending on which shop you buy it from but, if you click on The Northerner banner at the top of the page, and it’s your first order,  you’ll get 10% off the entire order!

Well Snustopians, I hope you found this review of Nick & Johnny East and West helpful and informative! I look forward to reading, and answering, any questions or comments you may have. If you don’t feel comfortable leaving a comment or, have a question you don’t want to leave in the comment section, just click “Ask That Snus Guy”! I’ll do my best to answer them all!

So, until our next review,

Happy Snussing!

That Snus Guy