Greetings Snustopians!Well, it’s that time of the year again here in Snustopia, the time of year when most of the snus manufacturers release “Special Edition” snus flavors that are geared toward the holidays. These snus flavors are called “Julesnus” which loosely translates to English as “Christmas Snus” but Swedish Match doesn’t make a Julesnus, per say. “What about Kardus Snus Guy? Isn’t it a Christmas snus?” Actually it’s not. While Kardus is released at the end of the year, around the Christmas season, and is limited in its availability, it’s not a Julesnus. It’s something better!
While I haven’t received this year’s Kardus offering yet, (I did place my advanced order on Northerner.com!) I did get a brochure that explains a bit about Kardus 2009. I don’t want to do a full review of Kardus 2009 until I get the actual snus, I did want to give you a small overview on what can be expected of this year’s offering. If you’ve read the review we did on Kardus 2008, you’ll already know most of what we’re going to learn today but, if you’re a new Snustopian, you’ll see why Kardus is the most elite of all snus brands and why it’s only released in limited quantities, for a limited time!
Along with being touted as the world’s most elite snus brand, it’s also known as the world’s
most expensive snus. “Just how expensive is it Snus Guy?” well, mine cost $64 USD at Northerner.com but, before you all start throwing snus cans at me, let me tell you about how Kardus is made and you’ll understand why it’s so expensive.First off, Kardus is made from only two different types of very special tobaccos which are both cured differently giving each one a unique flavor. The first tobacco type is from the Salta province of Argentina which is at the base of the Andes Mountains. This tobacco is cultivated in a unique blend of light clay soils and sun-cured which gives the tobacco a flavor that’s been described as being sweet, fruity, spicy and yeasty with hints of tea.
The second tobacco type comes from the Nueva Concepcion and La Maquina districts of Guatemala. This district in Southwest Guatemala grows a specific type of tobacco that’s air-cured in curing barns that are made from cultivated Eucalyptus trees. This tobacco has a tropical flavor that includes notes of chocolate, nuts and fruit which are the perfect complement of flavors to the Salta tobacco. Using these two hand selected and unique tobaccos is one of the reasons that Kardus is an elite snus but there’s more to Kardus than the tobacco, the next step is just as important!
If you’re a long time Snustopian, you’ve most likely read the review of the snus process it’s self where we learned the tobacco for snus is typically ground, stalks, leaves ribs and all go into the grinder to produce the snus we all know and love but here is where Kardus is very different.
The tobacco for Kardus is hand cut rather than ground and only the leaves are used in the making of Kardus. In fact, the stalk content in Kardus is between .2% and .5% which is even much lower than the amount allowed in making some of the world’s finest Cigars! This method of hand cutting makes the pieces of tobacco much larger than the typical loose snus and some care needs to be taken when hand baking a prilla but the trade off is a milder, more complex flavor! After the tobacco is cut, salt is added and it’s allowed to sweat and ready to be stored. Before it goes into storage, it gets a very special and unique addition, 25 year old Guatemalan Rum!
“Hey Snus Guy, rum is rum! What makes this Guatemalan Rum so special?” Hold on a minute, the “rum is rum” theory is not true. Some rum brands are likened to fine cognac! In fact, they are also graded in a similar way. But, this is a Kardus review, not a rum review so, let’s get back to that.
Swedish Match chose this type of flavoring for a couple of reasons. One is the well known fact that alcohol is a natural flavor enhancer and helps the flavors in tobacco to come out and marry better. Second, the subtle flavors of caramel, Hazelnuts and Nutmeg in the rum will add to the overall tropical taste and Caribbean feel that Swedish Match is aiming for with Kardus 2009!
While Swedish Match has been producing Kardus since 2005 with last year’s offering being the first I’ve experienced, it’s looking like this year’s version will be one of their best yet. Kardus is due to be released for sale in Week 44 (First week in November) and in a limited run, you can do what I did and place a pre-order for it at Snustopia’s only place for snus, Northerner.com, and if this is your first time ordering from them, you can get 10% off you order at checkout by simply clicking on the banner to the right. This week only, you can also save even more since they’re offering free shipping on all orders between October 25th and October 31st to celebrate their 10 year anniversary!Well Snustopians, once I receive my order of Kardus 2009 Superior Blend, I’ll post a full review on the actual taste but until then, as always,
Happy Snusing!
That Snus Guy
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