Small Batch #2 - Review. 26 February 2018.

In January I reviewed Small Batch #1, the first of 5 Small Batch releases coming from Swedish Match this year. That one had a taste reminiscent of champagne, and this one has a taste of blood orange! The Small Batch line is a new line from Swedish Match, but not their first small batch product. Aside from Kardus, they also released Nick and Johnny Small Batch No 5 Licorice (Slim White) back in 2015, which was also a small batch product. This flavor was developed by Mattias Schyberg and Lars Jonsson, master blenders at Swedish Match. Swedish Match describes the Small Batch line by saying, "We at Swedish Match have produced thousands of products over the course of a few hundred years. Our experts are experts in the correct sense of the word. But they have not been tired of developing new ideas. In order for them to get that opportunity - and for Swedish snusers to be able to share it all - we now launch a new range of products called Small Batch, where the flavor is replaced several times a year. Each flavor is produced in a small edition."

If you aren't familiar with blood orange, this is a photo I found on Creative-Culinary.com. I won't go too in depth, but check out this article if you want to know more: Blood Oranges: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know. Blood oranges taste like regular oranges except they're slightly more bitter and less acidic. If you like oranges and haven't had a blood orange, go buy one. There's just something magical about the way they taste.

I was interested to try this one because the only other snus I've ever had that paired orange and chocolate was Jakobsson's Påsksnus.  I was curious to see how they would compare.  The flavor description for this one says it has a "bright tobacco character with clear elements of blood orange, bitter orange and ginger and some chocolate."  The snus comes in a 24 gram can with 24 portions for 1 gram portions! The nicotine content isn't listed on the can, or their website, so I'm unsure of the exact nicotine level.  When you open the can the aroma that greets you is straight up orange.  It comes through in a fresh, but tart way.  It smells much like when you make that first cut into a fresh orange.  The taste is very interesting.  It's predominantly that blood orange taste, which comes through as a very fresh, natural flavor.  The chocolate flavor comes through in a very light way; it doesn't overpower the orange and serves as a nice compliment to the flavor profile.  This one is more orange-y and less chocolatey than the Påsksnus.  There's also a very gentle hint of ginger in the background.  The nicotine strength feels to be about regular strength, but I'm not sure what it actually is as it's not provided on the Swedish Match website.  The flavor lasts a good amount of time; I've found I can keep these portions in for up to an hour.

So far, of the two Small Batch products I've tried so far, this one is my favorite.  If you like citrus flavors, especially oranges, you will love this snus!

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