The Lab 03 Slim White (Discontinued) - Review. 28 January 2015.

This product has been discontinued and is no longer for sale.

It's been a while since we've got some new snus products to review, so I've been looking forward to getting ahold of 03 since I first heard about it. I recently did an order with The Northerner and threw a can in so I could give it a try. The product description describes it as, "Has no added flavor. It has a discreet and tobacco close experience, but at the same time it gives a distinct feeling under your lip that can best be described with the feeling strong product gives."  The part that interested me most was "no added flavor". In January of 2012, I wrote an article, "What's Wrong With The Tobacco Flavor?" in which I remarked that the tobacco industry seemed to be afraid of the tobacco flavor, when many of us snusers have been asking for more tobacco centric snus flavors for years!  So when I heard that this was listed as having "no added flavor", I was quite excited.  I'm not sure why Swedish Match felt the need to add "slim white", "normal strength", "strong effect" or any of that other stuff - to be honest I enjoy tobacco centric flavors in original portion.  I want to experience them fully.  But I kept an open mind about this one because, after all, it was listed as "no added flavor".

Upon opening the can, the aroma is rather mild and simple. A faint and mellow tobacco smell with a little herbal smell. The taste is rather interesting, but before we jump into that I want to talk about two other things. First, the nicotine. This snus is listed as a regular strength snus, around 8mg/g, but it feels around 12mg/g-15mg/g. I'm not sure how they accomplished that, perhaps they adjusted the pH for and affected the nicotine absorption speed. The next thing is a mild tingle that comes along with this snus. It's much like what you would experience with a mint snus, but without the added mint flavor. It's pretty interesting, and something I assume has to do with the nicotine/"strong effect".  When it comes to the taste - it's quite simple.  When it comes to comparisons, it's really hard to compare to anything.  It's a very simple base tobacco flavor, very basic and subdued.  The closest thing I can think of is a milder version of Tre Ankare, but with a much milder herbal taste. But even that comparison isn't too accurate.  It's one you have to experience for yourself.  In the end, it wasn't what I had hoped for.  I was hoping for a more bold tobacco centric flavored snus (like Prima Fint in portion format), but without the "tingle", which is a little strange.  I'm sure there are people this product will appeal to, but for me it's probably not one I would reorder again.