General (Blended by Hernö Gin) - Review. 21 November 2017.

Some of you may remember earlier this year I reviewed the limited edition General Kardus 2017 (Hernö Gin), which I really enjoyed for it's rich tobacco character. In a surprise move, Swedish Match has released another collaboration with Hernö Gin, this one in the white portion format! The flavor description for this product says, "This snus has a gin character, where the elements of juniper, pine and citrus are backed up by General's spicy and light tobacco character." It comes in a 21.6 gram can with 24 portions, for 0.9 gram portions. The nicotine content is 13mg/g (1.3%), which breaks down to 11.70mg/portion.

Also, a special thank you to our friends Michael and Oskar who were able to get this product for us to review.  So far I haven't seen it for sale to the US, so I'm glad I was able to try it!

Jon Hillgren, founder of Hernö Gin said, "For us, cooperation with Swedish Match is an unusual association. A meeting between Sweden's leading manufacturer of premium snus and Hernö Gin as the holder of the title of the world's best gin. We received positive feedback in contributing to the development of General Kardus 2017 and became particularly pleased when Swedish Match said they would go on to produce a portion product flavored with Hernö Gin." Tove Lundgren, Brand Manager at Swedish Match said, "It's great fun to launch General Blended by Hernö Gin. We began our cooperation with them in 2016 when we launched this year's General Kardus, which was also flavored with Hernö Gin. This time we have chosen another tobacco blend in a white product, but with the same ambition to produce a well-seasoned snus with a clear ton of gin supplemented with citrus."

Going into this product, my biggest hope was that it would taste like General Kardus 2017, which I praised for it's rich, dark tobacco-centric flavor. This one, however, is much different from that one. When I opened the can, the aroma was very gin heavy, with a spicy tobacco character in the background. I was surprised to notice that the portions weren’t in the star formation. This appears to be a premium snus product, so I’m not sure why Swedish Match didn’t do the star formation. Also, when I try to fluff the portions to loosen up the tobacco, it seems like the tobacco just packs in tighter instead of loosening up. When it comes to the flavor, it is very gin heavy. I notice a pretty present flavor of pine in the background, as well. The tobacco flavor is relatively mild, and comes out after having a portion in for a while. That part was a bummer, because I was hoping the rich, bold, robust tobacco flavor would be very present, like with General Kardus 2017. The nicotine doesn’t feel too strong; it feels a bit stronger than regular strength. The flavor lasts about an hour, which is common of most white portions.

As far as this product goes, it's a decent tasting product but I'm not really a fan.  That could be because I'm not a big gin drinker.  Or it could be because I was hoping it would have a similar flavor to General Kardus 2017.  But for me, I didn't really enjoy it that much.  Perhaps people who are fans of gin will enjoy it more, however, because that seems to be the focal point of the aroma and the flavor.