Opening up the box, this is what you will find if you purchase one this year. General Kardus Winter 2018 comes in a simple, sleek white box. Inside the box you'll find the vessel that contains the snus, in a special fitted compartment in the bottom of the box. Again, no book was included. It's a simple, clean packaging. This places more emphasis and focus on the tobacco itself, which should be the key focus of the product anyway. The flavor description of this year's release says, "This snus is inspired by General's characteristic flavors with clear elements of bergamot and herbaceous tones. General Kardus Winter 2018 has a dark tobacco character that is recognized by General's main flavor bergamot, but also has shades of rosemary, conifers and flowers." The nicotine content is 12mg/g (1.2%).
This is the first year I've seen Swedish Match's Kardus snus not include a book. I've had every one since 2009, and this year it appears as though Swedish Match opted to not include a book. Rather, there is a little about the release included in the inside lid of the box. My best translation of this translates it to say: "General Kardus has been a vintage snus in the Swedish Match range since 2015 and is our most lavish and elaborate snus. We select out tobacco and flavoring with accuracy and when the Kardus is manufactured it takes place in a very small edition which is then hand-packed in our factory in Kungälv.
This year's edition has been developed in collaboration with the restaurateur Karl Ljung and the glass producer Orrefors. Together with our Master Blender Lars Öberg, Karl Ljung has produced a taste inspired by General’s characteristic taste, with a clear tobacco character and elements of bergamot and herbal tones.
The tobacco selected is from Argentina, South Africa and India and is known as all lamina, which means that only the finest parts of the tobacco leaves are used, giving a more tasty tobacco."
Once again, Swedish Match partnered with Karl Ljung to product General Kardus Winter 2018. Karl Ljung said "I always strive to create the best taste experience. To achieve this, skillful crafts and qualitative raw materials are required. For this endeavor, Master Blender Lars Öberg and I worked together to create General Kardus Winter 2018." Skilled crafts and quality raw materials was the motto for this year's release. According to Swedish Match, this particular Kardus was the most costly and well crafted snus that they have produced to date. The greatest care and attention was paid to tobacco quality, flavoring, and manufacturing process.
This year, Swedish Match partnered with Orrefors again to craft the vessel. Orrefors is the largest glass manufacturer in the entire Nordic region, and Swedish Match believes this manufacturer truly symbolizes the Swedish glass industry. The glass vessel is blown by skilled craftsmen at the glass mill in Kosta. Each glass is hand signed. Since the glasses are hand made, each vessel is truly unique and one of a kind! The glass vessel this year is brown instead of green. General Kardus Spring 2018 came in a green one, so this separates this release from that one.
Now, let's get into the snus! Looking at the loose, you'll see it looks different than standard loose. Kardus is 100% lamina, which means only the best parts of the tobacco leaf are used. The tobacco is cut into 0.72mm slices according to the single cut method. This gives a different taste sensation and feeling under the lip than regular los snus. The tobacco itself is quite moist and soft to the touch.
The aroma is a rich, earthy, well rounded tobacco smell accompanied by light hints of citrus and herbs. The rosemary smell isn't as overpowering as I noticed with Kardus Spring 2018; this year's release isn't as herb heavy in the aroma or taste as that one. There is also a light floral tone in the background, as well. Though the tobacco is single cut, I still am able to handbake it, and I find it stays together quite well under the lip. Last year was the first Kardus I've ever been able to handbake, and it's nice to see that tradition continue this year. The taste is also quite nice. The tobacco flavor is the star of this snus, and it comes through in a very present, earthy, robust, rich way. The flavor reminds me a lot of the Spring 2018 version, but more subdued and balanced. That version was very herb heavy. This version has a lot of herbal character to it, but it's more gentle and nuanced. The tobacco character is accompanied by light tones of citrus, and then a light herbal character which adds a nice backbone to the tobacco. There is a very gentle floral presence in the background, but it doesn't overpower the tobacco flavor or take center-stage. The longer you have it in, the more the tobacco taste seems to mature and develop; it grows to be more dark with time in the lip. It's really good tasting stuff. As far as the nicotine strength goes, it feels firmly at the strong level and supplies a gentle, but solid, kick. The flavor, on average lasts about 45 minutes, which is about how long I can keep the los together in my lip.
All in all, I really enjoyed this release. In the Summer of 2018, Swedish Match released General Gastronomy Summer 2018 Original Portion, which was a portion version of the Spring 2018 Kardus, so I'm curious to see if they'll do it with this one, as I would definitely buy and use more of this! I was very impressed with the release. In summary, it reminded me a lot of the Spring 2018 version, but more balanced, not as herb heavy, and with more focus on the tobacco flavor, which is want I want in a special release like this. If you have $110 to spend and want to try an exclusive snus release, I highly suggest giving this one a go!
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