BAT has been gradually branding their Lyft nicotine pouches line to Velo, seemingly to have more international uniformity. It seems as though it is in the final stages, so I felt it was time to review the re-named Velo products so as to update my reviews here. Today we're talking about Velo Ice Cool (Strong)! In
the Velo brand, this is one of their most popular. I feel like I've had the Ice Cool flavor a lot.
Epok Ice Cool (white tobacco) launched in June of 2016. The nicotine pouch version,
Lyft Ice Cool, would follow in December of 2018. I had a chew bag version,
Epok Ice Cool out of Denmark, in February of 2019. Then,
Epok Ice Cool would come to Norway in February of 2020. I recently had a
Velo version (which is basically the same thing as this one), out of Germany, in September of 2020. And now we have this version, the new "worldwide" version. The
flavor description for this one says "
Experience the intensity of VELO Ice Cool. This variant, cold as ice, gives you crisp peppermint with hints of sweetness and hints of mint". Each can weighs 14.7 grams and has 21 portions, for 0.7 gram portions. The nicotine content is 10mg/portion, or 14.29mg/g (1.429%).
The road to Velo has been an interesting one, and I wanted to briefly cover it before the review. Back in 2014, Winnington in Sweden launched
Epok, a white tobacco product.
British American Tobacco purchased Winnington in 2017, and would launch
Lyft, a tobacco free nicotine pouch, in 2018. Epok would stay on the market in some smaller markets like
Norway and
Switzerland. In 2019, RJ Reynolds in the US would launch a long/slim nicotine pouch called
Velo that came in a square tin. This name would begin to translate internationally in 2020, with
some European markets rebranding their Lyft products to Velo. In 2021, BAT would acquire a company making
Dryft, and rebranded their US market mini-dry pouches to "
Velo", existing alongside the previously mentioned square-tin Velo products. And now, as we see in 2022, the Lyft brand is being completely phased out and transitioning to Velo.
When you open the can, this one has a sharp, clean, clear aroma of peppermint. The portions are slim, moderately moist, and pretty soft to the touch. Being a mint product, they have a light cooling presence in the lip, along with a little burn to them. In the flavor, it's a present. Sharp, refreshing taste of peppermint. It has a very light sweetness to it, which doesn't overpower the flavor profile. In terms of strength, it feels to be about the strong level. The flavor, on average, lasts about 40-45 minutes. Basically, if you've had the old version of this one. Lyft Ice Cool (Strong), this one is pretty much the same thing. The only difference being, of course, it has a new name to it.
Rating and Final Thoughts
I rated this one at 3.17/5. I remember when the Lyft version of this one launched, it was quite popular. I don't hear as much about it now, but I know a few folks who still use it. If you like a stronger peppermint taste with a little bump in nicotine, I suspect you would enjoy this one. While I don't use nicotine pouches much myself, I still recommend Velo because all in all, it's a quality line of nicotine pouches.
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