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 Winter Chill (X-Strong)! This one is an interesting one. It's relatively new, and launched as a white tobacco product first:
Epok Winterchill. It made it's debut in Norway in March of 2019. A few months later a nicotine pouch version followed,
Lyft Winterchill, in May of 2019. The
flavor description for this one says "
VELO Winterchill X-Strong is crispy fresh and with a sharp cooling menthol. Encapsulated with a creamy sweetness and notes of wood". Each can weighs 14.7 grams and has 21 portions, for 0.7 gram portions. The nicotine content is 10.9mg/portion, or 15.57mg/g (1.557%).
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.
To preface this, I'm not the biggest user of nicotine pouches. I'm also not the biggest fan of wintergreen. So, keep that in mind. However, I will review this objectively. When you open the can, a mild, lightly sweet aroma of wintergreen greets you. It reminds me of a wintergreen Tic-Tac, or Lifesaver. The portions are moderately moist, slim, and comfortable under the lip. In terms of the flavor profile, it's a milder wintergreen taste. It's lightly sweet, and pretty mellow. The nicotine strength feels about the strong level, maybe a hair above. The flavor, on average, lasts about 40-45 minutes. Also, if you've had the Lyft version of this one, this Velo version is identical other than the name.
Rating and Final Thoughts
I rated this one at 3.17/5. Yes, that may sound low. But remember, I'm not a big nicotine pouch user, nor do I use a lot of wintergreen. However, if you like wintergreen flavors, or nicotine pouches, you'll probably enjoy it. It's just not my cup of tea. The Velo series is solid, however, so if you're looking for a nicotine pouch line to dive into, you may enjoy this one. If you've had Lyft before, Velo is the same thing just with a new name, so don't fret if you consider switching over.
Comments
Post a Comment