Artisan Dark Vanilla (Original Portion) Review - 19 August 2022.

To say this is an exciting release for me is an understatement.  Today, we are talking about my latest collaboration!  This is Artisan Signature Blend, a snus I made with The Snus Factory in Sweden.  Today we're checking out the world's first premium, full time produced vanilla snus - Artisan Dark Vanilla Original Portion!  Artisan is my first full time, continuously produced snus line, and launches with this flavor, as well as Espresso (Original Portion) and Signature Blend (White and Original Portion).  This line was developed, top to bottom, with the snus community.  Snusers helped me select the product name, flavors, strengths, portion formats, and can designs that would make up this snus line!  Also, the design was done by a Snubie friend, Leon Bellenger, because I wanted the snus community involved with this every step of the way.  He helped bring my rough sketch to life, and I think it looks great!

Vanilla snus isn't very common.  In fact, it's very, very uncommon.  In 2009 when I first started using snus, V2 made a Dark Vanilla Lös Snus in the Nordstrommen line, but I never did a review on it.  They also made one in 2012 called Thunder Nilla Shock that was pretty tasty.  I know there's an Al Capone Mini since that has been around since 2013, I think?  But, for vanilla, the one most are probably familiar with is Oden's.  They have a lot of vanilla variants.  The first one I can remember trying was back in 2012, Oden's Vanilla Extreme.  Since then, they've released quite a few variants.  It's not a bad snus, don't get me wrong.  I just wanted to make a more premium one, with a higher quality vanilla flavor.  For years, any time I asked people what snus they wanted me to make, "dark vanilla" was at the top of almost every poll.  So, I knew we had to spend some time and focus on this one. And I think we nailed it, honestly.

From top to bottom, Artisan is focused on quality.  As you can see on the side of the can, we add a craft seal with my signature that I signed off personally on the batch.  In an industry first, we list the tobaccos that go into each product we make.  Artisan Snus uses the best, hand-selected tobaccos from around the world.  For Signature Blend, we used only dark, air cured tobacco sourced from Guatemala, India, and the United States.  Artisan clocks in at the Stark, or Strong, level, a nicotine strength selected by the snus community for this product.  Signature Blend is our flagship brand, so it comes in original portion, and white portion!  The portions have a unique, breathable fiber that allows for quick flavor release and long lasting flavor.  I tested multiple portion materials before we picked the perfect one for Artisan Snus.

Now, let's talk product details.  The flavor description says, "Artisan Dark Vanilla Original Portion utilizes premium Madagascar vanilla to yield a rich, dark taste of vanilla.  The vanilla flavor sits atop a carefully curated blend of premium, dark, air-cured tobaccos from Guatemala, India, and the USA to provide the perfect mix of flavor and tobacco taste.  Artisan Dark Vanilla (Original Portion) has a specially designed portion material and optimized moisture amount to release a bold, present flavor".  Each can weighs 18g and has 20 portions for 0.9g portions.  The nicotine content is 12mg/g (1.2%), or 10.8mg/portion.

Opening the can, you'll encounter a rich aroma of vanilla.  This isn't a super sweet vanilla, nor is it super artificial.  It's a smooth, rich, dark vanilla.  I pick up dark, earthy tones of tobacco behind it.  I've seen some folks compare it to Black & Mild Vanilla Cigars on Reddit, and I find that comparison interesting, but familiar.  However, I think our snus is much higher in quality.  But, it's in the same vein!  The portions are nice and plump, with a good moisture amount, and a soft portion material.  Under the lip, they have a great fit, and plump up quite nicely.  The flavor is really good.  Honestly, I made this one because people asked for it, and really focused on making an incredibly high quality vanilla snus.  But, I've found myself using this more than expected.  It's quite tasty!  The vanilla flavor is very high quality.  It's dark, rich, and smooth.  It's not super sweet, nor is it artificial.  It's very high quality.  The tobacco flavor is a great accompaniment.  It's a dark, earthy, robust tobacco base.  In the strength, this one delivers a little over regular strength, but it's not going to knock you out or anything.  It has a pretty steady delivery of nicotine.  The flavor also lasts quite a while.  For an original portion, I can squeeze out about an hour of flavor, which is pretty impressive.

Wrap-Up / Final Thoughts

No, I won't be doing a rating on this one.  People asked me why I review my own products and I remind them that I'm basically the only snus reviewer left.  Everyone else has faded away over the years.  But, I can say this - it's a good snus.  When people asked for this one, I set out to make an incredibly snus with a dark vanilla taste.  And while it wasn't what I wanted, after using it for a bit I can say it's quite the flavorful snus.  I think people will really enjoy this one.  Heck, I think I might get some more of it.

If you haven't tried Artisan Snus yet, you definitely should!  I'm very proud of this line.  The snus industry has been moving away from snus for so long and focusing on nicotine pouches, that Artisan is my love letter to the snus community, a way to show them that they weren't forgotten.  Artisan is YOUR line.  We made it together, and I'm so proud of it.  While this isn't a snus for me, I made it for coffee lovers because they've been forgotten and they deserve a good, high quality, premium coffee snus.  And, there are many more products to come!  I also want to give a massive thanks to The Snus Factory, for believing in my vision, and our production manager Amy, and the team involved that helped bring this product line to life.  It could not have happened without the folks involved who helped make Artisan Snus happen.

Artisan is now available!  If you want to know where to get it, hit the link below!

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