General Harvest 2023 (Limited Edition) - Review. 16 March 2023.

Swedish Match has released another gem and brought back 2021's popular General Harvest snus!  If you recall, I reviewed General Harvest Original and General Harvest White and thought quite highly of them.  Why?  Because these are products with no added flavor that focus on the pure taste of tobacco.  Not many companies do that anymore.  V2 did it with Thunder 10 back in 2015, and we have our Artisan Signature Blend on the market, but not many companies have the testicular fortitude anymore to release pure tobacco snus products.  Kudos, Swedish Match!  This one is back again as a limited edition, and the Swedish Match website said this one has "the same character 2021".  Interestingly, their website originally said it has a "new recipe", but that reference has since been removed.  To me, I've noticed it to be almost identical to 2021's General Harvest. Which isn't a bad thing, that snus was fantastic.

This is how Swedish Match describes this line:  "General Harvest Special Blend is a limited edition made of dark air-cured tobacco from South America.  Air-cured tobacco is stalk cut, harvested, and hung in well ventilated barns between 5-7 weeks".

Also, to preface this, I've had some people say "isn't this a clone of your Artisan Signature Blend", or "with no added flavor, is this a competitor to your Artisan Signature Blend"?  The answer to that is no.  "No added flavor" doesn't mean the products will taste the same.  Every tobacco leaf has it's own individual flavor profile, and their blend tastes different from our blend; even though we both use dark air-cured tobacco, our blend and their blend have different origins and a different mix.  So no, it's not a clone, nor is it a competitor.  The more companies making products like this, the better it is for the snus industry.

General Harvest Original Portion

Flavor Description:  "Dark, raw tobacco taste with notes of cocoa, dried fruit, and rose hips.  Produced in Gothenburg".

Can Contents:  24 grams, 24 portions, 1 gram each

Nicotine Strength:  9mg/g (0.9%), or 9mg/pouch

Opening the can, I notice a beautiful dark tobacco aroma right off the bat.  There are very subtle tones of chocolate, but not as chocolatey as Ettan, for example.  There's a little hay presence in the back, along with a faint touch of leather and just a little oak.  The portions are nice and plump, and quite moist for a quick flavor release.  They sit well under the lip and feel soft against the gum.  The flavor is quite good.  I pick up dark tobacco up front, along with just a faint touch of chocolate.  There's some leathery tones in the mix, and a dab of oak.  I also notice some hay/grassy character with this one.  The nicotine feels to be about the regular level, and the flavor hangs out about 45-50 minutes.  For comparison purposes, this reminds me a lot of the flavor profile of their 2021 release.

    

General Harvest White Portion

Flavor Description:  "Raw tobacco taste with notes of dried fruit, roses hips and black tea.  Produced in Kungälv".

Can Contents:  21.6 grams, 24 portions, 1 gram each

Nicotine Strength:  9mg/g (0.9%), or 8.1mg/portion

This one is a milder version of the previous one.  I pick up a mild, raw tobacco aroma first, along with a light touch of oak and hay.  There's a leathery tone to it, and a very faint touch of chocolate.  The portions come in the Star Formation, so they need a little fluffing before putting it under the lip.  They are pretty soft in character, and comfortable once fluffed up.  The tobacco taste is milder this one, but comes through in a very raw, natural, beautiful way.  There's some grassy, hay-like tones with this one, along with a little oak and leather.  The chocolate tones are there, but quite mild.  In the nicotine strength, this one also feels about regular.  The flavor longevity is longer with this one than the original portion variant, lasting a little over an hour.

Rating and Final Thoughts

For this review, my ratings remain unchanged from the 2021 edition.  The original portion version sits at 4.54/5, and the white portion version sits at 4.33/5.  I honestly did not really notice much difference in this version from the 2021 version.  That being said, both of these are great products.  They have a beautiful flavor profile.  

I won't try to turn this into an "Artisan vs Harvest" review, but as I've had some ask me for a brief comparison I will just do that briefly.  This one has more of a light chocolatey tone than Artisan Signature Blend does.  Harvest is a little more rich and heavy in flavor, whereas Artisan Signature Blend is a more mild/balanced tobacco base.  Both are fantastic products, though.  

If you want to get some of this, make sure and grab some before it's gone.  As in 2021, it is a limited edition so get it before it's sold out!  I bought mine from Snus24.com last week, and it looks like it is still in stock as of today.

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