Marlboro Snus White Strong Slim and Mint White Strong Slim (Discontinued) Review. 10 July 2014

These products have been discontinued and are no longer for sale.

First - this is Marlboro Snus made in Sweden by Swedish Match, this isn't the bastardized American Marlboro "suns". Since I first heard in December 2013 that Marlboro Snus was coming back (again), I was extremely excited. Why? Because in 2011 Swedish Match launched a version of Marlboro Snus that was amongst the most delicious, flavorful, amazing snuses I've experienced in the past 5 years of reviewing snus. Needless to say, my excitement was also hopeful that the flavor of that snus would be repeated with this one. A friend in Sweden went to Mellgren's and picked some of this up and sent it to me, and today's the day that I got to try it.

Before I get into this review, I wanted to backtrack a little and look at other efforts made to put a Phillip Morris/Marlboro Snus product on the market. In September 2009, I tried Phillip Morris 1847, which came in a sharp metal can and is to date one of the best looking snus cans the world has ever seen. My review of it wasn't too kind, and I definitely was not a fan of this one. It came back again, for some reason, in November 2009, as a redesign. The cans went to a basic plastic can, but kept the same Phillip Morris 1847 name. When I reviewed it, I noticed a slight improvement in taste, but it didn't last long - this one was continued shortly thereafter. But in 2011, Swedish Match rocked my world with a version of Marlboro Snus that was one of the most flavorful and delicious snuses I've ever encountered. For some strange reason, it was discontinued, and not a peep was heard about a Swedish Marlboro Snus until 2013 when they decided to try it again.

I went to the White Strong first, because I was overly anxious to see if that wonderful flavor was back. SnusBolaget describes it as, "Marlboro Strong Slim White invites to the most traditional tobacco flavor from the brand's otherwise known smokes. The portion is slim and white, which means that it is slim and fits nicely under the lip without overflowing. Marlboro Strong Slim White has a unique flavor of tobacco, in terms of the standard taste found in classic snuff. Instead borrowed influences from the brand's other, more famous products. Marlboro Strong Slim White is a nicotine strong snus with about 14 milligrams per gram. Snuff offers strong tobacco aromas which nevertheless is somewhat smooth. The portion is slim and white, which means that it is slim and fits nicely under the lip without overflowing."

When I opened the can I knew immediately it was a new recipe. I tried to remain optimistic and approach it as a new product, but still remained sad that the Marlboro Snus I knew and loved was truly gone. The aroma that comes through when you open the can is a base tobacco smell with a hint of citrus and a tiny hint of berry. The nicotine hit was gradual and grew the longer I had the portion in. The flavor was nothing like the old Marlboro Snus.  It's a simple base tobacco flavor with a mellow salt balance, a dash of pepper, and a small citrus presence.  And that's about it - it seems that with this product they wanted to make a traditional Swedish tasting snus but with the Marlboro name.  It's not bad, not great - just average.

Strong White Mint is described as, "Marlboro Strong Slim White Mint invites to the most traditional tobacco flavor from the brand's otherwise known smoking products, but with a hint of mint. Prillan is slim and white, which means that it is slim and fits nicely under the lip without overflowing. Marlboro Strong Slim White Mint has a unique flavor of tobacco, in terms of the standard taste found in classic snuff. Instead borrowed influences from the brand's other, more famous products. In addition a touch of mint, making this snuff extra fresh. Marlboro Strong Slim White is a nicotine strong snus with about 14 milligrams per gram. Snuff offers strong tobacco aromas which nevertheless is somewhat smooth. The portion is slim and white, which means that it is slim and fits nicely under the lip without running." When I opened the mint can, the aroma that came through was a sharp aroma of peppermint. It has a peppermint flavor, but it's very subdued and mild. With most white portions, the flavor builds, but with this one it didn't really do much - it stayed mild the whole time. I wasn't too impressed with this one when there are much better mint snuses out there.  

At the end of the day, these two snuses weren't what I was hoping for.  The last Marlboro Snus that Swedish Match released must have been a flash in the pan, and these new products were made to appeal to classic Swedish Snus tastes.  It's a shame, because those flavors were so great, and these are average at best.