First of all, a big thank you to our friend Michael Flood in Canada who helped supply this to us. Over the years, snus is released in other markets that I can't get ahold of due to being in the US, such as Stop Snus Minta Ultra Dry White Portion, Canadian General Snus, etc. But, we have a large international reader base who requests reviews of a lot of products that aren't sold in the US, so I'm very fortunate to all our friends internationally who help supply us with these products. As far as this brand goes, I don't know much background info on it. The cans indicate a website address for more info, NothingLikeIt.ca, but when I go to access it I find that it's blocked for people outside of Canada. Even the manufacturer couldn't disclose any information due to Canadian legal issues. So basically, what we know is that Belmont is a Rothman, Benson and Hedges product and is made under partnership by Swedish Match. This is nothing new - Swedish Match is growing in international markets. They have Marlboro Snus for sale in Israel (which we will be reviewing soon). Also, in the past, we learned about General Snus for sale in Malaysia. They also are growing in Russia with three brands for sale - Parliament Snus, Chesterfield Snus and General Snus. And of course, Canadian General Snus, which I mentioned earlier and have reviewed in the past. This appears to be another one of those brands made in partnership with Swedish Match. Made by SM, branded with another brand.
The first one I want to talk about is called "Mintense". Yes, that is an incredibly cheesy name. On the can, there's a little box that has 4 bars, presumably for intensity of flavor, and this one is 3/4. The portions come in the traditional star formation which is common of other Swedish Match white portion products. These are also the slim white portions, so they're longer/thinner than traditional snus portions. The aroma smells like a combination of peppermint and spearmint and there is a faint hint of menthol. There is an immediate tingle/cooling sensation that comes on when you insert the portion into your lip. The flavor is a pretty bold taste. The flavor of menthol is pretty prevalent with a faint hint of mint in the background. I can't decide which type of mint the flavor is, but it's closer to spearmint if I had to nail it down to one type. The taste has a very slight sweetness to it, and a pretty heavy menthol flavor. There's also this faint taste of tobacco in the background.
This one has a more simple name. On the little flavor bar on the side, this one ranks at a 2/4. The portions are the same as Mintense, the long/slim type portion but a little bit dryer than the Mintense. The aroma is less bold than Mintense, a light presence of menthol and a very mild hint of mint. It smells like a combination of spearmint and peppermint. The flavor is not as bold as the Mintense. There is a mild tingle/cooling sensation that comes on when you put the portion into your lip. The taste of menthol is very present and there is a very light hint of mint in the background. If I had to nail down the mint flavor, I'd say this one is closer to spearmint than peppermint. The tobacco taste isn't as noticeable in this one as in the Mintense.
As far as these two go, they aren't bad. If I had to choose between these and a Swedish Snus such as Catch White Spearmint Long Slim or General Mint White, I would go with General or Catch. That being said, Canada doesn't have a large amount of snus available locally, and ordering online is a hassle. So if you're a Canadian user, you really can't go wrong with either of these. They're not bad, and there's not many mint flavors that incorporate menthol so they have interesting flavors. So try them out if you can get them, they have an interesting flavor and the Swedish Match quality - so you can't go wrong if you're local and find them in a shop.
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