Alika (Chew Bags) - Review (Discontinued). 25 February 2018.

NOTE:  This product has been discontinued and is no longer for sale.

In 2016 I reviewed Alika Chewing Tobacco, a loose chew type product from GN Tobacco. When it launched I was told that it was an African tobacco product that was similar to Makla Africaine Bentchicou (Platinum). If you aren't familiar with that product (as I wasn't at the time), Mr. Snuff describes it as, "quite a vigorous mixture, though its gentle conditioning gives it more roundness, thus making it softer than its Ifrikia cousin. A definite best seller!"  Now, GN Tobacco has launched a chew bag version of the Alika chewing tobacco product.  When I tried Makla ages ago, I didn't like it.  However, I found the Alika chewing tobacco to be much better.

As usual, I wanted to supply a shot inside the pouch, so you could see what the tobacco looks like.  The bottom of the can says this product is 60% tobacco and 40% texture agent.  You can see it looks very much like regular loose snus, but a little more dry.

Now, to talk product details, Snuffstore.de describes this product by saying, "Alika Portion Chewing Bags are made in Sweden by GN Tobacco. The chewing tobacco is of the North African kind, and is not flavored." I found some more details at Schnupftabak-und-mehr.de, which says it’s an 18 gram can with 13 portions and a nicotine content of 12mg/g. Doing some math, that would yield 1.38 gram portions - wow! This is where things get interesting. As mentioned earlier, the bottom of the can says says 60% tobacco, 40% texture agent. Here’s where the math gets a little more complicated. A portion weighs 1.38 grams, and 60% of that is tobacco, which means each portion contains 0.83 grams of tobacco. This means the nicotine content per portion is 9.96mg/portion.

When I open the can, the aroma is relatively mild; I’m greeted by a very raw, earthy tobacco smell. The portions are huge, which is probably my favorite part about this product. It’s been since General Maxi in 2009 that I’ve had a big portion. Granted, I don’t like huge portions all the time, but it is a nice change! The taste is a relatively mild, earthy tobacco taste. The tobacco flavor is very raw, and natural, but gentle. There’s also an almost tea-like quality to the taste. The nicotine strength feels to be between a strong and an extra strong. The flavor lasts a good amount of time, as most chew bags do; I’ve found I can enjoy these for an hour, sometimes more!

If you like chew bags, or are somewhere that can't get snus, these are worth a try.  The flavor is very unique, and I like the large portion size!