Dissident Nicotine Pouches - Review. 26 April 2021.

Today, I'm going to be talking about a new-ish line of nicotine pouches out of Estonia:  Dissident!  I stumbled across their website recently and the cans caught my eye, so I was rather interested to review them.  They have a little blurb on their website about who they are, which says "Created with care and love in Estonia. Made from the best Nordic raw materials. Unique flavors, different strengths, an unforgettable experience - something for everyone."  In this review I'll be covering 12 of their nicotine pouches.  They're all the same strength, just different flavors.  The black cans have the all white nicotine pouches in them, and the white cans have black portion material.  It's an interesting take, as I've never seen black portion material in nicotine pouches before!

What they have in common:

As there is a lot of similarity between these products, I'm going to cover the things they have in common before getting into the reviews.  It will certainly make the reviews less redundant.  The common components are portion, nicotine strength, and flavor longevity.  As you can see here, the main difference in terms of appearance is that the black can has white portions, and the white can has black portions.  I'm not sure how the choice came as to which flavor went into which cans, but that's what we have before us.  

Portion (White Can - Black Portion) - These pouches are a little dryer than the white ones.  Also, they have a tendency to bust open so when you open a can, don't be surprised if there's little white specks all over the pouches.
Portion (Black Can - All White Portion) - These are the softer pouches of the two variants.  Slim, good fit in the lip.
Can Contents - 10 grams, 24 portions, 0.42g portions.
Nicotine Strength - 21mg/g (2.1%) / 8.75mg/portion
Nicotine Delivery/Experience - All of them feel to be a little above regular strength.  Probably between regular strength to strong.
Flavor Longevity - The flavor seems to last around 30-35 minutes on all of these.

Now, let's get into the reviews!

 
Dissident Nicotine Pouches: Barberry
Flavor Description:  "Tart berry, like a cranberry".
Review:  If you're not familiar with barberry, it's a tart, earthy berry, kind of like a cranberry.  In the aroma, the barberry smell is there.  Again, kind of reminds me of a tart, but earthy cranberry.  In the flavor, you definitely taste barberry.  It's tart, earthy, and not really super sweet. 

Dissident Nicotine Pouches: Blueberry
Flavor Description:  "A taste of fresh blueberries".
Review:  This one has a pretty mild, fresh aroma of blueberry to it.  In the flavor, I pick up a little menthol, but didn't get it in the aroma.  The blueberry taste is lighter, and not super sweet.  It's pretty gentle though.  

Dissident Nicotine Pouches: Citrus
Flavor Description:  "Fresh orange with a slightly sweet aftertaste".
Review:  Of all of them, this one has the most presence in aroma and flavor.  It's got a nix mix of lemon and maybe some grapefruit.  It's tart, and not super sweet.  In the flavor, it's a present taste of citrus.  The citrus is tart, with a presence of lemon.  It's also a little sour, which makes me think grapefruit.

Dissident Nicotine Pouches: Mint
Flavor Description:  "Gently sweet and fresh mint".
Review:  This one has a pretty mild aroma of peppermint.  It's also got a little herbal character to it.  Being a mint product, you'll get a mild cooling presence in the lip.  In the flavor, it's a quite mild taste of mint.  I pick up that herbal character in the taste, but it's very faint.

Dissident Nicotine Pouches: Peach Tea
Flavor Description:  "Natural green tea with a gently sweet peach".
Review:  This one has a mild aroma of natural peach.  It's not super sweet, and smells slightly mentholated.  In the flavor, I pick up a nice taste of peach.  It's milder in nature, and has a light sweetness to it.  There also seems to be a little hint of menthol mixed in there.

Dissident Nicotine Pouches: Raspberry
Flavor Description:  Unavailable
Review:  This one is pretty mild in presence.  The raspberry aroma is pretty faint, natural, and not overly sweet.  In the flavor, it's a light, mild taste of raspberry.  It's not very sweet, and is pretty subdued.  

Dissident Nicotine Pouches: Piña Colada
Flavor Description:  Unavailable
Review:  This one was quite mild and aroma and flavor, which was a bummer, because I love the taste of pineapple and coconut.  In the aroma, I pick up a little pineapple, but it's very faint.  And it's pretty much the same in the flavor.  A very, very faint flavor of pineapple. 

Dissident Nicotine Pouches: Lemon Cake
Flavor Description:  Unavailable
Review:  Of all of them, this is one of the best.  It's got almost a bread-like aroma to it, along with hints of lemon.  It's not too weak in the aroma, or in the taste!  In the flavor, I pick up a subtle taste of lemon, along with a bread-like quality to it.  It's not super tart, nor is it super sweet.

Dissident Nicotine Pouches: Hot Cinnamon
Flavor Description:  Unavailable
Review:  When I put one of these in, it has a pretty nice burn in the lip.  The aroma is cinnamon, and reminds me a lot of Big Red gum.  Lightly sweet, lightly spicy.  In the flavor I pick up a pretty mild taste of cinnamon.  A little sweetness, and a little spice.  Again, it reminds me of Big Red gum.

Dissident Nicotine Pouches: Cola
Flavor Description:  Unavailablec
Review:  When you open the can, this one has a pretty mild aroma of cola along with a light sweetness.  In the taste, the cola is pretty subdued.  It's not super in your face, and has a light amount of sweetness to it.

Dissident Nicotine Pouches: Cherry
Flavor Description:  Unavailable
Review:  This one has a pretty mild, natural aroma of cherry.  It's not really sweet, though.  In the flavor, the cherry is pretty subdued, and quite mild.  IT's also not that sweet.

Dissident Nicotine Pouches: Mocca
Flavor Description:  Unavailable
Review:  This one has a pretty nice presence to it.  In the aroma, there's a chocolatey, coffee smell to it.  The flavor is mild, but not weak.  It's lightly sweet, and seems to be a pretty even mix of chocolate and coffee.
Ratings and Final Thoughts

There's a lot of products in this review, so all the rankings are up above.  I tried a lot of products in this line, but out of all of them there's really just two of them that I can say I'd probably use again.  The Citrus one and the Lemon Cake one were quite good.  As far as my criticisms go, the portions could be a little more full.  They're less than half a gram each so pretty light in weight.  I've found 0.7g or more per portion seems to be the sweet spot.  The flavors don't last very long, and I notice in the aroma and flavor for many of them that the presence is pretty weak.  I think if they could pump up the flavor presence it would help the flavor longevity.  

I think this line is off to a good start, and with some minor tweaks it could be a pretty solid line of nicotine pouches.  

Comments