General Loose

Review: Before today, I had never tried loose snus. I’d had loose tobacco before. In 2002, before flying to Paris, I went out with my friend from college, Matt. We went to the Starlight Lounge on the top of the Sir Francis Drake hotel in San Francisco. At some point, I was complaining about the flight. I hated long-hauls. Not only are your ass and neck destined to be sore, you can’t smoke. Matt suggest chew, so we went to a corner store and bought some. It was pretty nasty. It somehow got between every one of my teeth and tasted like ass. I had ass-teeth. That didn’t stop me from using it on the flight, but since I couldn’t keep the tobacco under control, I just hung out in the bathroom for a few minutes each time I wanted some. Incidentally, Matt puked up a Vespa Martini in my car that night, but that’s another story.

Back to General Loose. Today, fellow snuser Francisco and I decided to go to Pipe World in Austin, TX to get some snus. After reading my review General Wintergreen he wanted to try it, and that’s the nearest place that sells it.

Pipe World is weird. It sounds like it’s going to be a bong shop. But it isn’t. It’s a old-lady-trinket/cigar/pipe tobacco shop. The front of it is filled with weird junk other people’s grandmothers buy, and the back is tobacco products. We walked around the whole place and couldn’t find the snus. I asked the cashier, and he pointed to a corner. There was that rare refrigerator the General Cigar Salesman told me about. But why hide the snus? If I had a shop I’d stick it in the middle of the room with a cool lighting effect with a flashing banner and theme music (probably something by the Notorious B.I.G. or, I suppose, Abba) would start when you opened the door… Anyway, I decided that I should try loose snus, so five bucks and change later… the snus was on.

General Loose isn’t so unmanageable. It’s a little like clay and sticks together pretty well. I grabbed a pinch and tried to form it into a ball, and it kind of worked, although I lost a bit on the ground. And the amazing thing: Once I got it in, it stayed put! My first attempt, however, was short lived as it gave me quite a hit — I probably put too much in.

The second attempt went much better. I only used a little bit and was able to hang with it for about a half hour before it seemed to turn muddy on me, and I spat it out.

The flavor is quite nice. It tastes like fresh tobacco, with hints of woodiness, grass and lemon.

Last thing worth mentioning… Francisco really liked General White Wintergreen and will likely add it to his snus repertoire.

Suggested Use Time:
After 30 minutes, the texture changes. If you dig the new texture, keep rockin’ it. Otherwise, it’s spitting time.

Dominant Flavors:
Tobacco, Wood

The Prognosis:
If you’re into loose stuff (you get more bang for your buck), this stuff ain’t bad at all.

Buzz Factor:
Medium (potentially strong if you overdo it, like I did)

Dr. Snus Rating:
+++ (Good)