My Smoking Shop in Preston, Lancashire

Just a few photos taken on a recent visit to My Smoking Shop in Preston, Lancashire. Unprepossessing on the outside, being part of an old cotton mill, it is everything a good tobacconists should be on the inside.

FUBAR Grunt

I wrote the following review of FUBAR Grunt, made by Dholakia Tobacco in India for the Mr Snuff online snuff shop, four years ago, in 2009. Grunt seemed to be quite a decent snuff back then. I gave it three stars.

"Grunt is as fine and dry as a toast or scotch and with an even higher nicotine level but it does have quite remarkable differences to either of those styles of snuff. Although essentially a plain snuff it does have a distinct coconut flavour which almost masks that of the tobacco. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. In fact far from it. This deserves to be quite a classic in its own right."

Even the art on the plastic tub is cheesy!

So I decided to get another tub recently, expecting the same quality. That turned out to be very bad idea. What I now have resembles nothing more than an over-full, week old, stinking ashtray. And that is just from the aroma. The snuff is of medium-fine grind, medium-dry moisture level and a rich brown colour. Doesn't sound too bad, does it? Sadly I can only force myself to take a single nostril pinch, purely to discover whether that fag ash reek is just as unpleasant in the nose, and I am afraid to say that it is no better. Perhaps I should borrow the idea that the Swedes came up with in the 18th century, who, finding the tobacco available to them to be third or second rate at best, added citrus flavourings and various herbs to disguise the poor quality of the snuff they produced. In doing so they invented snus which is still going strong. However, I think this 25g tub of Grunt is beyond redemption and will end up in the bin. Or maybe I should scatter it on my newly seeded bits of lawn to deter the local felines, but I wouldn't want the RSPCA knocking on my door accusing me of abusing cats.... 

Now it gets just one star. After all, it is still tobacco and there is a decent dose of nicotine in there.

At least Dholakia produce plenty of other snuffs which are very good.

A Hilliard & Thomason Snuff Box from 1899

While I'm on a roll (and these things do seem to come in threes...) here another recent acquisition. It's a late Victorian snuff box made by Hilliard & Thomason of Birmingham and hallmarked for 1899.

It measures 70mm x 40mm, 16mm deep and weighs a respectable 56g. Although the internal gilding is a little worn it is still a superb looking box and doesn't seem to leak snuff at all.

A Birth Year Silver Snuff Box

I have long had a hankering for a birth year silver snuff box to match the birth year Peterson pipe I already have. This little beauty finally ended the wait. Made by Deakin & Francis of Birmingham and hallmarked for 1956 this box is in remarkably good condition, better condition than I am in at the same age in fact!  It measures 6.2cm by 4.5cm and is 1.2cm deep with a weight of 43g. The hinge is in perfect condition allowing the box to close properly.

 The style is distinctly Georgian and I do especially like its simple, curved form, free from the typical excesses of Victorian decoration, The vendor I bought it from said that it is an exact copy of a design from c. 1780 and I have no reason to doubt that.

 On top of everything else, it seems to be thoroughly snuff proof as well with not a hint of a leak. A box to cherish.

Wilson's Of Sharrow Dynamite

About time we had a new post here...

Just picked up a tin of the new Dynamite snuff from direct from Wilson's of Sharrow (along with 1/2 lb each of Brunswick, Natural and IHT No. 22).

But this is about the Dynamite.

One small pinch of this stuff and your nose will believe it actually belongs to Sir Ranulph Fiennes, trekking across Antarctica in the middle of winter...

And I took that pinch several hours ago. I can still feel the effect!

Ow! Just took another pinch. Purely in the interests of science of course. Well, snuff review writing anyway.

So... it's medium snuff, relatively dark (due to the moisture I reckon, this tin being fresh), and once you get past the freeze-burn of the industrial quantities of menthol there is quite a decent tobacco to be found. Dynamite makes Hedges L260 seem like a right wimp! I expect I'll enjoy it a lot more once I've toned down the menthol by diluting the snuff with something plain and menthol free. I have no doubt the noses of the menthol lovers will rejoice at the availability of this new offering from Wilson's, but I suspect I might not be buying it again.

Now I'd better go and dunk my nose in a snowdrift to warm it up a bit.

Tobacco Control Tactics

It's great to see the launch of a new site dedicated to exposing the lies, dodgy science and sheer vindictiveness of the tobacco control industry, otherwise known as neo-puritans, health nazis, state sponsored bullies and all round bad guys.

Tobacco Control Tactics is the place and it deserves every bit of support it can get from all of those people, smokers and non-smokers alike, who are fed up of being dictated to by unelected (and probably unelectable) curmudgeons who seem to take delight in removing every last ounce or gramme of enjoyment from the lives of all those they disagree with.

H.L, Mencken hit the nail on the head when he wrote, "Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy." There was a man who was up to snuff!

Those neo-puritans could use a little more of this...

Laurel and Hardy: The Bagpipes and the Snuff Box

A classic. And the papier-mâché snuff box is rather nice too.

Snuff Review: Abraxas Premium Batch

★★★★★
This, the first Abraxas snuff to be revealed to an unsuspecting public, remains my favourite though I doubt I would ever use it as an all day snuff. Apart from the cost (probably the most expensive snuff in history) the wonderful scent and flavour are just too rich for constant use. But as an after-dinner, evening indulgence it is both decadent and sublime. 


But I get ahead of myself. Abraxas Premium Batch is a coarse, rich dark brown, moist snuff, not so much scented or flavoured as suffused with rich and probably expensive spirits. For me the grind and moisture level are perfect, though the jar did need to be left open for a while first to let the ammonia fly free.The flavourings are complex indeed. The initial impression is of a good quality cognac with more than a hint of old port and I suspect some good quality coffee in the background. The sheer depth of flavour is amazing and it lingers and lingers. The base tobacco has something of the Cuban cigar in it, though whether it is made with Cuban tobacco or not I couldn't say. 

If one didn't know one might guess that this an old Fribourg and Treyer blend, such is the quality of the snuff. But no, this one only saw the light of day in mid-2011. Admittedly the maker has said that he has been refining the blend for 30 years. If it takes a man 30 years to produce such a snuff I can only say that it was 30 years well spent.

Five stars all the way!

Snuff Review: Abraxas Cerise Connoisseur

★★★★ 
My take on the Abraxas Cerise Connoisseur. This review has also been posted on Snuff House.

Another excellent snuff from Abraxas, the Cerise Connoisseur was the third to be released. Like the Abraxas Club, it is dark, very coarse, moist and rich in flavour. Fresh from the 15g glass jar it needed some airing to reduce the expected ammonia but that is never a problem. One whiff of that smell tells me a snuff is as fresh as it gets so all is well. Like the other Abraxas snuffs this one is also described as a premium sort and the price reflects that. Even at that price this is a wonderful snuff, positively decadent in its depth of flavour.

The initial scent blast is of cherries of course, as the name proclaims. In fact leaving a jar open nicely scents the entire room! But the flavour is not just of cherries. It's more of a cherry brandy with the alcoholic liqueur adding an extra dimension to the overall experience. There is also something else lurking in the recesses of this blend, something somewhat bitter-sweet which I can't quite place. I'm sure as time goes on with this snuff I'll find more flavours just waiting to be discovered.

The only drawback for me, once again, as with the Club and Dragun snuffs from Abraxas, is that the coarse grind tends to make me sneeze a lot and once again, that's my only reason for only giving this excellent snuff four stars rather than five.

Snuff Review: Abraxas Club

★★★★
Abraxas Club was the second premium snuff to be released by Abraxas. Like the others it is very much a premium snuff both in terms of price and flavour. Luckily mine came as a sample in a 15g plastic pot, preserving my bank balance somewhat.

So far only available online from Mr Snuff, Abraxas Club is very coarse, moist and scented. In coarseness and moisture level it ranks with the rappees and it is nearly as dark. The premium nature of this snuff really lies in the flavouring or saucing. I decanted the contents of the 15g pot into a larger 25g tin (an old Samuel Gawith one still in good condition) to give the snuff a chance to breathe a bit, thus enhancing the flavour. And flavour seems to be just the right word here. This stuff is good enough to eat!

Along with a touch of the farmyard (proving freshness) the initial scent is of brandy (or is it a particularly rich rum?), closely followed by coffee, a touch of chocolate, an underlying nuttiness with hints of citrus and an almost plum-like fruitiness. Finally the base tobacco shines through with the occasional reprise of the other scents. Quite amazing snuff, though I must confess that it tends to make me sneeze. I put this down to the coarseness of the mill. Perhaps if I were to add a little extra water it would reduce that tendency.

The only thing that stops this from being a five star snuff for me is that sneeziness, so it gets four.

Snuff Reviews

Along with adding pictures of and comments about my many pipes to this blog, I also intend to properly organise the snuff reviews on this site, eventually copying all my snuff reviews from my old wiki site. I expect to take the time to expand upon some of the reviews as I progress and I will also be adding the comments to the growing collection of reviews on the Snuff House website. That place should be the first port of call for any online snuff user.

The snuffs I like best will get five stars (★★★★★) and those I like least will get one (★).

Pictures of snuffs from Snuff Store (UK), Toque Snuff Ltd.,  Bernard Schnupftabak GmbH and Pöschl Tabak are used with permission and gratitude.

Viking Blonde...

No, what you might think (no dodgy stuff here!) - just another new snuff from My Smoking Shop in Preston.

Viking Blonde is a classic SP style snuff. In flavour it is close to Samuel Gawith's SP No. 1 High Mill. No real surprise there as I am sure Viking Blonde is produced by Samuel Gawith. The 25g vacuum sealed tin a a bit of a give away. The snuff is medium-fine, moist and nicely flavoured with bergamot. A good, solid every day snuff and well worth a try.

It is also fairly similar to the Traditional SP from Snuff Store, though that one is darker and somewhat subtler in flavour. I bought some more of that this week, along with some of their Golden Pinch and Cafe Noir. All excellent snuffs and the 10g tins they come in are a big improvement on the old "baggies". Their service is lightening fast as well.

A Beautiful Snuff Mull

This lovely little snuff mull is a recent acquisition. It's about 9cm tall and is wonderfully tactile as well as being snuff proof and perfectly suited to carrying in a pocket. The dispensing mechanism deposits a measured quantity of snuff on the back of the hand. I think it is almost certainly Scottish and possibly late 19th century in date.

An Antique Pair of Snuffers

An Antique Pair of Snuffers, drawn by Frederick Barnard and published in Harper's Weekly, May 5, 1888.

Not, as my good friend Snuff Head has suggested, the pair of us in Pearson Park (Hull) having been thrown out of the St Johns Hotel! I'll leave it to the reader to decide which of the gentlemen is intended to be which of us...

The Viking Snuff

Just time for a quick mention of some new snuffs available only from, and presumably produced exclusively for My Smoking Shop in Preston. Five Viking snuffs are available so far - Brown, Dark, Menthol, Peach and Spear (spearmint flavoured). So far I have tried the first three and I have to say I am impressed with them.

Clearly somebody has been listening to what snuff takers have been saying about snuff packaging. These are sold in sensible 25g vacuum packed tins. No chance of them reaching the customer dried out and stale.  

Judging by the nature of these snuffs they are almost certainly made by Samuel Gawith and I certainly don't have a problem with that.

Viking Brown is a wonderful snuff, not a million miles removed from SG's Kendal Brown. In fact I am pretty sure they are the same and that is no bad thing. It's coarse, moist and dark and has a very satisfying orange/citrus flavouring. Prefect for hefty pinches all day long and a full five star rating from me.

Viking Dark has a finer grind than Viking Brown though the flavour is similar yet lighter. While I am pretty sure this is also made by Samuel Gawith (the design of the 25g tin is a bit of a give-away) I can't think of a direct correlation between this and any of the SG branded snuffs.  Plain snuffs don't get much better than this though to my nose Viking Brown has the edge.

In appearance Viking Menthol looks a lot like Viking Brown. It's coarse, moist and dark brown in colour, with the same flecks of lighter coloured stem material. The menthol has been applied with a light touch so in effect we're dealing with a KB with a refreshing after taste. I rather like it!


I am unlikely to try the Peach and I certainly won't be buying any of the Spear (can't stand spearmint!) but I am sure those two will prove popular with those snuffers who do like those flavours.

Silver Dollar Snuff

I finally got around to writing a few paragraphs on the recently released (for the American market) Silver Dollar snuffs. These are being produced by a well known English snuff maker but will only be available from tobacconists in the US.

A John Reily Silver Snuff Box

Silver Snuff Box by John Reily, London 1808

This is the other silver snuff I recently acquired. Made by John Reily and hallmarked London, 1808, it really is in remarkably good condition, the engine turned decoration having only minimal wear

Interior gilding

The gold wash inside the box is certainly original and shows only minor scratches. I suspect this box was not as heavily used as the Phipps & Robinson box I posted about yesterday.

Underside of the box

Even the bottom of the box shows only minor wear near the corners. This box is definitely going to get rather more use in my hands!

Interior detail

The hinge is in excellent condition and the box is as near snuff proof as they get.

Main hallmark

Lid hallmark

The hallmarks are crisp and clear, as can be seen in the photographs. The 'IR' mark was registered in February 1801 and the maker seems to have been active until at least the mid-1820s, though the style of the mark changed and was registered in June 1823. John Reily's son Charles was also a London silversmith.

A Phipps & Robinson Silver Snuff Box

Silver Snuff Box by Phipps & Robinson, London 1810

This rather nice silver snuff box, made by Phipps & Robinson and hallmarked for London, 1810, is one of my recent acquisitions. I was attracted to its clean, Georgian lines (subtle and understated compared to the flowery excesses of later, Victorian boxes) and more particularly to the fact that it already has my inititals engraved on the lid.

The hinge

The hinge is in excellent condition, allowing the box to open and firmly close as well as it was intended and snuff leakage is minimal, as one would expect.

Gold washed interior

The original gilding is present, though a little scratched in places and I did feel the need to give the interior a gentle wash with warm, soapy water and a soft cloth. This successfully removed the residue of old snuff without damaging the finish in any way. The marks on the inside of the lid turned out to be the remains of some sort of sticker and came away cleanly with the use of a small amount of 99% isopropyl alcohol.

Hallmarks

The hallmarking is nice and clear and present on both body and lid, as one would expect.

The all important (to me) initials

As can be seen in the photographs, the one small issue with the box is that over the years it has been fairly aggressively polished, resulting in some loss of definition of the lined pattern and the monogram, yet that decorative 'TB' in the central cartouche is still perfectly legible. There is a warning in this - be careful when polishing silver!

Hinge detail

As can be seen above, there is evidence of slight bumping to the corners of the box, though realistically this is to be expected of a snuff box with 201 years of use behind it. It doesn't detract at all for me. In fact I like the signs that the box and been used and loved. What I would give to know who had owned it in the past and which snuffs they filled it with!

Underside of the box

Front edge

In spite of the aggressive polishing the box still weighs in at an impressive 81g retaining a good thickness of silver throughout. Dimensions are 75mm x 45mm x 15mm - perfect for a pocket snuff box. It currently has Mullins & Westley's Jock's Choice in it. I swear it tastes better out of an antique silver box than the tin it came in!

From what I have been able to find out,  Thomas Phipps (-1823) and Edward Robinson (-1816) had premises at 40, Gutter Lane, London. They produced mostly fine boxes (snuff boxes, nutmeg graters and vinaigrettes) in silver and gold, but also wine labels, knife stands, apple corers and other domestic items.

Tonquin Beans

Or tonka beans, or tonkin beans... There are various different ways of spelling the word but these are the beasties and yes, they do look a bit like legless blackclocks (that's cockroaches to the rest of the world). Dipteryx odorata is the Latin name.

Of course they are not really quite that big. Usually they're between 1cm and 2cm long. When you get them they are dry and wrinkly (a bit like me) but they do have a hint of that rather fine smell you get in some Fribourg & Treyer and Samuel Gawith snuffs, not to mention some of the latter's pipe tobaccos (Cob Plug, 1792 Flake and Bracken Flake).

In the past they have often been used to keep snuff moist and also to impart that flavouring. They still do that job well of course. Simply dunk a couple in water overnight and the next day just pop them into your snuff, after dabbing off any excess of water. Rehydration and flavouring all in one go though it does take a couple of days for the best effect.

Recently I tried a little experiment, having ordered a 25g vacuum sealed tin of J&H Wilson's Top Mill No. 1 and having been sent a punch of the little blue tins, which inevitably contained rather dried out snuff. Disappointing, yes, but not an irretrievable situation. I had a go at revitalising some of the snuff with the water soaked tonquin beans and then thought why not use some other liquid? So, a day later, a couple of beans soaked in whisky and a couple in brandy and the now plump and juicy beans were added to two more lots of the Top Mill. Result? Delicious! We'll see what Snuff Head thinks about the result in the pub tonight.

Sources for tonquin beans? Snuff Store has them in stock sometimes. Otherwise I'm sure a Google search will reveal many more sources.

Snuff Flasks for the Modern Snuff Taker

As anyone who has taken snuff for any length of time will have learned, the enemy of snuff is air. Snuff exposed to the air soon dries out and becomes stale and is rather less than pleasant to take. Snuffers have always used a variety of containers to store their snuff and the aim has always been to keep air away from the snuff as much as possible. Snuff boxes in various materials, silver, wood, horn, pewter, papier mache, china and plastic have all found a place in the snuff taker's pocket and all can be reasonably good at protecting the precious powder, though none of them do a perfect job by any means. But there is a better way to preserve the freshness of our snuff.

Yes, they are small, stainless steel hip flasks. The advantage of a modern stainless steel hip flask for carrying snuff is that these days there is a plastic insert in the lid rather than the older cork insert. Of course, this is really designed to stop ones favourite tipple from dribbling all over the place but is is just as effective as an air seal for keeping snuff fresh. And it really works, and works far better than any of my older style snuff boxes. Okay, so there is less scope for an elaborate flourish when opening and presenting your snuff box to your friends, but I feel the advantages are significant, at least for the moister, coarser snuffs. I still use silver, pewter and wooden boxes for toasts, scotches and the drier SPs, but for Kendal Brown, Black Rappee, Princes or a Schmalzler these little bottles are the canine proverbials.

The largest that I use are the two on the left. They are designed to hold 1.5oz of liquid. The rest are 1oz bottles. Some came with the fitting for attaching to a key ring (which I soon removed), and some have various decorations, often the logos of spirits. None of them were expensive; n fact it is possible to find them online for as little as a couple of quid each. Far cheaper than any snuff box. There is enough variety available to make it easy to use distinctive flasks for each of our snuffs. You will need a small funnel to fill them of course. Lloyds sell a nice one in stainless steel, though the one I use is an older pewter one which came with one of my larger, pewter hip flasks. 

I particularly like the one in the front of the picture. It's in the shape of an old-fashioned pocket watch, making it very comfortable in the pocket. It's an unusual shape but even that one only cost me £6.95 plus postage. It has been filled with J&H Wilson's SP No 1, fresh from a vacuum sealed 25g tin, from the day I got it and it stays perfectly fresh. Some sellers will even engrave them for you for a truly personalised snuff flask. Toque Snuff are selling ones like it for slightly more, but with theirs you get the Toque logo on the front as well so I guess the extra cost is worth it. 

This is the Ebay search I used to seek them out. Substitute '1.5oz' for '1oz' if you want a slightly larger one.