My most recent order ([u]order[/u], how awesome is it that we can use that word here?) from Toque Snuff consisted of, among an army of other names, three from Fribourg & Treyer: Santo Domingo, Princes Special, and Bordeaux. None of these is an exhaustive review, by any means — just brief sketches — and do bear in mind that taste is subjective.

Santo Domingo: This one is a [i]bear[/i] of a snuff — and that’s both in (subjectively) good and not-so-good ways. First, this has a very, very coarse grind, though with good moisture content. In practice, that means it takes a sniff with a good deal of ‘oomph’ behind it to get it up into where you want it — and not all of it is going to stay there. Second, it may (and, who knows, for some of you may not) cause the passages to clench quite a bit, making the old hooter feel quite stuffy for a minute or two.

Now to the good: the scent here is very, very potent tobacco with just a hint of a natural floral note. And by ‘a hint’ I mean barely-there (for me, at any rate.) The other side of the bear equation: Santo Domingo packs a [i]whomp[/i] of a nicotine hit.

Princes Special: Another with good and not-so-great points. Starting with the not-so-great: I let all three F&T labels “take the air” for several hours on first opening them, to allow the ammonia notes to dissipate. Princes Special seems to have held onto that note, or maybe it’s just the flour itself. [i]In[/i] the nose, it strikes me as a more complex and nuanced competitor to Wilson’s Grand Cairo. But [i]at[/i] the nose, I get a powerful — and unmistakable — whiff of *wet dog.* Still, it’s only a minor thing that I suspect will fade as the tin grows increasingly depleted.

Bordeaux: Now this one, for me, is purely a pleasure. I can see how some might find the floral on this a touch unsubtle in its potency, but I just can’t get enough — very glad I ordered two of this one.