Alright so with my last order of snuff from Mr. Snuff last year, the bonus gift was a small bag of 6 Photo Kailash. I'd never tried Indian snuff before, and was blown away by how unique and amazing it was, the scent was just beautiful, nothing like I'd ever experienced before. It's hard to describe really, it was like flowery and springy and mountainy. (and by flowery I mean something completely different from say F&T Bordeaux or WoS Burgundy, Kailash had a very light cold sensation in my nose. Whereas Bordeaux/Burgundy smell more like a floral perfume imo, Kailash smelled like you were actually out wandering the countryside in the cool air breathing in all the pleasant floral scents of nature). The texture was a little weird, very very dark black snuff that easily stains things and a little clumpy, but not too difficult to use out of that little 6g bag I received in my sample.
Enticed by the idea of Indian snuffs, and attracted by what seem to be pretty good value for the price paid per gram, in my last order I ordered a 45g tin of Kailash (as well as 30 g of 6 Photo Super Chetak and 25g of 6 Photo Super Kailash, which is a lighter brown and quite different from regular Kailash).
However, while I am enjoying it, for some reason things seem a little different this time. For one, the snuff in the tin is a lot clumpier than I remember it. I usually like to run my hand though my snuffs just to mix it up and break it into nice loose powdery snuff, as well as feel the sensation of fine snuff running through my fingers. But this stuff is like solid clumps, I can't run my hand thought it, because I just hit like a rock solid pack of the stuff. Besides that, being very dark black snuff, it gets caught in my fingernails which always turn black after touching Kailash. But the uber-clumpiness also makes it difficult to snuff. Since I can't get a good pinch with my fingers, I try with a snuff spoon. But still all I get are bulky clumps that barely fit in the spoon, difficult to snuff, and instead the clumps break when I quickly press against my nose to avoid spillage, and thus I still spill dark-black staining tobacco all around me (sometimes even on my clothes which pisses me off). My hands and face also get covered in black stains. I have to snort pretty hard in order to get the clumps to actually get into my nose rather than all over my white shirt. In addition, it may just be my imagination, but the snuff seems to smell a little different too, pleasant, but not the amazing experience I had with the 6g sample. Finally, when I use Kailash, I often start feeling myself get a little sick, I'll get a headache and feel clogged and weird. It can't be the nicotine, I have a pretty high tolerance and use lots of high-nic snuffs.
Does anyone know why I might be having this different experience with the 45g tin of Kailash versus the 6g bag sample I had enjoyed so much before? Any recommendations on how to make the clumpy dark black stuff more usable so I can actually enjoy sniffing a gentle powdery pinch in each nostril rather than having to violently snort clumps that will usually end up breaking apart in a mess all over the place instead? :/
Comments
Though for me it doesn't seem to be an Indian snuff problem, it seems to be particularly a 6-Photo problem. I also have some Dholakia snuff that came in tapboxes that seems to be perfectly fine.
And again, to clarify, I LOVE 6-Photo Kailash, I just wish I didn't have these difficulties getting a decent pinch into my nose without a clumb that just breaks and gets all over my clothing.
I'm thinking of investing in a snuff/herb grinder to see if maybe that would help, I think I'm going to start a thread asking for advice about that.
Indian snuff market is very competitive and Due to cost cutting the size of the container has been reduced over time.
I would recommend buying 200 g tins if you are a regular user of Kailash.
If anyone know I 'd like to know the tobacco type that is used.. Maybe the dark black colors come from the herbs and not the tobacco like in SWS Latakia.
"Bone black is an impure black carbon pigment prepared from charring animal bones. Bone black is described in literature as being a deep blue-black to brown black
color. It is composed of about 10% to 20% carbon and 80% calcium
phosphate along with smaller amounts of other inorganic minerals."
See also: http://snuffhouse.com/discussion/5786/what-makes-a-dark-colored-snuff-black