I've been enjoying the Toque Whiskey & Honey immensely since I bought a tin last week. I am now thinking of buying a bag of Rustica. Is it a good snuff to take on its own as well as blending? Any comments before I make the plunge of buying a 50g bag gratefully accepted.
Comments
Taken on its own or blended with other snuffs it doesn't do much. Natural citric acid which this species produces and fine grind gives a nice burn, it has its specific hayish, honeysh, slightly tart and herbaceous scent and sourish taste, that's it. Nicotine is there, but non-alkalized powder delivers only a slight fraction of total amount. Mixed with other plain snuffs (say, toasts), it adds to the flavour, and you might find it enjoyable.
P. S. I am a big fan of Toque USA W&H myself.
It might sound as a paradox, but there's absolutely no point in mixing raw rustica with anything weaker than strong (unless you are mixing for flavour only). Funnily enough, only strong and extra strong snuffs can be boosted with it. Which already are strong on their own. The most alkaline ones. And contrary to some logic, it works best, blended at a humble 1:3 ratio (one part rustica to three parts really strong snuff). Approximately.
If you are interested in rustica-based snuffs, there quite a few are made by other manufacturers.
The strongest one is Janta Dragon Brand Madras snuff. Sadly, it's been out of stock for a while.
The mildest one is Neffa Ifrikia.
6P LA Natural is medium strength plain rustica snuff. This snuff is a base of their Super Kailash and Mysore Sandalwood. Green Dragon / Begum Green are made from green rustica, a tad stronger than LAN / SK / MS.
Then, there are some SWS snuffs with rustica in the blend - Lundy Foot and St James Parish Blend, to mention but a few. The latter is one of the strongest snuffs on the market, on a par to Toque USA W&H. Some other SWS snuffs with rustica are low-potency (come non-alkalized, like Havana Toast).
Also, Mr Snuff has just launched three new rustica snuffs: Rusty Trombone, Rusty Nail and Iron Throne, they are available on mrsnuff.com store.
Curious to know, is that connotation well/widely known in English-speaking countries?
Curious to know the strength of the snuv rusticas and whether they are alkalised as you described earlier.
Its a very "cable TV friendly" way of saying it and widely used in sitcoms.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13880200902896020
But you can easily turn that raw rustica powder to snuff, following formulas posted on Snuff making 101 thread, and use it as a stand-alone snuff or as a mixer.
I have now tried mixing the raw Rustica with Silky Dark and KB Scented and yes it works really well.