Expert Review★★★★★ Click to read Tap to read
As an introduction to fruit snuffs, Bergbeeren is wonderful. If you already enjoy rich tobacco but want something with a flavoured edge, this is going to be your dime.
Out of the pouch, this snuff presents as a dark, nearly black, mocha, edge-of-the-night tobacco-based flour. The pouch first opens with a slightly musky tobacco, earthy rather than leathery, with plenty of layers and depth. There is a matured, crumbled aspect to it, almost as if the tobacco had been plugged and left to ferment, but at its heart this remains very much a tobacco-forward snuff. Riding along in the background is a lighter sweetness, not candied or jammy fruit, but something much closer to the natural presentation of the fruit itself. This is not the candied goodness found in Alpina or in many commercially flavoured snuffs; instead, the fruit is controlled and restrained, letting the tobacco do most of the showmanship. What is particularly interesting is that these two notes never completely combine into one coherent sound. They remain distinct, almost like two dance partners, with the tobacco clearly leading the charge while the fruit plays secondary fiddle. Every so often it comes forward in little wafts of sweetness, very pleasant, very natural, and incredibly easy to sit with in the nose.
The grind is a soft, fluffy, medium-coarse one that binds just enough for control, handling cleanly between the fingers and lending itself to deliberate, consistent pinches. Moisture is more than sufficient to keep the snuff cohesive in the hand; the tobacco does not clump in the traditional sense, as this is an oiled tobacco, and pressing the flour together makes it clear that an oil- or glycerin-like component is helping hold everything together, giving it a rich, almost luxurious feel in the nose. This snuff carries a moderate amount of nicotine in a very easy-to-enjoy pinch. My nose tended to drip significantly, something I normally associate with a higher-strength blend; however, thanks to this snuff's ease of use, I was able to pinch more often and thus reach my desired vitamin N level, and the ample nicotine provides just enough of an aftering boost to make this a sweet little nighttime treat. It is approachable in nearly every sense: the moderate nicotine is balanced, the moisture is cooperative, and the fluffy, medium-coarse grind is incredibly forgiving. Despite the dark appearance and rich tobacco base, there is little here that makes Bergbeeren difficult to take, and its restrained fruit character also keeps the scent from becoming overwhelming, making this an easy snuff to sit with for repeated pinches.
The scent does not evolve tremendously beyond this initial presentation, but I do not think it particularly needs to. It is certainly not a dessert snuff; it does not approach the Aztec sweetness of McChrystal's, nor the candy-like goodness of some other blends, and it is nowhere near as fruit-forward as JBR Red, occupying instead a wonderful transitional space. If you are looking for a fruity dessert snuff, this may not be exactly what you are looking for, but then again, it is not trying to be that either.