General Snus - The original since 1866

It's a blend of 22 different types of tobacco, topped with a tiny drop of bergamot oil. It took some 1500 days to perfect. This happened 160 years ago in Gothenburg, Sweden and since then it's been the gold standard; the #1 snus. In short: The Original.

The Vikings were actually way more into trade than raiding and plundering. The place that would later become Gothenburg is where much of that trading started. The town grew to become the main port on Sweden's west coast. Here, 3766 miles from New York is where most of the about 1.3 million Swedes that emigrated to America boarded their ships. An entrepreneurial climate has always been present, cars, ball bearings and cameras, many of the inventions that Sweden has become world famous for, first saw the day of light in Gothenburg. And one of these inventors was Johan A Boman.

Not only did Mr. Boman enjoy the finer things in life. He was also equipped with a magic nose, a sixth sense for blending flavors and an extreme patience. He spent 1500 days developing a recipe for a Swedish snus. With no fewer than 22 different types of tobacco, sourced from the world's finest plantations, his recipe remains the same today. It includes the ingenious addition of the bergamot oil, extracted from the skin of a citrus fruit, which tastes less sour than lemon. The slightly peppery tobacco blend needs just a few drops, but those drops makes what we call a General.

In 1850, Mr. Boman had perfected his blend and word spread quickly, but production was still more or less a work done by hand. He first handed out his much sought-after goods from old kitchen jars in his Gothenburg outlet and later took over an entire tobacco factory. The focus of the production: General snus. This factory remained a Boman family operation until 1915, when the Swedish state seized all tobacco production in Sweden to pay for national defence and the country's first pension reform. Smokeless tobacco was the resource that gave them the most bang for their buck. In 1967, the state stepped back and the company which is today known as Swedish Match took over production and brands. Among those many brands, one was extra valuable; the world's premium snus brand.

You all know which one.

King of the hill. Top of the Heap. A text about the General brand may seem like information overload. The brand is what it is; the original. No further explanation necessary.

But it may be worth knowing that the image of General has gone from being the common snus, the general snus, to its top position, almost entirely on its own. Very little marketing has helped it, simply because there wasn't any. Take it from an outsider; hard sell isn't embedded in the DNA of those silent Swedes who have always preferred action over talk. It's safe to say that General have survived and withheld its position through 160 years, very much on its own merits; through its heritage and its history. But it's not just a matter of survival. The secret is of course in the recipe: It was amazing from day one.