Siberia -80°C Brown Slim

I’ve been apprehensive about Siberia, because I’ve read that Siberia is like the true diesel, punch-you-in-the-nuts brand for insane people. Before I knew what my nicotine tolerance was when it comes to snus, it seemed like an inherently bad idea to even try it.

This is the part where I feel compelled to point out that I was smoking a pack of Camels a day when I started using snus, and enjoy a lot of the strong varieties I’ve tried so far.

So, back to Siberia. Upon opening the can, there was a really unique scent that I think it best described as “earthy” with a hint of peppermint. It didn’t smell very good, if I’m being honest. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised by other brands that didn’t smell great, so I popped a portion in.

I usually go for white portions because regular portions (with a few exceptions, like Nick & Johnny’s Americana) tend to have more drip than I prefer. Having a slim brown portion was intriguing to me, though. You just don’t see many of those around.

Initial thoughts here: “This is the big deal about Siberia?” It burned a little like any mint / cold portion would, but wasn’t anything approaching Oden’s Original Cold. This was followed by “Ooh… now that’s got some nicotine.” Just about five minutes in, and I’m getting the nicotine fix I’d expect from a full flavor cigarette.

Of course, that makes sense. While regular portions hover around 0.8% and strong portions tend to clock between 1% – 2%, Siberia delivers 4.3%. And it’s a smooth ramp up.

The portion material and size is really comfortable, and despite the massive nicotine content along with mint, there’s no real burn where the portion is in my mouth. More surprising to me was that the drip wasn’t particularly harsh. A lot of higher nicotine portions leave a scratchy feeling in my throat from the drip, but not so with Siberia Brown.

It grabs you. But in a polite way, all around.

Will it replace my beloved #12 from The LAB? Probably not. What #12 lacks in Siberia’s nicotine content, it makes up for in flavor. The flavor here is medium tobacco with a touch of spearmint. It’s not sticky sweet, but it isn’t really fresh, either. I could easily see starting my day with this instead of a cigarette, but once I get over that morning hump, I’d probably want something else for the rest of the day.