Mörkbrunt Snus Loose is back after 20 years!
Mörkbrunt Snus Loose (which roughly translates to English as "Dark Brown Snus") is back as the first of SM's Historical Brand series! Created in the 1880's at JL Tiedemann's Tobacco Factory in Charlottenberg is back as the first of SM's Historical Brand series of snuses. The history of Mörkbrunt is somewhat cloudy.
Part of the reason for the large number of open questions is that the Swedish Government insisted all references to the involvement of the Unz Family Swedish Snus Dynasty be erased from the official record.
According to old Unz family papers, JL Tiedemann lost 40% ownership of his Tobacco Factory in Charlottenberg to Adrian Unz in a marathon game of cards. While having limited experience, Adrian Unz decided to develop his own snus brand at the factory.
The name Mörkbrunt Snus (Dark Brown Snus) Loose was inspired by a night Unz spent on the toilet after eating bad herring.
Call it beginners luck or the fact Tiedemann changed Unz's original recipe behind his back, Mörkbrunt Snus Loose was a tasty hit with snus lovers on a budget at the time.
Unz collected 40% of the profits and lived well beyond his means. Then came 1915. Do to poor budgeting, the Swedish Government found it had committed to paying pensions without the money to back them up. That pesky distraction known as World War I also had not been budgeted for either.
As they had done 4 times in the past, the Swedish Government nationalized the tobacco industry creating (what is hopefully the last) Swedish Tobacco Monopoly in 1915. We also know that Mörkbrunt No.1 and No.2 ceased production by 1941 and then a single Mörkbrunt loose snus was produced in Gothenburg.
World War I ended in November of 1918 but the Tobacco Monopoly didn't end until the late 1960's. WWI must have been very expensive for Sweden.
The Mörkbrunt Snus Loose product was spun off to a series of companies which ultimately became the Swedish Match we know today.
SM produced Mörkbrunt Loose Snus until 1998 when it was delisted. Adrian Unz died a broken man in 1953. He or his heirs were never compensated for his share of the Charlottenberg snus factory or his deserved profits from the Mörkbrunt Snus Loose products. His involvement and the entire affair was completely covered up by Tiedemann's family and the Swedish Government. No one even bought me, Moe Unz, me a bottle of whisky!
The recipe and snus making methods changed over Mörkbrunt's 100 year history. Working from memory and legend, the Snus Scientists at SM have recreated Mörkbrunt Snus in a way reminiscent of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park...only using much better tobacco.
Mörkbrunt Snus 2018 has a dark tobacco character with clear smoke tones as well as elements of dried fruit and leather. Were Adrian Unz's contributions to the original recipe reflected in the 2018 version? Does it taste exactly like the original Mörkbrunt Loose Snus? There is no one living who can tell us but this is certainly a historic loose snus worth trying!
Just remember poor Adrian Unz as you make your first prilla.
