Kronan Lös - Swedish Snus Review
- Matt
- May 17, 2024
- 5 min read
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Kronan is, ostensibly, a budget snus released by Swedish Match in 2005 in order to compete with other budget brands that were becoming more popular at the time. The name, which means “the crown”, is reported to refer to a time when a box of snus would only cost one Swedish krona. By 2005, Swedish currency had already inflated to the point where Kronan, at the time of its release, would have indeed cost many more kronar than just one, and a much more likely explanation is that the name just sounded cool and regal. Perhaps there was a time when a box of snus would have cost so little, but that time is long since past.
I digress, but there really isn’t a lot of information or history to this snus to mention besides this; despite its vintage-seeming can and its frequent juxtaposition to other premium Swedish Match snuses like Ettan and Göteborgs Rapé, Kronan really is just a budget loose snus.
Take that word budget with a grain of salt, though - just about two decades have passed since the release of Kronan, and price increases and brand restructuring have placed Kronan firmly in the premium lineup. It makes sense when you consider the character of the snus - tobacco-forward traditional loose snuses with herbal flavors are at the center of Swedish Match’s loose snus portfolio, and Kronan fits right in. To put this into perspective for Americans reading, Copenhagen Long Cut Wintergreen, a product that seems so timeless and classic and integral to the midwestern American’s way of life, was only released in 2009, meant to compete with Grizzly Wintergreen, which was at the time very much still a budget brand. For my European readers, I’m afraid I don’t have a great analogy. I hope you still get the gist of it.
Kronan Lös comes in a fiberboard can with a gold plastic lid that reads “Svenskt Snus” wrapped in a really lovely forest green. I absolutely adore the way that these Swedish Match cans look, as there’s something so classic and timeless about them. The seal is paper and can be cracked with a fingernail. Unfortunately, fiberboard is not the best at keeping snus fresh, and my snus has dried out ever so slightly, so I’ve taken pictures next to a fresh can of General Lös for comparison (these snuses look basically identical in terms of grind and moisture when fresh).
The tobacco itself is crumbly, a bit like feta cheese. The color in the can is a deep reddish maroon. The aroma out of the can is violet-first, bergamot second, and (if one stretches) a muddy but present dill freshness in the background.
I do want to mention that many people report that this is the pickle snus, but after having used so many cans of this, I will go on record as stating that this is simply wrong. Even Swedish Match’s own advertising states that this is a violet and citrus flavored snus with some green herbs, but never explicitly mentions dill, which is a common pickle pairing in the United States. This is a conclusion I reached far before I looked at their website (the archived 2016 webpage, if you want to check), and I think the allusions to pickles are psychosomatic - pickles are green and have some dill, and Kronan is green and has some dill. What I think is going on is that many Americans are simply unaware of violet as a flavoring and mistake the sharp, bright, floral flavor as dill, which has a similar but far less soapy flavor. Bergamot, under some circumstances, can also taste somewhat dillish. Do not buy this snus if you are a pickle fan looking to expand your obsession into your tobacco habit.
The pinch holds firm in the lip, and also bakes into a prilla quite easily, if you prefer. Upon first taste, there’s a salty citrus zest flavor wherever the tongue touches the wad, and a soft violet flavor following shortly.
After 15 minutes, no new flavors have appeared, and if anything, the flavors have actually softened from then I first put it in. It’s not nearly as salty as something like Ettan, but the salt is there. It’s especially noticeable if you press your tongue into the prilla. Nicotine kicks in around this point as well - it’s the same strength as most of Swedish Match’s offerings, in which I mean to say that it’s middle-of-the-road, but loose snus is very easy to accidentally buff up if you make your prillas or pinches too large. At this point, the pinch has compressed to my lip, and is holding firm. The mouthfeel has a slight edge to it, a little burn, which is pleasant.
At the 30 minute mark, the flavor arrives in a big way. Violet, first and foremost, backed by a zesty tobacco flavor with a clear bergamot note. I don’t notice any dill whatsoever at this point, except if I puff my lips up, in which I get little whispers of the taste. The nicotine is also still building - the pinch I’ve taken for this review is a little bigger than I normally go. It’s not overwhelming, but it is strong.
At 45 minutes, the snus has begun to lose little chunks of itself into my mouth. It’s not mudsliding (although it threatens it), but there is some particulate floating around. Flavor wise, we’re still mild and floral. There is now a soft, nebulous half-bergamot, half-violet floating around with a sharp brilliance that is still not dill.
At 50 minutes, the dill is revealed. I discovered that if I pressed into the prilla with my lip, I was able to get a strong and fresh dill flavor out of it. Granted, this is a dill that is strongly shadowed by the bergamot and violet, but it is there after all! The hour mark is also when the snus began to mudslide, but for ten minutes I was definitely in the dillweeds. I removed the snus at this point.
Kronan is a lovely snus that many people disregard because of its dubious reputation as the pickle snus and because it doesn’t stand out among Swedish Match’s traditional offerings, but I find that I like it more than many others (I’m not a personally big fan of Roda Lacket or Prima Fint, for instance). Try it out! You may find that it becomes your new favorite.