Expert Review★★★★★ Click to read Tap to read
Bois De Vache comes out of the pouch with a blend of dark, Latakia-smoked goodness that carries with it layered notes of hay, freshly rained-on earth, and the musk of a hard day's work on the fringe of a pair of leather chaps. Barnyard is not quite the proper nose note here. Instead, this is a more deliberately blended concoction that is by far one of the most enjoyable snuffs I have tried in this category of fermented snuffs. Where others have struggled to find a niche in my nose due to overly powerful ammonia, or blasts of musky, manure-ridden hay on the Texas prairie after a downpour, only to be toasted in the Texas sun, this instead tempers it all. The scent profile is not so sharp that any one note dominates the blend, and therefore should be enjoyable to most.
The scent here dances with the wet earth, while hints of hay blush throughout without succumbing to the unusually restrained musky notes. The fermentation has brought together the host of Latakia and dark blended base tobaccos in a way that hones the coarse edges into a finely made point. Nothing sticks out too sharply, and nothing overwhelms the blend. The tobacco is dark brown, with an occasional lighter-brown base tobacco spread throughout. This is a medium-mill snuff paired with an easy-to-pinch soft grind, another great pairing. It is easy to pinch, holds well in the nose, and doesn't overwhelm the neurons with a wallop, and the moisture and grind help to make it easily pinchable without the dreaded post-nasal drip from an overly eager sniff. There is just enough moisture to keep the snuff in the hand and nose, but it leans to the drier side, with minimal clumping in the tin, though the snuff does stick to the fingers a good bit. In terms of strength, it sits firmly in the middle of the road, a hair more fortified than a commercial mill base flour.
The snuff sits nicely in the hand, and though somewhat dry, the soft grind makes up for it, keeping the snuff firmly and comfortably in the nose. This is one of the only fermented snuffs I keep going back to. Even after the initial trial period, Bois De Vache continued finding its way into my pocket. With time, the hay notes came to the front, with damp earth and smoke taking a background stance, only coming forward when asked to. This snuff paints a scene of a tired and weary ranch hand who has been burning brush when he comes upon an afternoon shower. The ground is just damp enough to know the rain has come and gone, and the Texas sun begins heating the earth once again, releasing notes of musk and hay that cling to the leather chaps of the ranch hand. He is welcomed home by his spouse, so long as he leaves his boots at the door. He can sit down and eat dinner before taking a shower without being kicked back outside and handed a bar of soap. Bois De Vache does fermentation right. The smoke, hay, damp earth, and restrained musk have been worked into the dark blended base tobacco rather than simply sitting on top of it. What could have easily become an overwhelming barnyard snuff instead comes across as deliberate, rustic, and surprisingly approachable. This one has found a place in my rotation.