Sorry if this runs a little long ... :wink:
I’ve cut way down on the cigarettes. When I indulge anymore, I stuff my own into empty filter tubes, which I keep on hand. For holidays, I might pick up some Nat Sherman MCDs. For the occasional road trip, I’ll sometimes cheat and pick up a pack of Natural American Spirits, just the original blue/turquoise box.
I bought my first pack of smokes (Marlboros) at the tail of the ‘70s for 75¢. 8O I’ve had time to try nearly every American brand imaginable, along with a few Japanese brands, a few from the U.K., various European, at least one good brand from Canada and one
really awful one from the former U.S.S.R.
The first brand I smoked regularly (bought by the $10.40 carton) were a brand R.J. Reynolds only made for a few years in the mid-80s, Sterling Special Blend (I preferred the menthols). I was a sucker for their upscale yuppy ad campaign, but SSBMs (not to be confused with the generic-level Sterlings that came along later) were unusually good. They were cut slightly longer than filter kings, were wrapped in an unstriped white paper that imparted little taste when burned, and were packaged in black hard boxes. The smoke carried cocoa and brandy flavors that worked particularly well with the highly pronounced menthol; the note was reminiscent of
*ahem!* an aromatic pipe tobacco. Yummy retrohaling and french-inhaling these! They simply disappeared in ’87 or ’88. I’ve not found a cigarette to match those old Sterling menthols since.
Went from Newports to Marlboros before settling on Natural American Spirits, which I ended up smoking regularly for about 20 years. Those first NAS smokes were thicker, heavier and would go out if left unattended; the smoke was a really hefty burley/virginia. Somewhere along the line (2002), R.J. Reynolds got their mitts on the brand. Now they’re brighter, lighter, narrower, but more readily available. They seem to be running about $11.25-11.50/pack in my neck of Chicago, even more downtown (jefff ... $14?!?).
Between the big cigarette companies throwing their own customer base under the bus and all the insane taxation, I avoid buying factory made cigarettes as much as I can. Besides (and the moral of the story is :wink: ), I just find the pipe so much more enjoyable. :
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