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Absolutely nothing special about the date. I just happened to remember one
more time something I didn't say in all the talk about cost. It tastes
better. Not only tastes better but there is variety.
Storeboughts have three different tastes, Marlboro/Winston, Camel -- some
turkish tobacco, and nondescript other. None of them are all that good and
all lack body. I recently tried Amico's Golden Turkish Blend Full Flavor and
was reminded why I used to smoke Camels. I got it from Ziggy, see the online
suppliers list. I had been sticking with Bugler for most smoking and Kite
for the variety of menthol. Both use turkish tobacco in the blend but
neither is up to Amico.
The local tobacconist prices are much too high to use regularly but the
varieties I had tried from there were always good although the choice was
limited compared to store-boughts and cigars. Consider rolling still an
exclusive hobby.
I have tried injectors with tubes. This raises the cost but is the easy way
to have 100 mm filters. They also come in king size. This does decrease the
roughness of some tobaccos. I happen to like the rough feeling in my throat
so I am not a total convert yet. There must be something in the paper
because if these are forgotten they will burn completely whereas those
rolled from paper burn out. I haven't found any admission of this yet.
The loose tobaccos make a point of proclaiming no chemical flavorings or
casings added. I have no idea what a casing is and I have never come across
anything in a storebought that did not appear to be tobacco. I also have no
idea if storeboughts have chemical flavorings. That said I presume the
quality flavor comes from better quality tobacco.
The manufacturers do not have to shoot for the broadest public taste
possible. That attitude has ruined American beers and now I know it also
ruined American cigarettes. And hearing American cigarettes claim a premium
around the world I have an idea why. Anything imported has a higher price
just for the status of it no matter how bad it is. This is not to deny some
countries like Russia nationalized the production of some really bad
cigarettes.
The image of cheap coming with rolling your own comes from when storeboughts
became a status symbol because they cost more. That came before the $10 a
carton increase in price due to lawsuits so the most striking feature these
days is the price difference. And if saving dollars per pack is a sign of
cheap then color me cheap. I can live with it and enjoy better cigarettes at
the same time.
Thinking about the switch to storeboughts I recall the big Surgeon General
to-do about the increase in cigarette smoking followed by an increase in
lung cancer two decades later. That was based upon cigarettes sold. But if
the amount smoked was a constant and there was only an increase in
storeboughts then there is no connection unless the manufacturers were (and
are) adding something that causes cancer.
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