Smokers: What are the differences between cigarette brands?

[goddess_nemesis]

I'm not a smoker, but I work in a convenience store and we sell cigarettes. There are so many brands and types and half the time I'm wondering what's the difference? Is it the taste? How strong the nicotine is?

Like today, I had a customer come in and ask for Marlboro Lights, but we were out of Lights (both hard and soft packs because we haven't gotten a new shipment in yet). However we had Marlboro Lights 100's but the guy didn't want them and instead asked for Camel Lights. To me, Marlboro Lights 100's and Marlboro Lights are like the same thing except 100's are longer.

So basically this question is purely curiosity and this is not intended to condemn any smokers. So, what's the difference? Just curious.

 

[Dussicar]

Taste and potency are the two biggies.

There are some cigarettes that I absolutely REFUSE to smoke on account of the fact that they taste like soap.

I also like my smoke to have a little kick to it.

I hate Marlboro,s because they taste like chalk.

I smoke No.7 red's. A Canadian brand.

Everybody has a preference.

 

[storyteller]

I believe that like Lights, 100s and 120s are not only longer but have less nicotine and more of other substances. (All also bad for you.) There may be a difference in how the substances contained are packed in each cigarette too. I don't know. In addition, several brands offer menthol or clove types, which are basically additional substances for flavor.

BTW: If you don't smoke, don't start! It's an awfully hard habit to kick.

 

[TickleWolf]

i think in this case the customer prefers regular sized cigs over 100's. camels being closer to marlboro's than other brands. the choice sounds like one i'd make. 100's take longer and are too much at once. i never really enjoyed them. as far as brands, it's like coke vs pepsi, everybody has a preference, usually based on what they started out with in the first place. i always felt that marlboro's are the best overall cig going. especially reds. they have a richer, fuller flavor, but aren't harsh. some brands just taste like hot air. even in the "non-lite" versions.

 

[Cosmo_ac]

I believe Dussicar hit the nail on the head. Taste and potency are the main biggies, though fashion also probably has it's part. The first type of cigarrette i started smoking was DeMauria, i think it was king size regulers, but i quickly found as the world spun around me, that they were simply too strong at the time. I went to extra light next, and while they are better as far as not having as much nicotein, i admit i still found them a bit strong(not to meantion expensive as it was almost $10 a pop for a 25 pack.) but i smoked them anyway. As chance would have it, i went into a convienance store and they were having a sale on Peter Jackson (No relation to LOTR's) ciggarretes. I could get a pack of 25 for about 4.25 i think, and thought what the hell, and grabbed a pack of Peter Jackson extra light.

This quickly became my reguler brand, as they had all the upsides of smoking, and the nicotine level was extremely low, making the cigarrette a fairly smooth smoke. Not to meantion much cheaper. My biggest complaint was that it had a white filter, something which i've never liked the looks of, but i got over it. I smoked Peter Jacksons for about a year or so before finally kicking the habbit(four monthes without a smoke and still counting) and switching to popeye ciggarretes. Much more healthy and tasty 😀

 

[tommytikl]

Actually, the "best bang for your buck" are the Camel "wides" and they really are wider than a normal cigarette, just the same length.
A guy at a tobacco store told met hat Camel Wides are the best value for the dollar.

I started with Marlboro's but I just don't like the taste of them...

But I love Camels, just a better taste to me...

Funny thing though is I often wonder what Parliment or Pall Mall would taste like but don't want to NOT like them and be down a pack...

Oh and I can't stand Methols...

Oh and I am a "only at work" smoker...I don't smoke at home, or bars or whatever, just work...I know I am odd...

 

[giantfan121262]

I have smoked Marlboro reds for years, and I prefer that brand basically because it has a robust flavor. Some of the lower tar cigs are like sucking on a straw.

 

[Dionysus]

Interesting question.

I smoke Salem Light 100's. I didn't start from any goofy peer pressure (I never got along with my peers back in the day anyway LOL).

Salem has always been my cigarette of choice, and it aggravates me that they keep changing the packaging. Used to be a simple green label with a silver sailboat logo, now the poor cashier has to search through green and black boxes while I keep telling her no, almost, yeah, no, not quite, wait, you had it, no...it's over there.......

But yeah, the taste is different (to me anyway). I sometimes find myself short on my Salem's, so I end up 'borrowing' smokes from my ma, who smokes Basics. Basics are almost like sucking tainted air, whereas Marlboro (or any non menthol) are like sucking air from a rats butt....... 😛

 

[Knox The Hatter]

Cosmo brought it up...

Weren't Peter Jacksons the ones with all the frilly colored wrapping paper around each cigarette? Back when I lived up there, I thought that was hilarious.

I thought Canadian cigarettes all kind of tasted and smelled the same. Kind of like rolling up potpourri and lighting it up. When I was there, I settled on unfiltered Exports. This worked out well, since I suspected that the filters on Canadian cigarettes were actually dipped in something similar to Glade.

I tried many brands. I liked Camels the best. I wasn't crazy about coughing my chest to pieces in the morning, and the fact that Camels waited till about the fourth cigarette of the day to stop stinging as the smoke went down. Nevertheless, they were great. They were even better when you got closer to payday, and all the guys on the ship were broke, and bumming cigs off everyone else. When they asked me, I pulled out my pack of unfiltered hump backs, made from Turkish blends, and they all walked away. Ha ha.

Here's what's really interesting...yesterday, while in Central Pennsylvania, I was in a gas station convenience store. As I handed the restroom key back to the woman behind the counter, I looked at the racks and racks of cigarettes, and my first inclination was to considered whether I needed any at the moment. Reflex. I had smoked my last one back in 1990, and here, I still have the reflex. You can quit, but in your mind, you never really quit...

 

[isabeau]

Interesting question.

I smoke Salem Light 100's. I didn't start from any goofy peer pressure (I never got along with my peers back in the day anyway LOL).

Salem has always been my cigarette of choice, and it aggravates me that they keep changing the packaging. Used to be a simple green label with a silver sailboat logo, now the poor cashier has to search through green and black boxes while I keep telling her no, almost, yeah, no, not quite, wait, you had it, no...it's over there.......

But yeah, the taste is different (to me anyway). I sometimes find myself short on my Salem's, so I end up 'borrowing' smokes from my ma, who smokes Basics. Basics are almost like sucking tainted air, whereas Marlboro (or any non menthol) are like sucking air from a rats butt....... 😛

that's what i smoke also..all other brands make me super dizzy..i will never smoke another brand, until i quit..

i once snuck a lucky strike from my dad...yikes..talk about coughing and getting nauseous..

 

[goddess_nemesis]

thanks everyone for your input. as a nonsmoker selling cigarettes to customers, cigarettes are cigarettes.

my dad smokes marlboro reds, but they are expensive as hell. for a while he smoked bronco full-flavors because they were cheaper and he said were close to what he was used to smoking, but the place he bought them at doesn't sell them anymore because of a different distributor. now he switches back and forth between marlboro reds and grand prix full flavor. the lady at the store where I would buy the broncos for my dad recommended the grand prix.

basically if my dad wants to save $10 a carton, he'll go with the grand prix. if he doesn't care, he'll get a carton of marlboros.