I don’t smoke anymore. Do most smokers really notice a difference between Marlboros and Marlboro Lights? Would you notice a difference between your usual brand and another one?
There is a huge difference between marlboros and marlboro lights. I not only taste the difference, but feel the difference. regular strength marlboro’s hurt my chest afterward.
Between most of the name brands, I really don’t taste much difference among their various lights.
If you were to closely examine the filter of a Marlboro regular, and then that of a Marlboro Light, you’d notice a key difference. The Light has a ring of tiny perforations going around the filter, which allows a tiny bit of air to come in. Marlboro Ultra Lights have two of these rings.
That’s the entire difference between these different smokes.
When I was a smoker, I would occasionally be given a pack of “not my usual brand” by someone. If they were Lights, then a little bit of Scotch Tape over those perforations would…errrr…unLight them.
Oh, I can tell for sure. I smoke American Spirits, the yellow pack, and those are fine with me. Every now and then, I find an unopened pack of cigs around my neighborhood, usually camel filters, and smoke those too. But, one time, I found a pack of these freakin’ Gold Coast filters and they were just horrible. It tasted like cardboard a bit, and it buzzed me like no other.
Lol, I gave them to this guy at work who compared them to crack since he just wanted more and more of them. Kinda scary I guess. :eek:
Can you taste a difference in brands of cola or coffee or types of tea?
I can definitely taste the difference. I used to smoke Dunhills - now I smoke Malboro Ultra-Lights (Dunhills are hard to get around here and uber-expensive). I smoked a pack of Dunhills a few months ago and remembered why I loved them so much. They’re much smoother without being tasteless.
I sell cigs all day, but am not a smoker. I would LOVE to read about the differences between Marlboro Reds (our #1 brand) and Camel Filters (our #2 “regular” brand)… Or, for that matter, Camel Lights vs. Marlboro Lights.
Joe
According to my psychology professor, it’s all in your head. He once did a study (it’s not available online, though, apparently), where smokers had to distinguish their brands from others, and the result was: They couldn’t.
From my own experience as a (former) smoker, I would beg to differ. I have to admit that most cigarettes are probably really not distinguishable, regardless of what one thinks, similar to the coke taste tests. However, I could clearly distinguish Marlboro Lights from other Light brands, because they made me really queasy, and Camel Filters from other regular brands - those had an “earthy”, really harsh taste that scratched your throat.
Others, I don’t think I could have necessarily told them apart, barring being able to perceive differences in nicotine content and the resulting necessity to drag harder or not on the cigarette.
I call bullshit on your professor and I’ll bet he’s never been a smoker.
I smoked for years and I could have instantly distinguished the flavours of the top half-dozen brands with my eyes closed. On occasion, I would bum a smoke of a different brand from a buddy and invariably I would follow it with, “Pfftt…Why do you smoke [insert brand here], these are terrible,” etc…
My smoking history:
Export “A” “Lights”: Dry, not enough flavour
Export “A” “Milds”: Acidic, a lousy smoke
Export “A” “Mediums”: A nice, heavy flavour but a bit much if you smoke too many
Player’s “Lights”: Pretty heavy for a “light”, nice coolness to the taste
DuMaurier Regular: A full bodied, yet mellow smoke. A bit generic
And, of course, Canadian cigarettes are very different from US Brands…
I love smoking, but I quit for obvious reasons. If it wasn’t deadly and didn’t cost $10 per pack (Yes, $10) in Canada I’d smoke full blast.
I don’t usually notice a taste difference between Marlboro Ultra Lights (my boyfriend’s brand), Winston Lights (my brand) and Camel Regular (my dad’s brand) but I do notice a difference in how they make me feel. Camel Regular make me feel yucky. I could probably switch between Marlboro Ultra Lights and Winston Lights and not tell a difference.
My brother switched to Basic Ultra Lights recently and I tried one and I liked it. I did taste a difference and feel a difference. It tasted…less?
I smoke Marlboro Light 100’s (but not for long, I hope) and I can tell a difference between the 100’s and the shorter ones. The short ones are much stronger – I hack like an old man after one of those.
I used to smoke Winstons (regular and light), but now they make me queasy, which is a shame, because they keep sending me coupons.
I can tell a light from a full flavor, a menthol from a non menthol (I know, who can’t), but same type, different brand, can’t tell a difference.
Can people tell the difference between a regular full flavor name brand and regular full flavor bargain brand?
Well, it’s been some time, but I remember reading the study and thinking much the same thing. Then again, I’ve never tried the blind taste-test, and there’s enough evidence that branding, packaging etc. plays a huge part in perception. So I’m thinking it’s probably in between the two extremes: Some brands have a distinct flavor and can be easily identified, but I don’t know if it would be that easy to identify 5 different brands of e.g. light cigarettes.
For example, from my experience, I would suggest Gauloises Red, Fortuna blue (I think it was blue - it’s the light version of a Spanish brand), Marlboro Medium, and maybe Lucky Strike to be similar in taste. (Not Lucky Strike Lights, those taste like straw).
Stronger brands with a similar taste IMHO: Gauloises Blue, Marlboro Regular, NIL
Distinctive-tasting: The American Spirit cigarettes have a very distinctive - honey like? - taste; also Camels of any variety, and I would agree with AuntiePam that the Marlboro 100s differ from the regular ones.
Wee Bairn, I sometimes bought bargain brands just to try that, but the tobacco just did not seem to taste that good, and they often had a very “scratchy” aftertaste.
It’s much easier to go on and on about the difference between lights vs regulars than similar strength/flavors in different brands, sure. The effect you get from regular vs lights vs ultras is quite different. Many lights smokers cough and hack or get headaches from stronger ones, full-flavor smokers feel cheated smoking a light,etc.
I’d guess that there are common ingredients in different brands, like say the ‘turkish’ blend in camels, that carry a similar taste, whether you smoke lights or full-strength or whatever. Folks get accustomed to that one particular flavor and then the other flavors just taste wrong.
Personally, I switched years ago from regular camels to newports (radical amongst smokers, but I quit for a year and started back by bumming the menthols) and when I smoked camels they were harder to come by than marlboros were. I preferred them then because marlboros somehow tasted dusty and stale to me, while camels tasted fresher. Either one would work for me, but I preferred the camels. Similarly, I can smoke a kool now, but prefer newport.
It’s basically the same as the forty-two brands of coffee available, some of it’s branding but some of it’s taste.
Image is a large part of it but IMO there is a distinguisable difference in taste between most brands.
Been a smoker for too long and I can tell the difference between my brand and others in the same “weight class” )full flavor, light, etc.,). I find it humorous that someone mentioned the “Turkish blend” in Camels. While I was stationed in Turkey, I smoked Camels and the pack over there says “Smooth AMERICAN blend.” Marketing is funny, no?
Anybody smoke Gauloises? they smell like buring garbage! Or turkish tobacco-smooth-but a very bad smell.
Had one once, it tasted like it more or less sounds, galoshes
Back when I smoked, the only ones I COULDN’T tell were not my beloved Marlboro Lights were Basic Lights. Everything else tasted off. And I believe Basics are made by Marlboro, so that makes sense. I’d bum other brands if I was out - even menthol once in a while (and what smoker hasn’t bought a pack of menthol when she gets a cold? Fine stuff for clearing congestion!) but they were never as satisfying as bumming my own brand.
Eventually I switched to American Spirit in the light blue or teal pack, I forget which (their “light”, I believe), and then quickly to American Spirit loose tobacco when I became a roll-yer-owner. Then it all just got to be too much work and I quit to have a baby.
Cigarette manufacturers flavor their tobacco with different agents, so of course it tastes different. I remember the two most popular flavors are coffee and chocolate, but I forget which one Marlboro has. Winston has the other. They’re subtle, not like “flavored tobacco”, but unmistakably different.
Damn, I miss smoking.
A fresh pack of Camels (the real, unfiltered ones) is a thing of beauty and joy. There are differences in flavor from brand to brand. I quit a while ago, but there isn’t a day goes by that I don’t miss tobacco. That first smoke in the morning and the one right after supper were sublime.