 We found our official cigarette taste-tester, the old guy, at his favorite summertime fishin' hole. (The decorative pond with the flock of goldfish, located in front of City Hall.) Wearing a (slightly) moth eaten tank top and a speedo swim suit, he likes to while away the afternoons, a fishing line tied around his big toe, a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. (We know where he gets the smokes...I wonder if he is also an official taste-tester for a beer distributor?) This month we had him try three imports, and one "made in U.S.A." brand. Here are his opinions of the four:
 
Arrows Full Flavor King: The Native Tobacco Direct company, based on Seneca Nation territory in western New York, has contracted with a manufacturer in Peru to produce the Arrows brand line. From the pack design/colors, it seems apparent which "nationally known" brand they are attempting to look like. Length: 3 1/4 inches (83 mm); filter (white): 3/4 inch (20 mm). We were able to tamp the tobacco 1/8 of an inch. The tobacco is mostly medium brown and predominantly finely cut ribbons. Our pack might have been a little on the old side, because it crumbled rather quickly. The "binder" in the roll was effective, though, because the tobacco retained its tubular shape after we removed the paper. We found no foreign material or stem "chunks" in the mix. Turns out, Arrows not only looks like Marlboro, they smoke rather like a Marlboro. The same flavor, especially at light-up, was there. We don't know the additives, but would bet there is vanilla and chocolate...as well as sugar. Arrows are, we think, a bit stronger than the PM product.
 
Smokin Joe Menthol King: Length: 3 1/4 inches (83 mm); filter (white); 13/16 inch (21 mm). Smokin Joe is the product of another Native American company based in New York. This one, however, is actually made in the U.S.A. (The same company manufactures the Exact and Market brands.) On the "tamp test," we got 1/8 inch (about 3 mm), which seems to be pretty much standard for king size. The filter is white, 13/16 inch long. We found nothing unusual - or foreign - in the tobacco, but it did seem a bit drier than most that we open up. One never really knows, though, how long the pack has been sitting on the shelf. (This one was purchased in a small smoke shop in the Nevada desert.) The old guy's lady friend (one of many...he is a debonair, good looking guy, after all) did the taste test on this one, and she liked it. Normally a menthol light smoker, she reported that this full flavor menthol was not too strong for her, with a smooth draw and no unpleasant aftertaste. "I could smoke these," says she. That means a bit more coming from her, rather than the old guy, since he could - and does - smoke virtually anything he gets for free.
 
Sixty 1 Full Flavor King: Length: 3 1/4 inches (83 mm). Filter (white): 3/4 inch (20 mm). This brand is manufactured in the Philippines...from tobacco imported from the U.S.A. The "tamp down" test resulted in very little compression...about 1/16 inch. The tobacco was about 90 percent medium brown, and mostly finely cut ribbons. We found no foreign material in the mix. This cigarette is quite strong...too strong, really, for our personal taste. And there was a definite sharpness to the smoke, leaving a sensation in the back of the throat like one is coming down with a sore throat. Perhaps it was intended for beer drinkers, because after each draw, we automatically reached for one to cool down the throat. The draw was a bit harder than most, which makes sense considering the minimal compression resulting from tamping.
 
Miss Diamond Light 120: Length: 4 5/8 inches (118 mm). This brand is made in India under the authority of the Trade Mark owner, which is - and here's a tobacco company you don't hear of every day - Twinkle, U.S.A. The filter in this Light model is 15/16 inch, and the tamp-down test yielded not quite 1/16 inch compression. Pretty firmly packed. The tobacco was a blend of medium brown color with a sprinkling of very dark leaf...almost black. There was no foreign stuff in the cigarette we dissected, although we found one small chunk of woody stem. Some of the blend consisted of irregular flakes, but most was about medium ribbon cut. The draw was harder than we like. Perhaps that's typical of the 120 length (longer, but smaller diameter). The smoke was smooth...too smooth, really, with very little tobacco flavor. As it burned closer to the filter, there was a bit more coming through, but we can only wonder what the Ultra Light model would be like. If you generally smoke Ultra Lights, we would suggest you try the Light model in this brand.
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BRAND REVIEW
