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BRAND REVIEW
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 We spotted the Old Guy at the toy store where he was buying some things for the yearly children's hospital toy drive. He never has a lot of extra money, but always makes it a point to help others if he can. Although he was good at hiding it, we are pretty sure he was happy and full of the holiday spirit. As he continued to shuffle along, we slipped four new brands into his coat pocket. Without looking up, he grumbled a quiet "Merry Christmas" as we turned to go. Here's what he thought about them: 
• GT One Menthol 100's - Made in Colombia and distributed by General Tobacco, Miami FL, USA. Length: 3 15/16 inches, 100mm; filter 13/16 inch, 21 mm. The tobacco is made of mostly large light-to-medium flakes, and nothing foreign was found in the sample. The Old Guy thought this was a surprisingly good smoke. He was pleased with the way it went down (not rough at all), and it didn't burn too fast. The flavor was not at all overwhelming with menthol (which, as we know, he doesn't usually care for), but it was bold enough for even him to be impressed with. He also found absolutely no unpleasant aftertaste, almost as if he didn't smoke it all. This one he would give about a "7"on a scale to ten, and he would definitely recommend it as a good choice for an economical "everyday" brand.
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• Gold Coast Full Flavor 100's - Made by the Forsythe Tobacco Co., Winston-Salem, N.C., the Gold Goast is but one of many, many brands made by this company. As far as we know, the products are manufactured in the USA, although there is no statement to that effect on the pack. This model is just shy of 3 7/8 inches (98 mm) long, with an unusually long, white filter. (1 3/16 inches - 31 mm) When we tamped it, there was no compression of the tobacco mix. This blend was somewhat lighter in color than what we've come to know as an "American Blend", consisting of ribbons and flakes. We found no foreign material or woody stem pieces in the mix. We have reviewed several other Forsythe brands and have usually found a certain "roughness" to the smoke. This rather harsh "edge" was absent in the Gold Coast 100, possibly due to the longer filter. The draw was easy, while the burn rate was slightly faster than average. We found no unpleasant aftertaste or coating in the mouth after finishing our test smoke. Overall, this may be the best Forsythe brand we've tried, and we can recommend it for those who like their full flavor smoke a bit on the mild side.
• Sandia Menthol Light 100's - Sandia is a relatively new entry in the economy brand market. (At least, we've never seen it prior to the fall of 2004.) It is made in the USA -- New Mexico, to be precise -- by the Sandia Tobacco Manufacturers, Inc., and goes for less than $10.00 per carton online. The menthol light 100 model is 3 7/8 inches (99 mm) long, with a fairly long (1 3/16 inch - 31 mm) white filter. The tobacco mix is slightly darker than most other "American Blend" cigarettes. We found no foreign material in it, and we were able tamp it down about 1/8 inche. The longish filter may be the cause of a somewhat harder than normal draw. This is a smooth smoke, with the menthol level at about midway on the 1 to 10 scale...perhaps even a six. The burn rate was, in our opinion, slightly slower than average. All in all, we were pretty impressed with this new entry on the scene. And the price is right, at less than $10.00 per carton where we purchased ours.
• Round Up Full Flavor King - At press time, we have been unable to find the name of the company that manufacturers and/or distributes the Roundup brand. The only information on the pack is that it is "Made in India". This style of Roundup is 3 5/16 inches (84 mm) long, with a 3/4 inch (20 mm) white filter. The tobacco blend appears to be a standard "American blend" of light, medium and dark leaf, and we were able to tamp it down only 1/16 of an inch. We found no foreign material or woody stem pieces in the cigarette we opened up. The draw is easy and the burn rate about average. The flavor is not overpowering...rather smooth, in fact. However, there is a hint of a sour aftertaste in the smoke, along with kind of a dry coating in the mouth after finishing a couple of the smokes. As we've mentioned many times before, smoking is a very subjective pastime. We always hesitate to come up with a firm rating because of that. In other words, what the Old Guy likes, may be terrible for other smokers...and vice versa. We probably won't buy more of the Roundup brand, but at the current rockbottom price in the market, you might give it a try.