Hard economic times have forced people to take a second look at the way they spend their disposable income, especially students.
For smokers, nicotine addiction makes it difficult to quit smoking even if it’s to save money. At 10 packs a month, I spend roughly $75 a month on the habit. To have your cake and eat it too, it has become necessary to buy cigarettes cheaply.
For UNM-area smokers, the Daily Lobo visited cigarette outlets between Central and Coal avenues and University and Girard boulevards to see which sells the cheapest, most bearable cigarettes.
I tested each pack to determine which were the best in terms of smoking experience, ranging from the vilely unpalatable (cheap brands seem to have a varying characteristic chemical funk) to a flavor on par with pricier brands. They are listed in order from best to worst in the graphic on page 6.
The Sandia, by far the worst, had an overwhelming harsh flavor, likely because of the stale tobacco and chemical content. It’s an unpleasant drag that reminds you that you’re smoking something loaded with harmful elements. Pass on these unless you just spent all your money on the bills and are trying to choose between buying more expensive cigarettes and eating.
The Pyramid cigarette was barely a step above the Sandia. I wasn’t able to finish a cigarette from either of these packs. The Pyramid flavor was more intense, which makes it better because you wouldn’t smoke as many and would spend less money. The drag was an airy, stale smoke with a more overwhelming chemical taste than the Sandia.
Maverick struck a balance between funk and tobacco, though the flavor was comparable to a regular cigarette. It was similar to smoking and feeling shortchanged. This brand is smoke-able, but barely. I finished one or two, but a whole pack would be challenging.
Doral also failed to deliver a full-flavor drag, but the chemical funk was more subdued than the Maverick. Once in a while, these cigarettes wouldn’t be terrible, but buying them regularly seems like a waste of money. Why pay for a cigarette that doesn’t give you all the flavor your crave?
The Native cigarette had undertones of funk, which is probably because it’s difficult to get a good drag off it. The cigarette lasts longer, but on the other hand, nobody wants to look like a fiend sucking and sucking at a cigarette that refuses to provide a fulfilling drag. It smokes OK, but by the middle, the flavor changes from airy to harsh.
Because of their flavor, Fortuna and Pall Mall could easily be mistaken for each other. Neither are a bad smoke — relatively full flavor without an overwhelmingly harsh funk. However, the Fortuna burnt quickly. I take about 10 minutes to smoke a cigarette, and this took six or seven minutes.
Liggett Select impressed me by almost completely disguising the funk with a nice, full flavor that tasted mostly like tobacco with caramel undertones. On the other hand, the smoke was somewhat harsher, though not much more than the Pall Mall. The Sonoma was similar. I rated them above Liggett Select only because these had a smoother inhale.
The GPC was similar to Sonoma with a smooth inhale and almost indiscernible funk.
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USA Gold was a hit at my Super Bowl party, where I enlisted smokers to test the products with me, though I’m pretty sure they favored these because they were sick of the harsher cigarettes I offered.
The drag was flavorful without any kind of harshness or funk. This pack only wins third because the flavor is not as satisfying as the top two.
Winston and L&M offer a smooth drag that doesn’t compromise the flavor, and so they both gave me a completely satisfying smoking experience. However, L&M wins the best pack considering it is 72 cents cheaper than the cheapest pack in the area. It is also the only pack that delivered an untainted smoke flavor, devoid of the funk — and it had a pleasantly sweet aftertaste, to boot.
Another option for smoking cheaply: Roll your own.
This requires some skill, but the practice is worth it. Not only are you smoking a cigarette you worked hard to roll, but you get more bang for your buck. For about $5, you can buy a cheap pouch of tobacco, which produces about 50 cigarettes, depending on how fat you stuff them. Or you can buy a quality 12-ounce canister for about $50, and that produces about a carton of cigarettes.
Of course, smoking is not encouraged. This is simply to inform smokers who won’t be quitting anytime soon about the best places to buy cigarettes. If you’re a wannabe quitter, contact the Student Health and Counseling center or the Campus Office of Substance Abuse Prevention. Take advantage of the help available. For more information on quitting, go to shac.unm.edu/smoking.html.
