Over the course of the past three years, I have written many product review articles. I have written product reviews of myriad food items, household goods, automobiles, motorcycles and appliances. One type of product that I have never written a review of however, is cigarettes. Yes, I admit it, I am still a cigarette smoker. I count and try to limit the number of cigarettes that I smoke each day and I also smoke more than one brand, to provide a sense of variety. The two brands of cigarettes that I smoke are Marlboro Regular, or Red 100's, and Sonoma Full Flavor, or Red 100's. I think that these two brands of cigarettes are comparable in flavor and strength and have decided to write a product review of these cigarette varieties. Presented here, in an effort to assist the consumer, is a product review of Marlboro Regular Red 100's and Sonoma Full Flavor Red 100's.
Flavor
To me, the flavor offered by Sonoma Full Flavor 100's and Marlboro Full Flavor Red 100's is similar, yet somewhat refreshingly different. As with many other cigarette smokers, my first cigarette of the day, along with a cup of coffee, is my favorite. The full flavor offered by Marlboro Full Flavor Red 100's is exactly what my body needs to attain the level of nicotine that it seems to crave.
Interestingly, after the first cigarette of the day, the rest of the cigarettes that I smoke are Sonomas, with the exception of my last cigarette of the day, which is usually a Marlboro Full Flavor Red 100. While the flavors of these two brands of cigarettes are indeed similar, the Sonomas taste a tiny bit lighter to me, yet supply exactly the “oomph” that my system craves, as long as I cut half of the filter off.
Price
The price normally charged for Marlboro Full Flavor Red 100's is the same standard price charged for all of the major name brand 100's cigarettes. In the Hartford, Connecticut area, that translates into approximately $6.20 per pack. The price normally charged for Sonomas is considerably less, approximately $5.60 per pack. Although Sonomas are priced somewhere between name brand and generic brand cigarettes, I think that they are just as good as any of the name brands.
Strength
For anyone who smokes full flavor cigarettes, the strength of the cigarettes definitely does matter. Since I have been smoking Marlboros for more than 20 years and Sonomas for only roughly three years, my system is completely used to and receptive to the Marlboro's strength level.
With the Sonomas, unles I cut half of the filter off, they are just not quite as strong as I would prefer. With half of the filter cut off, they attain the strength level that my body craves.
Availability
One of the only issues that I have about smoking Sonoma Full Flavor Red 100's is their availability. From my experience, less than 50% of the cigarette retailers that I visit normally stock and sell these cigarettes. Because Sonoma Full Flavor Red 100's are fairly difficult for me to find sometimes, I am always pleased when I discover another outlet that sells them. Marlboro Full Flavor Red 100's on the other hand, are regularly stocked pretty much anywhere that most major brands of cigarettes are sold.
Size
Since I specifically purchase 100's - size cigarettes, the size of the cigarettes does matter. Technically, both the Marlboro Full Flavor Red 100's and the Sonoma Full Flavor Red 100's are the same size, but the size of their filters is different. Of course, being 100's, both of these brands offer more tobacco to be smoked than regular - size cigarettes and the amount of tobacco in each of these brands seems to be comparable.
Appearance
Marlboro Full Flavor Red 100's and Sonoma Full Flavor Red 100's are both packaged in standard 100's - size cigarette packs that are red and white, with black lettering. The cigarettes themselves, look largely the same, except that the filters on the Marlboro cigarettes appear to be a little bit bigger that the filters on the Sonoma cigarettes.
Overall Rating
All things considered, Marlboro Full Flavor Red 100's and Sonoma Full Flavor Red 100's are both very flavorful brands of cigarettes that are comparable in strength. There is a disparity in the price of these cigarette brands, however. Sonoma Full Flavor Red 100's are normally priced lower than the Marlboro Full Flavor Red 100's. If you are a cigarette smoker who is seeking satisfying full - flavor, 100's - size smokes, please let me recommend both Marlboro Full Flavor Red 100's and Sonoma Full Flavor Red 100's cigarettes.
Sources :
Personal experience with the products
Back for another year of reviewing American Idol. Since this is Simon's last it's probably mine too. Maybe next year I'll focus on House Husbands of Hollywood 2.
Season 9 of Idol began with an acknowledgment of all the changes. Paula left the series to pursue obscurity. We were told nine guest judges would appear on the audition rounds vying for Paula's spot and they must've all done fantastic since Ellen DeGeneres got the job.
First up guest-judge wise was the painfully thin Victoria Beckham. My droll daughter Annie, who watched with me, shouted out, “Give her a sandwich! You'd think David Beckham could provide!“
Victoria's musical credentials are impeccable. She was Posh in the Spice Girls. And now Ryan refers to her as a “Fashion Icon”. Oh really? I don't think those doily-laced headbands are going to catch on other than for tying your garbage bags. Here's an example of her expert assessment of a singer's performance: “I love the jeans, the shirt.“
Posh offered nothing in the way of insight or personality, which still made her better than Kara. How the hell is she back for another year? Kara Dioguardi and Jeff Zucker - the two people who can't get fired. I'm reminded of that great line — “Who do you have to fuck to get off this picture?”
Randy Jackson is also back - wearing more make-up than Kara, Victoria, and even Ryan. And what was with the Playskool watch? Did “Fashion Icon” Posh suggest that? Randy unveiled some exciting new meaningless catch-phrases for the season. “Doin' it big!” and my personal favorite, “You're a cool guy. Great hang!“
The show started out in Boston. 9000 delusional guttersnipes getting drenched in a pouring rain. And not one of them I'm sure could appreciate the metaphor.
They started right off with a classic nut. Some whacko girl who kept auditioning to the American Idol video game. And when the animated Simon said she was good enough she entered the real competition. She was horrendous. Annie said they should recall the game if it put her through. Her idea of rehearsing, by the way, was to practice jumping.
There was the obligatory parade of idiots — girls who dressed like Diablo Cody if Diablo Cody was blind and guys decked out like Michael Jackson, the Marlboro Man, and the Burger King. This year's atrocious William Hung Asian kid massacred Eric Carman's “All By Myself”. And we had two or three lunatics who mistook grand mal seizures for dance steps. One cretin actually still thought Paula was there.
All of the losers broke down crying. “Simon's wrong!” “I'm a great singer, I know I am.” “I just took the steroids to heal faster.”
There were heart-tugging stories galore — cancer and down syndrome and dying grandmothers with dementia. All of these contestants got through to Hollywood of course. You're never going to hear, “Well, you have only one year to live and you can't sing.“
Ryan said one contestant got a “One-way ticket to Hollywood.” Uh, does that mean he has to pay his own way home? I guess the economic crunch has even caught up to American Idol.
My favorite aspirants: the drummer who broke both wrists after falling out of a tree, some Clark Kent-looking guy who was pissed he had to wait all day (this really irked Kara who intimated that if you're going to make it in the music industry you better have a talent for waiting), and finally - a blond stoner with horrible skin (I love my HD) who said he was going to try to sound like his idol, Chris Brown. Why Chris Brown? Because “he touches young kids all over the world.” Yeah, he sure touched young Rihanna. He beat the crap out of her. Stoner Boy was rejected but he was satisfied with his performance. As he said, “I did what I had to do. I hit really loud notes.“
More auditions tonight but I'm skipping those because, well, it's the same show as this one. Only the sob stories and costumes will change. Oh, and the guest judge. Not sure but I think it's Captain Beefheart.
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Welcome To The Thunder: This Is Your Hump-Day Trans-Am
Wednesdays suck. 1960s American muscle does not suck. Road racing does not suck. YouTube also does not suck. Can you see where we're going with this? In-car video of a 7500-rpm AMC Javelin and loud noises below. Eat me, Wednesday.
My dad is a funny guy. Because he and I both have weird work schedules, I'll often go a week or two without talking to him over the phone. We communicate a bit more regularly through email, but even then, it's limited to sporadic bursts of excellence: 500 words on why the much-abused BMW 2002 race car that we share needs more cam. Three paragraphs on the glory of Mark Donohue's The Unfair Advantage. Five sentences on how he needs to buy a Vincent Black Shadow and listen to more Richard Thompson while drinking small-batch bourbon. You get the picture.
Of all the things my dad geeks out on, the one subject he repeatedly comes back to is the original Trans-Am. (The racing series, not the Pontiac.) The Trans-American Sedan Championship of the 1960s and early 1970s is one of our shared touchstones, the kind of unspoken father-son weirdness that we both understand and never have to explain.
All of this is an elongated way of saying that, a few days ago, Dad sent me the clips below, along with a few appropriate comments (”Holy hell, Marlboro was tiny!“). For a number of different reasons, none of which I will bore you with, I absolutely hate Wednesdays. Maybe you do too. And maybe this will help.
Highlights: Peter Revson narrating a lap in his AMC Javelin. Someone saying “…the start, which is frequently a short run to disaster here.” At several points, you catch a glimpse of the all-conquering Penske/Sunoco Camaros. The oft-forgotten Dan Gurney/Swede Savage AAR Plymouth 'Cuda can be seen peeking its nose through the pack on a start. And Mark Donohue does heroic, Captain Nice Mark Donohue things.
Photo/Screencap Credit: Historic Trans-Am, Dave Friedman/DF Photo Services
Send an email to Sam Smith, the author of this post, at sam@jalopnik.com.