well, yes, no that (above) wasn't going to be the title, look you see. a more accurate one would have been to call this "manchester fags", for that is what all of this concerns. by that i mean the actual, correct and of course right use of the word fags, which is to describe cigarettes. unfortunately our friends in America have a rather (somewhat) different use for the word, and you get called a naughty if you use it. still, there's little wrong with quoting Ian Brown out of The Stone Roses instead.
so, something of an ambition reached once more then. indeed no it is not a sensible ambition or one that i would encourage others to do. yet still, here we are. i have, at last, tried some of these fa...cigarettes what are called 'Manchester'. and so feel obliged to write of them.
exactly what are these, then? well, they are cigarettes. assuming you would like a bit more better answer there, so far as i am aware they are a brand one would usually, or normally, hear of in America. perhaps it was so that they were a thing here in the UK, perhaps in the 70s, but i am unaware of then. my awareness of them comes purely from adverts for them in periodicals and other such publications, or if you will magazines, off of America and usually meant for that market. hence them being ads for products over that way. generally yes, these are all publications intended for members of the gentry what quite like admiring (so to speak) images (of artistic merit) of ladies somewhat undressed.
provenance of my packs? well, now, no i cannot give such specific information. let's just say that these were off of a rather more independent distributor, charging roughly (or about) a third of the price that any packet of cigarettes would cost you down at a "recognised" retailer. not that the price of them is their fault, that's the bloody government and their taxes, that is. which is why so many of us seek out the services of independent, intrepid and very (very) helpful entrepreneurs.
above is an image of one of the (two thinner) sides of the packs. no, i am not showing the other, for it is dull but also has a (presumably bogus) barcode on it. nice try, constabulary. what's interesting here, beyond the health warning you all should obviously pay attention to, is that the tar and nicotine levels, or content, are listed. so far as i am aware this bit of info got quietly dropped from the (ahem) more official brands of cigarettes, reason for such unknown. not entirely sure what i or anyone else was supposed to do with the information, but i suppose one could say it was "nice to know".
nicotine and tar levels being on the packs is one of several "clues" (or hints) that these may well be quite genuine, bona fide counterfeit fa.....cigarettes. how truly wonderful if so. often i have heard tales of bootlegs being made and sold, but this would be a first knowing encounter. for the most part i had always assumed (or taken as a given) that the more independently distributed ones were ones what had somehow fallen off of a lorry, or a container, or from a duty free warehouse. perhaps just driven in from a place in Europe where they are a sensible price.
how are the cigarettes? well, they are no Marlboro. coarse, i suppose would be a word that comes to mind, if not so harsh and "ideal for salty sea dogs" as things like Players used to be. no, i am not adding links to previous posts, but do feel free to search. upon lighting one of these up you are directly, indeed immediately, aware that you are smoking a cigarette. there is no careful cushioning of the experience. yet they are reasonably pleasant, and get the job done. at a most agreeable price.
in the psychedelic like picture above you can kind of make out that the branding is very much there on the cigarettes. along with two lovely sort of gold stripes around the filter. should it be so that these were all manufactured in some bootleggers plant, well, credit to them for not doing a half job. also, the taste, or flavour or what have you is consistent cigarette to cigarette, packet to packet. so it's not like they have just shoved any old thing what vaguely resembles tobacco in them. true, it might well be that the filters are all asbestos or what have you, but them's the breaks.
for actual provenance in regards to the origin, it does make mention that these cigarettes area a "rich blend of the finest Virginian tobacco" if that helps. yet the packet does make a lot of reference to how they are in some way English (or British). no actual place of manufacture or similar on the packs, but it does list a very generic sounding company with the helpful address for them being "London, England". let me ask a taxi driver to take me there next time i visit.
this is a point i have made before, and shall make again. if it is so that these independently sourced cigarettes can be brought here and sold for £5 a go and all involved in the process - manufacture, shipping, sales - make enough money to make it viable, well that shows just how f*****g ridiculous the high taxation strategy of governments here truly is. no one is stopping smoking because they put the taxes up, they are simply stopping buying them via official channels. but of course the stats say that less, or "fewer", people are buying cigarettes, so they can boast and brag of making a difference.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment