| Why would anyone go to the effort to make their | | | | chemicals? |
| own cigarettes? While I can only answer for myself | | | | When I first thought of Roll Your Own cigarettes my |
| the reasons are many. Coming from a low-country | | | | thoughts were of the old men I used to see who |
| town in Carolina, I can still very well remember the | | | | fascinated me with their dexterity as they hand rolled |
| sweet and pungent aromas of the tobacco auction | | | | a smoke from one of the many over the counter |
| season and the myriad sights and sounds that | | | | varieties found in many groceries and pharmacies. For |
| accompanied the auctioneer and buyers as they | | | | myself, this meant something that would inevitably |
| walked among the beautiful rows of golden leaves. | | | | leave you with a mouth full of bitter shreds and a |
| Due to my age, I can also recall sitting in the company | | | | smoke that was dry, harsh, and packed the subtlety of |
| of many others as they instructed me in just how | | | | a mule kick. |
| many leaves to grasp by their stems while then | | | | However, after a moment of exploration on the |
| wrapping another around the top to produce a hand of | | | | Internet I soon found that there were indeed |
| tobacco. My father, being from upstate New York | | | | alternatives. After reading in RYO Magazine and a |
| where propane was used for many purposes, owned | | | | quick call to D&R in Smithfield, North Carolina, I |
| a propane gas company and soon afterwards | | | | was soon eagerly awaiting a shipment of an injector, |
| invented the system that inaugurated the move from | | | | some filter tubes and a wide selection of blends. Upon |
| wood to propane in flue curing bright tobacco. Those | | | | their arrival, my wife and I spent a few days sampling |
| many aromas and the bustle of the auction season still | | | | and experimenting. |
| lingers with me as I think back on the many sensory | | | | I am now glad to say that we were both thrilled with |
| delights of fine tobacco just out of the curing barns. | | | | our purchases and what we have since experienced. |
| Maybe from that direct exposure I was exposed to an | | | | Now, our home no longer has that foul reek of inferior |
| appreciation of what tobaccos SHOULD smell like. In | | | | tobaccos, in fact, the new blends actually are more a |
| fact, I even remember watching once as I was given a | | | | fragrance than what previously was more that foul |
| lecture on the differences between our fine Carolina | | | | stench of stale cheap tobaccos. Too, we have both |
| brights versus those "other" tobaccos that were left in | | | | rediscovered the overwhelmingly pleasant taste and |
| the fields. the burleys of the up-country. To even | | | | aroma of great tobaccos. However one totally |
| further educate me, I was once given a demonstration | | | | unanticipated side benefit is that we now smoke far |
| of how burley was soaked in a solution of sugar, salt | | | | fewer cigarettes as the wonderful D&R and |
| and water, wrung out, shaken, and then made into a | | | | other blends are infinitely more satisfying. Even more, |
| twist for drying. Back then chewing tobacco was | | | | there is no longer that coughing and congestion that |
| either a similar twist or a plug, not the subtle stuff of | | | | used to accompany each morning's waking. |
| today's highly cased bags. | | | | Today, we have come a long way, as we now |
| Years later, when I was grown, I was exposed to | | | | experiment with our own blending and have studied |
| many of the "store bought" cigarettes that rarely had | | | | the many varietals, variations, and characteristics. For |
| filters. Lucky Strikes, Home Run, Camels, Chesterfield, | | | | general smoking there is a light blend, but sometimes |
| Phillip Morris and others. Eventually, the American taste | | | | there is the enjoyment of a great Turkish blend or |
| turned to filtered cigarettes and the decline of intense | | | | even a dessert blend with a bit of Latakia. Sometimes |
| toasted flavors and Turkish blends. However, as | | | | a sweet smoke and for other times more of an |
| cigarette tobaccos were more and more enhanced | | | | English blend. The fun part is that with our own custom |
| with additives better transportation and | | | | made cigarettes we now have the opportunity to |
| communications led to the growth of international | | | | enjoy the finest quality in an incredible range of styles. |
| blends in pipe tobaccos where Balkan, Turkish, and | | | | Sometimes a thin, rolled smoke, other times a thicker |
| English blends led to a plethora of pipe shops and a | | | | injected smoke, with NO additives. |
| rapid growth in new blends, cuts, and flavors. | | | | When we once tried the premium brand of pre-made |
| Maybe it is a personal recollection as many of the | | | | commercial cigarettes, we both looked at one another |
| older ways seem better, but it seems that in now | | | | with a grin. No taste, no flavor, a horrible bitter residual, |
| having so many options among cigarettes today, much | | | | and that all too familiar stench in the air. As though an |
| of the flavor and aroma has gone. With the hundreds | | | | interesting spin on an old commercial, we are now |
| of additives now the standard, are we smoking | | | | smoking far less, but enjoying it so much more! |
| tobacco or some lesser grade tobacco and myriad | | | | |