From both personal experience, and confirmation from Americans(including Rym). The local smokes don't bother me that much anymore though, so I'm not sure how much that means outside of what I'm told.
While laws regarding where you could smoke seemed less strict in Australia, there seemed to be slightly less smoking in Melbourne than in NYC. Probably because of their much stricter laws putting the horrible graphics on the packaging plus sin taxes. Also, it seemed that the cigarettes themselves gave off a much less horrible smoke than the ones they sell in the US.
How did you manage in Japan? It's odd to hear someone from a city like New York complain about smells.
We joke, but the city doesn't actually smell bad.
Sure, there are places where people have urinated, and places where there is currently garbage not yet picked up, but overall the city smells pretty neutral, and in many nicer neighborhoods it often smells floral.
Cigarette smell cuts through everything and stands out like a spotlight of smell. We can tell in our apartment if someone is smoking in the parking lot despite the height and distance. I can tell if the elevator was recently used by someone who smokes, even if they didn't smoke in the elevator itself.
Bum fog, urine, garbage: cigarette smell stands out and is noticeable above it all.
The fact that so few people smoke here (mostly tourists at this point) makes it stand out all that much more.
From both personal experience, and confirmation from Americans(including Rym). The local smokes don't bother me that much anymore though, so I'm not sure how much that means outside of what I'm told.
The individual brands make a big difference as well. My father was a smoker (one pack a day) and the different brands he smoked all had distinctive odors. The nastiest stuff were the el-cheapo generic brand cigarettes that he sold at his little shop. When he retired, he no longer could get cigarettes at wholesale prices, so he basically started buying some organic stuff from a Native American reservation. While I wouldn't call their odor pleasant, they certainly weren't as foul as his old smokes.
For some years after my grandfather quit cigarettes, he would smoke a pipe just once after dinner each night. It smelled fucking great. If it wasn't poison, I would smoke that shit. He stopped because it was indeed still horrible poison.
I'm still pretty sure that smell is why smoking tobacco existed in the first place, and it's sad how I never smell anyone smoking anything even close to that. The only variation I seem to get are people with cloves that smell like garbage, as opposed to death. Or cigars that are just double death. And don't start me on the hookahs. Thank god they aren't portable.
While laws regarding where you could smoke seemed less strict in Australia, there seemed to be slightly less smoking in Melbourne than in NYC.
It varies from state to state. Melbourne was nice for me, since the laws were far less strict than my home state, which are comparable or harsher than NYC.
Probably because of their much stricter laws putting the horrible graphics on the packaging plus sin taxes.
Trust me, it's the sin taxes driving the price so high. Nobody gives a shit about the graphic images.
Also, it seemed that the cigarettes themselves gave off a much less horrible smoke than the ones they sell in the US.
It's all about the blends of tobacco, the strength, and so on. I don't smoke Marboroughs if I can help it, because other than Marlborough Bright Leaf, they're simply unpleasant to smoke, and leave a nasty aftertaste. Marborough Bright Leaf is comparable to some cheaper Australian smokes, so it's not too bad, but still not great.
The individual brands make a big difference as well. My father was a smoker (one pack a day) and the different brands he smoked all had distinctive odors. The nastiest stuff were the el-cheapo generic brand cigarettes that he sold at his little shop. When he retired, he no longer could get cigarettes at wholesale prices, so he basically started buying some organic stuff from a Native American reservation. While I wouldn't call their odor pleasant, they certainly weren't as foul as his old smokes.
Yep. My preferred Tailor-Mades are a dodgy chinese brand called Double Happiness, and for hand-rolls I prefer Golden Virginia or Port Royal, but tend to end up smoking Windfield, because my local store has it cheap and it's surprisingly smokable for a cheap tobacco.
In England, though, I tended to smoke a local blend from Greens of Leeds Tobacconist. Very nice.
Smoke isn't nearly so bad as smokers themselves. If someone who smokes visits our apartment, the smell lingers on the couch for weeks.
Absolutely. I can't smell that particular smell nearly as strongly as I used to, unless I'm actively paying attention.
For some years after my grandfather quit cigarettes, he would smoke a pipe just once after dinner each night. It smelled fucking great. If it wasn't poison, I would smoke that shit. He stopped because it was indeed still horrible poison.
Even if I quit smoking cigarettes, I'll still smoke a pipe from time to time, because they taste as good as they smell, and it's a quite a relaxing, enjoyable, almost meditative activity. I like to smoke while I write, or while reading a book. Very enjoyable.
For some years after my grandfather quit cigarettes, he would smoke a pipe just once after dinner each night. It smelled fucking great. If it wasn't poison, I would smoke that shit. He stopped because it was indeed still horrible poison.
I'm still pretty sure that smell is why smoking tobacco existed in the first place, and it's sad how I never smell anyone smoking anything even close to that. The only variation I seem to get are people with cloves that smell like garbage, as opposed to death. Or cigars that are just double death. And don't start me on the hookahs. Thank god they aren't portable.
My personal experience indicates that pipe tobacco, even the cheap stuff, smells nicer than most cigarettes.
I don't have the numbers to make this anything other than anecdotal, but from those I've asked about why they smoke, pipe smokers tend to talk about liking the smell or taste where as cigarette smokers tend to refer to the nicotine. ie: "it calms me down" or "I haven't been able to quit yet". The Pipe smokers I know also tend to be older, so it might be a question of age rather than taste.
Every now and then my missionary friend gets a pack of hand-rolled, unfilterd Gudang Garrams. They're Indonesian clove cigarettes and, like Neito mentioned, technically contraband. Best cigarette I've ever had and the smoke smells great.
Comments
Yes!
This is related. (WIP obviously)
Edit: Churba informs me that American fags smell a lot worse than Australian ones.
Sure, there are places where people have urinated, and places where there is currently garbage not yet picked up, but overall the city smells pretty neutral, and in many nicer neighborhoods it often smells floral.
Cigarette smell cuts through everything and stands out like a spotlight of smell. We can tell in our apartment if someone is smoking in the parking lot despite the height and distance. I can tell if the elevator was recently used by someone who smokes, even if they didn't smoke in the elevator itself.
Bum fog, urine, garbage: cigarette smell stands out and is noticeable above it all.
The fact that so few people smoke here (mostly tourists at this point) makes it stand out all that much more.
I'm still pretty sure that smell is why smoking tobacco existed in the first place, and it's sad how I never smell anyone smoking anything even close to that. The only variation I seem to get are people with cloves that smell like garbage, as opposed to death. Or cigars that are just double death. And don't start me on the hookahs. Thank god they aren't portable.
In England, though, I tended to smoke a local blend from Greens of Leeds Tobacconist. Very nice. Absolutely. I can't smell that particular smell nearly as strongly as I used to, unless I'm actively paying attention. Even if I quit smoking cigarettes, I'll still smoke a pipe from time to time, because they taste as good as they smell, and it's a quite a relaxing, enjoyable, almost meditative activity. I like to smoke while I write, or while reading a book. Very enjoyable.
I don't have the numbers to make this anything other than anecdotal, but from those I've asked about why they smoke, pipe smokers tend to talk about liking the smell or taste where as cigarette smokers tend to refer to the nicotine. ie: "it calms me down" or "I haven't been able to quit yet". The Pipe smokers I know also tend to be older, so it might be a question of age rather than taste.
Now that I spend ~8 months of the year on an ostensibly smoke-free campus, I can at least smell the people who smoke el cheapos. Back when they actually made proper clove cigarettes, I used to smoke maybe once or twice a week. They actually taste pretty good.
Unfortunately, now that the FDA has banned flavored cigarettes, all you can get are fairly gross "Clove Cigars" that are like thrice as expensive.