Comparative tasting of 1994 and 2018 Parliament cigarettes.
Two samples of cigarettes were taken for this test – the first from a collectible, gently stored cigarette and the second from a nearby tobacco store. Both samples are genuine cigarettes. The purpose of the test is not to compare what is worse and what is better, but to find out what has changed in the brand over 24 years. Let me remind you, cigarettes have no expiration date and, if stored properly, retain all the smoking properties.
Both packs are already in the “modern” style, with rounded edges. Generally speaking, Parliament was the first to use this style of outer packaging en masse. The names of the varieties have changed and I thought that Charcoal and Night Blue, in terms of parameters, would be equal.
So, the sample before 1994 (pre excise period) was made in the USA for export, which is marked on the pack. The modern sample was made in the Leningrad region at Philip Morris .
Of course the design has changed, though not radically. The general features are still apparent – the text font, the brand logo, the general color scheme. If we don’t take into account the absence of “scarecrows” on the pack of the 20th century sample, the thickness of the protective film catches the eye at once. It is noticeably thicker and less malleable.
The inside of the pack changes just as much. The inner casing of the cigarettes has changed – in the sample before 1994 it was a foil embossed with the brand logo. – It was a foil with embossed brand logo, but in the modern sample – it is a dense, textured paper with the brand name.
From the freshly opened packs of both samples comes a pleasantly sweet aroma of good cigarette tobacco. However, in the modern version it is much weaker and diluted with smells of filter and paper.
The appearance of the cigarettes has also changed. Both samples use a white filter paper with a single perforation stripe. First of all, the less white cigarette paper is noticeable. It is exactly “less white,” not yellowed. It’s not because of time, but because the technology to bleach cigarette paper in production came in closer to the mid-2000s. The rim paper still has the original brand lettering: a stylized blue tick and “Parliament” at a 45 degree angle. The dividing stripe is single, thin and in “gold”.
In today’s cigarettes, the “tick” has become white in a “silver” frame, the brand name is printed horizontally, and the “silver” separating strip is “torn” by the name of the variety. Cigarette paper is no less white than the filter, but also carries the brand name textured diagonally.
The differences in the filter are only in the filling with carbon chips – in the old model, the filter literally oozes carbon, but in the modern version – it is quite weak, occasional filling. Otherwise, the filters are identical, both in design and size.
What you can really see the difference in is the filling of the cigarette. In the old version, the color of the fractions ranges from dark yellow to brown, with a thin, cigarette-like cut. The fresh version, on the other hand, has a more contrasting coloration with an abundance of light yellow fractions of varying sizes. Also present in the fresh version are particles of “reconstituted tobacco” – translucent particles devoid of texture.
In my humble opinion, Modern Parliament is one of the few cigarette brands that gives a taste as close as possible to the natural flavor of tobacco. I mean the mass brands in the free range, not the limited editions or the brands with a cost that is not affordable for everyday use.
And what does credit to the creators of the bags of this brand, the taste of the cigarettes is quite similar. Same density, dry smoke, a little Virginia sweetness in the flavor. However, the modern version is still seriously losing out to the increased causticity and some alkalinity of the smoke. The taste of the old cigarettes really corresponds to the excellent taste of good cigarettes, which, unfortunately, no longer exist((((.
