Bronco Menthol Lights 100s

Oof. Faced with the dilemma of only having $3 in my pocket yet not being willing to go five minutes without a cigarette, I dropped into one of those dubious "Discount Cigarette"-type shops in a strip mall and let the fellow talk me into his cheapest offering: the equally dubious Bronco Menthol 100s.

To me, "Columbian Blend" is not a selling point, for this type of cigarette, at least. And it's true: You get what you pay for.

At first, they seemed pleasant enough, but the more I smoked, the worse they got. They might as well be called Pesticide Menthol Lights, because they leave an almost tangible film of chemicals hovering around your mouth like you've been suckling on one of those DDT spray-canisters that seem to exist only in "Road Runner" cartoons.

So why did I smoke the whole pack, then? Some misguided combination of wanting to "get my money's worth," trying to justify the purchase itself, striving for a thorough review, and just being plain compulsive.

Review by B.J. Gunnerson