Smokers worldwide enjoy a vast array of different brands of cigarettes to choose from. Premium cigarette brands such as State Express 555 are what are referred to as a Virginia blend cigarettes. Other popular brands of cigarettes are classified as American Blend cigarettes. So with these different blend options, what is the difference between the two? Brands of cigarettes that are classified as Virginia blend cigarettes such as State Express 555, Dunhill International, Rothmans, Benson and Hedges, etc., consist of a blend of tobaccos preferred by smokers who enjoys a more full flavor cigarette. These Virginia blends, also referred to as an English Blend, consist primarily of Virginia flue-cured tobacco leaves with a small percentage of Burley tobacco or other small amounts of tobaccos blended for taste. Virginia blends are preferred by European smokers, Asian smokers, and a growing number of American smokers who prefer the full taste of flue-cured Virginia tobacco.
American blends are sold under the popular name brands as Winston, Marlboro, Lucky Strike, etc. These blends are made of a blend of Virginia tobacco mixed with a larger amount of Burley tobacco and also small amounts of Asian tobaccos. All blends also use flavorings to distinguish their taste such as molasses, vanilla, licorice, etc. American blends are preferred primarily by smokers in the United States as well as a gowning number of smokers in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Many Virginia blended cigarettes are known not only for their satisfying taste, they are also known and respected as a more distinctive smoke. The quality of the cigarette, consistency of the blend, and the unique and often distinctive packing make certain Virginia blends to be identified as high class or distinguished cigarettes and smokers of these blends are often identified with a higher social status. The brands most identified as distinguished cigarettes are State Express 555 and Dunhill International. Both brands are uniquely packaged and enjoy a very high status rating in areas of Europe and especially in the growing Asian Market. Businessmen and socialites in Asian society prefer to smoke State Express 555 and Dunhill due to the high status level they invoke.
An increasing number of smokers in the United States are also switching to these two brands. Purchase of Dunhill and State Express 555 has increased in the United States over the course of the last decade. After the high volume influx of cheap low quality cigarettes made in South America entered the US Market in the mid 1990s, the import restrictions and subsequent tax increase of these lower quality brands have now made them comparable to other premium brands in price. As smokers are given the choice of buying low quality cigarettes or buying very high quality cigarettes for roughly the same price, it is easy to see why smokers are choosing better quality brands for the same price as those of inferior quality.
The difficulty in the United States is that high quality premium brand cigarettes such as State Express 555 cigarettes and the uniquely packaged Dunhill International cigarettes are produced and imported at lower rates and thus the prices are still expensive in some areas of the country. It is also difficult in some areas to purchase these as many local retails shops do not carry these brands requiring interested smokers to visit their local specialty tobacco shop. Local tobacco stores purchase these from distributors in smaller amounts and thus charge there customers more for these premium brands.
As the demand of these cigarettes increases in the United States, so does the shift in buying patterns of consumers to purchase Dunhill and State Express 555 over the internet. The cost savings, speed of shipping, and simplicity of shopping from home, has enabled virtually any smoker to now enjoy these premium cigarettes at a fraction of the cost demanded by their local tobacco store.
For more information on State Express 555 cigarettes or Dunhill cigarettes you may visit Wholesale American Smokes. For those who buy and trade internationally, another website worth viewing is Northshore Distributors.