Gauloise &amp; Player's Substitutes?

Posted by Dano on Monday, 04-Feb-2008

I used to smoke Player's Navy Cut way back when. I thought they were pretty decent. They were always a little more expensive than regular American cigs. It's my understanding that Player's is an English company that manufactures cigs all over the world.

The Navy Cut cigs seem to be available all over the USA. I've never seen or heard of a Player's RYO tobacco. Also, I've never seen Player's come with colored tubes. Maybe you're thinking of the Nat Shermans?

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Re: Gauloise & Player's Substitutes?: Posted by mike c on Monday, 04-Feb-2008
no. ABSOLUTELY NO MISTAKE. The pack link photo Kerry put up is the pack they came in. They were colored here. I saw your Navy Cut's in my search but had never seen those and they didn't match my own interest.
not that the pic isn't interesting....(I hadn't seen a pic of them), also, yours wouldn't match Kerry's original start of this as BOGO Player smokes minus the "S"
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Re: Gauloise & Player's Substitutes?: Posted by dave z on Monday, 04-Feb-2008
If you go to imperialtobaccocanada.com, click your language, click list of products, then you ll see the Canadian Players and the Players RYO selections. They are a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco PLC of UK who manufacture Players Navy Cut cigs. If you then go to cigarettespedia.com you can see all the pics of these, or just look at Kerry's on this page.
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Offtopic, but I just had to post this. That Navy Cut pic looked so familiar, anybody else remember this?

Posted by dan b on Monday, 04-Feb-2008

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Posted by mike c on Monday, 04-Feb-2008

yes and no, while I wasn't a procol guy, I was a trower one, and of all things made friends with funky paul olson (70's artist) (who happened to be friends with the late Colin Fulcher aka Barney Bubbles, the guy who did my fave rock art and commited suicide in the 80's), who had me set to meet him, but alas my bad extra-curriculars of the time made me miss that show
nobody makes more faces while playing than robin

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Posted by mike c on Monday, 04-Feb-2008

btw, I do absolutely remember that album COVER, just not sure I ever heard the record-
I for one am thrilled that you posted that-
just tell me it's not the one with "whiter shade of pale"
one of the reasons that is a big memory for me is that pictures of Barney Bubbles are next to non-existent, and finding not only a pic of him, but one of him playing guitar on Funky Paul's site was exciting and I shared it with a forum. Funky Paul was Trower's best-known artist, FWIW

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Posted by dan b on Monday, 04-Feb-2008

sure, lets veer sideways a bit more... Procol Harum, short version;
1967 - A Whiter Shade Of Pale, also included Conquistador & Homburg
1969 - A Salty Dog, included The Devil Came From Kansas & All This And More
1971 - The concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra [Live] (was recorded just after Trower left the band) included Conquistador which became a top 10 hit in the US, whereas the original version was basically ignored, and the version of Salty Dog that I spent years trying to find because it was so powerfully done. The album is long out of print, but they released a 35-track 2-CD UK remastered album last year called "Secrets of the Hive: The Best of Procol Harum" which includes both Conquistador and Salty Dog from that 1971 concert. So it only took 30+ years for me to finally get a copy :)

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Posted by mike c on Monday, 04-Feb-2008

I don't think Dave minds this, on the MYO forum, so long as we trail it back eventually-
you led me to research Procol (the name itself hints at "far beyond", or something, and could be applied to the RYO topic here)
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me the albums I can get my Trower fix on, as I know his distinctive sound was present with Procol.....
also, it turns out that "Whiter" is only about the most famous, and most widely covered, popular and progressive music single OF ALL TIME
and KL, I got that 45, the rarest one there is, people have been trying to get that for 31 years
WEEEEEEEEEEEEE
ps-being a major rarity collector, I say "EXCELLENT"!!! you'll just enjoy it all the more! (I included my email in case you don't think everybody deserves the knowledge)

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Posted by dave z on Monday, 04-Feb-2008

45 posts and a couple hours on google. I think we may have ID'd the smoke. Now, the question is; Does anybody want one? lol

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Posted by dave z on Monday, 04-Feb-2008

Interestingly enough, RYOGUIDE.com 's list (which connects you directly to RYOTOBACCO.COM) advertises their Canadian, to be "similiar to Players". I had never noticed that before. :)

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Re: Gauloise & Player's Substitutes?: Posted by mike c on Monday, 04-Feb-2008
all I know is I photographically contributed to one of the 2 forums today, so I'll look at that as partial payment for my own horid straying, I must go now to do a "google" search for the Richardson Police department "canine unit", as you see, I shot a cig butt straight down out the window on the other side, but they caught it, pulled my friend over who at his tender age of 41 has never understood having a wallet and ID on hand is a part of life, and they stole my ID!!!! they were dying to find drugs and when they opened the trunk to get the dog, they found the cutest most innocent kite, and the 2 officers and myself burst out laughing and I'll swear they asked my friend if he was a kid.......my ID has the wrong address, shit
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Re: Gauloise & Player's Substitutes?: Posted by dan b on Monday, 04-Feb-2008
It's somewhat ironic that Trower played on All of PH's first 5 albums, their debut "Whiter Shade of Pale" in '69 through 1971's "Broken Barricades". But he wasn't on their biggest hits, the song "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" was recorded before he joined the band, and the Conquistador version that was a Hit, was the live one recorded with the Edmonton Symphony shortly after he left the band, as I mentioned earlier.

If you want a real good overview of the early band, albums etc. check out [link] and rather than trying to find all the 35+ year old albums I'd highly recommend the "Secrets of the Hive" 2-CD set, unless you just HAVE to have the vinyl. It even includes the original mono versions of "Whiter Shade of Pale", "Christmas Camel", "Homburg" and "Repent Walpurgis" which is a 5 min long instrumental with powerful Trower lead over a keyboard background of Bach quotes on piano and organ. Great stuff!
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Re: Gauloise & Player's Substitutes?: Posted by Dano on Wednesday, 06-Feb-2008
Remember it? Who could forget it!
Those were the Daze :)
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Posted by Wazmo Nariz on Thursday, 31-Jan-2008

I've never found anything that comes close to Gauloise in the bulk ryo/myo market (sorry, never heard of Player's). Even the Gauloise halfzware is different from most other halfzwares; you might just wanna tell her to bring some of her own since it's getting almost impossible to find in the States anymore but is widely available all over Europe in both pre-made and loose tobacco.

Can't say I've ever noticed anything remotely perfume-y about either the Caporal or the halfzware, however; either in taste or general aroma. It is very strong, will get you a buzz if you're not used to it and is mostly composed of tobaccos grown in Syria, Turkey, etc.

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Posted by mike c on Thursday, 31-Jan-2008

I remember the player's premades-
were those not the cigs with the diff colored papers like pink and lime-green
hehe

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Posted by dave z on Thursday, 31-Jan-2008

If I remember correctly, these were popular in the 80's, and came in a black pack. I think they were Canadian and pretty mild. I m not sure as I was in school then and cant remember too clearly. I think they were popular w/ the "Members Only" crowd. I also think they started marketing them in various colors too as Mike C says.

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Posted by Dave Lers on Thursday, 31-Jan-2008

IIRC (smoked them 20+ years ago), Player's is one of Canada's top brands along w/ Export A, blue and white packaging, pretty mild. This would make me wonder if we are talking about Gauloises Blondes, which I have never smoked. Export A has me thinking Three Castles and bright Virginia blends.

...First thing I found [link]

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Posted by dan b on Thursday, 31-Jan-2008

You guys just aren't trying hard enough? If you would have looked at my RYO Brand List you'd see that both Gauloises and Gauloises Halfzware Shag are Listed, along with the Gauloises Blondes and Gitanes cigarettes, so they're MSA compliant in at least a couple states. It stands to reason they should be available somewhere.

Randy's tobacco in Indiana sells both Gauloises RYO, the only problem is he no longer takes credit cards [link]

I'm sure I've seen players in some MSA lists as well, but since I don't pay any attention to cigarette only manuf. I can't say for sure.

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Posted by dave z on Thursday, 31-Jan-2008

I dont know about the Gauloises, but the Players are part of Imperial Tobacco of Canada. An offshoot of John Player cigarettes, which incidently used to be packaged in a blue and white pack (as per Dave L). They do offer RYO tobacco in Canada, but I couldnt find any for sale in the US, not to say that its not for sale here. And I m quite sure Kerry's right about them being BOGO. I also remember they were quite mild and if you happened to bum a smoke off anyone wearing a Members Only jacket, youd probably get a Player. Imperial also manufactures Rizla rolling papers and Drum tobacco. I m pretty Mikes c's right as well that they also marketed neon smokes at one point. I dont think theyre for sale in the US anymore. Theyre not, as far as I can tell. associated w/ Export A's except being their closest competitor (1980-1990 approx). It was a slow day at work.

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Posted by Kerry on Thursday, 31-Jan-2008

I don't recall the neon colors, but then again, I probably didn't smoke them all that long. Hey, it was a while back. I am fairly sure I only smoked them for the price at the time. They weren't all that bad, especially compared with the cheap premade smokes (Pyramid, etc.) of today.

I haven't seen them since some time in the very early 90's or very late 80's.

Perhaps I think they were an R.J.Reynolds product because most of what I smoked at that time was from them. I don't remember them being very much different from other "discount" offerings from R.J.R. at that time.

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Posted by Kerry on Thursday, 31-Jan-2008

P.S.

The ones I am talking about may have been called "Player" and not "Player's" or "Players". Heck, my memory isn't what it used to be and even then it wasn't what you would call photographic.

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Posted by Kerry on Friday, 01-Feb-2008

P.S. to P.S.

Just found a link to a site that lists a "Players" and "Canadian Style Players" brand from Philip Morris. Seems to be a brand still in production as it lists 1/25/2008 as the last update of the page. Hard to tell...

www.revenue.state.ne.us/cig/cig_alpha.htm [link]

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Posted by Kerry on Friday, 01-Feb-2008

Not exactly what I remember, but here is a page that has a photo of an American pack of Players. The first link is to the page and the second link is to the actual pic of the Players pack. Sorry, didn't know how to post the pic inline on this page.

[link]
[link]

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Posted by Kerry on Friday, 01-Feb-2008

Yet another link for pics of premade cig packs...

[link]

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Posted by Dave Lers on Friday, 01-Feb-2008

On the way to the plethora of Player('s) brands/images on the P page [link], the Peter Stokkebye premades caught my eye [link].

Re: including web images. You need to get a naked image (right click 'view image') and then copy/paste the URL in the box on the bottom of the preview page (after you've finished with the text portion of your post).

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Posted by Kerry on Friday, 01-Feb-2008

Dave,

Why can't I cut and paste the link to an image in that box? When I try (in Firefox) by right clicking on the box, the "paste" selection doesn't come up at all. Strange and frustrating.

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Posted by Dave Lers on Friday, 01-Feb-2008

That's interesting. I don't know why there's no right-click 'paste' for that box in Firefox (there is in Konqueror and Opera), but Ctrl-V does work.

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Re: Gauloise & Player's Substitutes? (OT): Posted by Alist on Friday, 01-Feb-2008
"(there is in --->Konqueror<--- and Opera)"

Good to know someone besides me is using a decent browser!
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Posted by Kerry on Friday, 01-Feb-2008

Yes, Ctrl-V works to paste the url, but when I click "Post With Image" it brings up a screen that says "opening dws_scom.pl" and gives me the options to "open with" or save to disk.

If I save to disk the file looks like an html page by the text in it.

I noticed in Firefox that when I cursor over the "Browse" button it highlights the border of the button AND ALSO the bottom and righthand border of the input box.

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Re: Gauloise & Player's Substitutes? (OT): Posted by Dave Lers on Friday, 01-Feb-2008
Yikes. I remember thinking it was pretty cool when I discovered that I could put a URL in the box. I never thought about it and assumed it worked with all browsers.

The browser has to send an image/file to the script. Using the 'browse' (or whatever the wording/image is, depends on the browser) button, you tell the browser what file it is supposed to send. When you put a URL in the box, you're also telling the browser what file its supposed to send. The problem is that not all browsers can/will translate (convert, download, fetch from cache, whatever and however they do it) the URL into a file and send it.

I compounded the issue by not having the script provide an appropriate response when no file/image is received by the script. I missed the obvious when this came up in the past. Fixed, you'll now get routed to the Oops screen.
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Re: Gauloise & Player's Substitutes?: Posted by mike c on Friday, 01-Feb-2008
good show old chap I say-
sometimes memory lane just kicks in, and I myself did a search last night and could produce nothing aside of frustration
indeed the pics of players in both your links HAVE to be what I am thinking of....this came in the colored variety here, and I seem to recall buying them at a certain gas station, and if that memory is correct it would have been a HELL of a long time ago, like possibly even the 70's for god sake? (but there is that mental haze of course)
at any rate I am sure that is the pack, and you solved the Player vs Player's
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Posted by dave z on Friday, 01-Feb-2008

Addendum: Imperial Tobacco Canada appears to be a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco PLC,in the UK; which manufactures Drum EU and Rizla rolling papers. It appears that only the cigarettes and RYO tobacco is manufactured in Canada. Looks like it was a slow day for many. :)

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Re: Gauloise & Player's Substitutes?: Posted by mike c on Friday, 01-Feb-2008
lol I liked the slow day comments BTW
I'll just put my further comments here, even if out of place
the premade "player's" were not BOGO I don't think, however may have been "cheapish", and further, one fruit of a fruitless search is that "neon" cigs could be called "cocktail" smokes, I think, geez ; (
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Re: Gauloise & Player's Substitutes?: Posted by Wazmo Nariz on Friday, 01-Feb-2008
If you click the link to the Gauloise blends listed there, you'll note those brands have been discontinued. You can still find old Gauloise stock lurking beneath the dust in a few shops for the time being, however.
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Re: Gauloise & Player's Substitutes?: Posted by Dave Lers on Friday, 01-Feb-2008
You could also type Gauloises in the Search form at the top of every page :-). MSA lists don't tell you everything. Sometimes the RYO (govt label) distinction isn't clear, e.g. Export A is still listed, but the RYO hasn't been available for years.
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Posted by Kerry on Thursday, 31-Jan-2008

The "Players" I am talking about were a "discount" cigarette offered in the late 80's and early 90's. I think they were R.J. Reynolds, but not sure about that. By "discount" I mean that they were almost always cheaper than other major brands and usually had some sort of special going like buy BOGO.

They weren't bad, but I am pretty sure they weren't Canadian. They came in the black pack as described elsewhere in this thread.

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Posted by mike c on Thursday, 31-Jan-2008

and in dallas came in festive party colors probably favored by members only types
I just didn't like the taste too much, and had already got the colored paper thrill out of my system with something else entirely : )

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Re: Gauloise & Player's Substitutes?: Posted by mike c on Thursday, 31-Jan-2008
you know actually, since I plopped in again underneath Kerry, we may be speaking diff stuff here, because although the premades I speak of were in a "slick black pack", obviously aimed at a party crowd, my memory (which is horrid oft. times) seems to recall that these were earlier than late 80's
fwiw, if anything
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Posted by Kerry on Thursday, 31-Jan-2008

That's the only way I could think of to describe it. After re-hydrating the pouch I tried it again and didn't notice that after taste nearly as much, but I still think it is nasty stuff. I wouldn't even consider using it as a blender, but then I am not fond of any of the zwares.

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Posted by Kerry on Monday, 11-Feb-2008

Well, whip me, beat me, call me Edna! (Old song, don't remember who did it or any of the other lyrics)

Now that I have had more time to get used to Gauloises and the zware type of tobacco, I am sad that this product is no longer available. Especially since I have smoked all of the only pouch I had left.

I must admit, it kind of grows on you. I guess I will have to try some of the halfzwares and if I can find them, full-zwares.

Any suggestions? I already have Ryback and Jester on my list. I don't know of any full-zwares that are still available that might even be close to the Gauloises (mellow or caporal). Unfortunately, even Drum and Jester are hard to come by locally where I live.

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Posted by dave z on Tuesday, 12-Feb-2008

Of the following; Am Shag, Ryback, Bali Blue, Samson and Bali light, you really cant go wrong, imo. If I had to choose only one though, I would go w/ the Amsterdam. Ryback however seems easiest on my lungs, and smoke this one daily. Drum US also ran. I ve never had Gauloises though, and dont know which would be closest to that one, you said perfumey, so I m betting Amsterdam. Not that its perfumey but it has flavors (ings) the rest dont.

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Re: Gauloises: Posted by Kerry on Wednesday, 13-Feb-2008
As for the "perfumey" after taste, I couldn't think of any other way to describe it and it was a long time ago that I first tried it. Now I wouldn't describe it that way after smoking more of it.

I tried to find some of the suggested tobaccos locally today and all I could find was Drum (US). Mostly in my area you will only find Top, Bugler, Gambler, Midnight Special, Stokers, and a few more cheap tobaccos thrown in every once in a while.
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Posted by dave z on Wednesday, 13-Feb-2008

Well Edna, youre in luck. Check out: [link] A little pricey, but they ll ship "anywhere in the world".

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Posted by Kerry on Wednesday, 13-Feb-2008

I had already seen that, but if I am correct about the exchange rate the Gauloises would be astronomically priced even before shipping.

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Posted by dave z on Wednesday, 13-Feb-2008

I forgot to change the currency when I linked it, but yeah, its $21.00 for 50 g. A bit high, my wifes gonna Sh$3!

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Re: Gauloises: Posted by Kerry on Wednesday, 13-Feb-2008
Yep, approaching $200 a pound! It's good, but no tobacco is THAT good! I think the old pouch I just finished cost under $3 over 3 years ago.
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Posted by Kerry on Wednesday, 30-Jan-2008

This link should give you some idea of what you are looking for and why you may not be able to ever find it in the US.

Good luck!

[Wikipedia - Gauloises][link]

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Posted by Kerry on Wednesday, 30-Jan-2008

P.S.

My apologies to fans of Gauloises, but I still have most of a 1.76 oz pouch of it and my memory of the taste was that it was nearly unrecognizable as tobacco. Definitely a full Zware, but it also had a strange after taste that I can only call "similar" to some type of perfume.

All in all, pretty nasty stuff.

I am re-hydrating the pouch now to do another taste test. Will let you know if my opinion changes.

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Re: Gauloises & Player's Substitutes?: Posted by Kerry on Wednesday, 30-Jan-2008
Sorry, I didn't answer your question. As for Gauloises, there is no bulk or other substitute that I know of that comes close. IMO, that is a good thing!

As for Players, I haven't heard of or tried it, so I wouldn't know one way or the other except for the cheapo premades of the same name that were sold many years ago. (R.J Reynolds, I think?)
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Posted by Alist on Thursday, 31-Jan-2008

So what examples in the US bulk tobacco might be similar? The only thing I am aware of is Bali Shag, labeled as a light halfzware.

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Re: Gauloises & Player's Substitutes?: Posted by Alist on Thursday, 31-Jan-2008
Disregard the question about what might be similar. I found a couple of zwares, Van Nelle and Charles Fairmorn Dark Fired Shag, but I told her it is almost impossible, if not impossible, that these will taste anything at all like Gauloises.

To everyone who posted:

Thanks so much for the responses. Many have been forwarded to the lady in question and I know she will greatly appreciate your help in this.
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Posted by Wazmo Nariz on Thursday, 31-Jan-2008

Reading the wiki entry, I noticed the mention of Gitanes. Man, does that bring back memories; I used to smoke those regularly back in the late 70's. I'll admit you have to have a love of zware to smoke either brand, altho the the Gitanes were a shade less dense than the Gauloise and tasted great in a Tar Gard.

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