[koyote]

Alcohol has gourmet attributes and is a good social lubricant. The question is more around whether those two attributes warrant ingesting what is essentially poison.

I don't think I've ever heard a cigarette smoker comment on the taste of their cigarette (cigars are the exception here) and the high, especially for regular smokers, is near non-existent. So for cigarettes the initial appeal is much less obvious.

I'd assume most people start smoking due to social pressure/trying to fit in.

[MangoCoffee]

>Alcohol has gourmet attributes and is a good social lubricant

smoking was a good social lubricant as well. you can see that in the old Hollywood movies and in real life back when smoking was the social norm.

[scatters]

Alcohol is regarded as lowering inhibitions, which allows people to express themselves honestly and break down boundaries while returning to the normal social order the next day.

[akiselev]

While alcohol does lower inhibitions, it is generally only acceptable after work or at the odd outing/party. A smoke break is acceptable during work and might be the only time different departments and levels from management to floor workers interact on a day to day basis.

[eyelidlessness]

Not responding as an argument, just to share my perspective (as I’m holding a lit cigarette in my hand).

I’ve definitely described the flavor of my cigarettes. I switched to my current brand because I liked the flavor more than my previous brand, which I described as having no flavor (and of course it did, just not flavor I found offputting), which was preferable to previous brands I’d smoked. I’m leaving out brand names here mostly because this is a way we reinforce our addiction and I don’t want to give anyone inspiration to try something else.

I have only once smoked to address social pressure. I was 12 at the time, I hated it, no one pressured further. When I started smoking of my own volition, I was 15. I did it privately out of curiosity because I was terribly bored. I didn’t like it, then I did it out of habit. It happened like that.

[koyote]

A lot of my smoking friends preferred one brand over an other and even refused to smoke some brands. But I wouldn't classify that as being 'gourmet' in the same way as alcohol is.

A similar example is mineral water:

I have preferences around which mineral water I drink. I even dislike waters very high in minerals and will only have them if there is no choice. But in the end water is just something I drink to satisfy a physical craving; it is not something I will consume as part of a gourmet experience (although some 'artisan waters' have tried to market themselves that way...).

You won't hear many smokers say things like: "OMG have you tried the new XYZ cigarettes? The subtle flavours of tar and nicotine are just to die for!" (and the same is true for water) There's also no 'craft cigarettes' market, or cigarette tasting tours and whatnot.

[morelisp]

Cigarettes, no, but smoking generally - yes. Previously cigars and pipes, today vapes.

[ChrisMarshallNY]

I quit smoking over 40 years ago (TL;DR: It sucked). Best decision I ever made. I don’t regret it one bit.

To this day, I sometimes smell a nearby cigarette, and it smells good to me.

[throwawayboise]

My dad smoked through my entire childhood. I don't like the smell of stale cigarette smoke, but smoke drifting from a lit cigarette smells good to me, and reminds me of being around my dad as a kid.

[bellazeus]

Cigarettes are also a good social lubricant.