Djarum Blacks :: Facts
The
Djarum Black is a
filtered clove cigarette, made by the Djarum
Tobacco company of
Indonesia. Blacks are wrapped in
black paper, with a thin golden
stripe at the join of the
filter to the tobacco. Like most
clove cigarettes, the paper is lightly coated with
sugar, leaving a
sweetness that
lingers on one's
lips.
The Djarum Black has a greater proportion of tobacco to clove than most clove cigarettes, and thus has a more balanced flavor -- not quite as sweet as the Djarum Special, and burns more evenly than the Sampoerna X-tra.
Its slender, elegant and black-wrapped appearance have made the Djarum Black a favorite of the American goth community -- practically a signature smoke, and certainly a beloved fashion accessory. It is rare to see an American goth smoking any other clove cigarette.
The Djarum Black is available in two styles: the Djarum Black 20, which is fatter and comes in a normal American-style cigarette box (twenty cigarettes in rows of five by four), and the Djarum Black 20 International, which are the thinner, longer cigarettes favored by American goths, and are packed in a flattened box that contains ten cigarettes to a row in two rows side by side. In the author's opinion, the Djarum Black 20 International is the superior of the two, both for its appearance and having better flavor; the mix of tobacco and clove somehow changes with the increased diameter of the cigarette in the non-International version.
Sources:
http://www.djarum.com
and the author's own experience; Djarum Blacks are my favorite!
Djarum Blacks :: Anecdotes
Zing.
It was a warm evening in late
May, and the sun was just going down. Kiale wore her blood-red
velvet halter top and black
satin slacks, showing off the perfect curve of her hips and the flat golden trimness of her belly; dusky-dark tresses falling to her small breasts, her eyes inscrutable behind dark sunglasses. I walked with her through the well-manicured
campus to the cigarette stand, sharp in my
black suit and equally
dark sunglasses.
"Two packs of Djarum Blacks, please," I say to the girl behind the counter, who was cute, Asian, and reading Camus.
"That'll be ten-fifty."
I hand over the money, take our cigarettes and link arms with Kiale, heading for the doors, before stopping suddenly and turn around. "Oh -- I'd like to buy a lighter, as well."
The girl behind the counter doesn't move, doesn't blink, just shifts to a perfectly deadpan expression:
"I'm sorry, sir, we don't have them in black."
Tasty.
"Here," Eric said, "try this: " and he blew a
puff of smoke from his long black cigarette into his glass of
red wine, then inhaled as he sipped.
I followed his example with my own cigarette and glass; the sweet-bitter-sharp wine/clove/tobacco taste pulled my tongue in three directions. I grinned and went to look for someone to kiss.
Djarum Blacks :: Lyrics
Little wolfskin boots
And clove cigarettes
An erotic funeral
For which she's dressed
-- Type O Negative, Black No. 1