Tried vaping. Hated it. There is another way
Tried vaping. Hated it. There is another way.
You are not alone. Millions of people who smoked real cigarettes for years have tried vaping, taken one pull, and put it down forever. It doesn't feel right. It doesn't taste right. The clouds of steam, the fruit flavours, the fiddling with tanks and batteries — none of it resembles anything about the habit you actually had.
Vaping was built for a younger generation. It was built for people who never smoked a cigarette in their lives and needed something to do with their hands. If you smoked Benson and Hedges for twenty years, you were not the target market.
So where does that leave you?
The alternative nobody talks about
There is a device called a cigalike. It is about the same size and weight as a cigarette. You hold it the same way. You draw on it the same way. It gives you nicotine in tobacco or menthol flavour. When you are done, you attach a new cartridge. There is nothing to fill, nothing to mix, and nothing that looks like it belongs in a teenager's pocket.
This is what Miniciggy has made since 2006.
We were the first company in the UK to develop the cartomiser — the sealed, pre-filled refill that replaced the original messy three-part cigalike design. No e-liquid dripping into the atomiser. No flooding. No dry hits. Every cartomiser sealed at manufacture, triple-tested, TPD registered, and ready to use straight out of the packet.
Why we never made fruit flavours
From the beginning, we made a decision that cost us customers.
We refused to make strawberry, bubblegum, mango, or any flavour that had never been associated with tobacco. We refused because nicotine is a poison, e-liquid is a liquid, and children and pets exist in the same houses as our products. We did not want bottles of sweet-smelling liquid anywhere near them.
We also refused because we are not trying to recruit new nicotine users. We are trying to help existing smokers make a cleaner switch. A 50-year-old who smokes Silk Cut does not want a watermelon cigarette. She wants something that feels familiar, works reliably, and does not require a manual.
We sell tobacco and menthol. That is all. It has always been enough.
What our customers look like
The majority of our customers are women. Most are middle-aged or older. Almost all of them were tobacco smokers — Marlboro, Lambert and Butler, B&H, Rothmans — before they found us. Most found us through word of mouth, because someone they trusted said: try this, it actually works.
They are not looking for a hobby. They are not interested in cloud-chasing or swapping pods or choosing between forty-seven flavours. They want something simple that satisfies a craving, does not smell, does not require charging every three hours, and does not make them look like they are vaping in a car park.
If that sounds like you, you are in the right place.
How it works
The Miniciggy starter kit contains a battery and a pack of cartomisers. The battery is rechargeable and covered by a lifetime replacement guarantee. The cartomisers come in five nicotine strengths — Extra High, High, Medium, Low, and Menthol — so you can match what you were smoking.
You attach a cartomiser to the battery. You draw on it. When it is finished, you attach another one. The process takes about three seconds.
There is no app. There is no settings menu. There is no subscription to a cloud service. There is no instructional video you need to watch first.
Which strength is right for you?
As a rough guide based on the cigarettes you smoked:
Extra High — comparable to Marlboro Red, Rothmans, Dunhill. Our strongest and longest-lasting cartomiser.
High — comparable to Marlboro, Benson and Hedges, Lambert and Butler. Our most popular strength.
Medium — comparable to Marlboro Lights, Lambert and Butler Gold.
Low — comparable to Silk Cut. Ideal for light or social smokers.
Menthol — a smooth natural menthol, between Medium and High in strength. The only flavoured cartomiser we make.
If you are unsure, start with High. Most former smokers find it the most satisfying.
One final thing
We have been doing this since 2006. We have watched the disposable vape explosion come and go. We watched bright-coloured products designed to appeal to children sweep the market. We never followed any of it.
We still make the same thing we always made: a clean, simple, responsible alternative to tobacco cigarettes for adults who smoked and would like to stop. Nothing more. Nothing less.
If vaping was not for you, this might be.