My favorite cigarette was relatively cheap, it was Marlboro Black & Red or Black & Green. I thought it had the most tobacco flavor of those I tried (I also rolled my own with Natural American Spirit Dark Blue, and they were slightly better than the NAS-DB IMO).
I also liked Marlboro Southern Cuts, but they were obviously laced with a topping to generate their powerful Vanilla scent.
The tobacco companies have been using expanded/puffed tobacco and reconstituted/paper tobacco for 50+ years to reduce their costs. Also, they have been increasing the content of foreign tobaccos, which generally are cheaper than U.S. grown tobacco. To cover up these tastes, they use various flavor chemicals, e.g., vanillin, licorice, various sugars, etcs. They have been reducing the number of these chemicals for 20+ years in anticipation of future restrictions by the FTC. 29