252 



Mr. Sandefur. As I understand it and, obviously, I don't mean 

 to speak for Mr. Riehl, he can certainly testify if you wish for him 

 to or answer any questions you may have, and I'll be more than 

 happy to ask him to give you a written response to that question. 



But as I understand it, what we are talking about here is taste 

 enhancement, because as I've testified before, nicotine is a very im- 

 portant constituent of the overall taste of a cigarette. Now, I'm fa- 

 miliar with Aries, and I can tell you that Aries was the forerunner, 

 if you will, of a project that we had during my watch at Brown & 

 Williamson. 



Mr. Waxman. Is that Project Gemini? 



Mr. Sandefur. No, sir, that was Project Airbus. Project Airbus 

 was a competitive response to R.J. Reynolds' Premier cigarette. As 

 a matter of fact, the morning that I went to work after Reynolds 

 had announced that they were introducing this product, I asked 

 our scientists, when was the earliest possible response that we 

 could make. Realizing that Reynolds had supposedly commer- 

 cialized something that was going to be a reduced side stream or 

 the elimination of side stream and the taste or satisfaction that we 

 were looking for with virtually no tar and very little nicotine. 



Our people were never able to commercialize it or bring it to 

 commercialization but, by the same token, during that period of 

 time, and I guess it was about a 6-month period, R.J. Reynolds 

 took all kinds of grief from everybody that was opposed — that has 

 been on the anti-side that, look, you are doing something wrong. 



And, Mr. Congressman, I think that — Mr. Chairman, I think 

 that's one of the quandaries that we in the tobacco industry are 

 placed in. Whether it be Y-1 or Premier Light cigarette, it seems 

 to me it is a catch-22 no matter what we do, in response to what 

 the Surgeon General may say at the time or think at the time or 

 what the health community may think or say at the time, we go 

 along that path, and then all of a sudden, we are criticized for 

 going down that path. 



Mr. Waxman. Is it your testimony then that Project Aries and 

 Project Air Brush was it? 



Mr. Sandefur. Airbus was the name. 



Mr. Waxman. Airbus or the 



Mr. Sandefur. And it was very similar in nature to Reynolds. 



Mr. Waxman [continuing], or the Y-1 project, were those done in 

 response to the Surgeon General and the health community's con- 

 cerns? 



Mr. Sandefur. As I have — as I have stated previously, the Y-1 

 development was because of the opinions of the Surgeon General, 

 the National Cancer Institute, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

 as well as the Hunter Committee in Washington. Very respected 

 scientists such as G.O. Gorey were encouraging the industry to try 

 to develop a lower tar cigarette with a moderate level of nicotine 

 and that's why we did it, yes, sir. 



Mr. Waxman. But how do you reconcile Mr. Riehl's statement 

 "nicotine enrichment in later puffs?" It sounds like he's trying to 

 figure out how to be sure the nicotine gets through. 



Mr. Sandefur. I really can't answer that question, but I'll be 

 more than happy to ask Mr. Riehl what he means specifically. He 



