Yes, that's not an optical illusion - the length of the stick is almost the same as the beam of my laptop
Update: a little over 2 hrs in, and about a third left to go. Flavor has change a bit - a little "darker,"' with some hardwood flavor. No nic sickness, but I'm definitely aware of the vitamin N. One trip to restroom. Slight wrapper splitting, but I think that's due to some massaging I had to do to loosen up the draw earlier.