Menthol cigarettes were once a familiar part of Australia's tobacco market, although their popularity varied considerably among smokers. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 31% of people who smoked reported using menthol cigarettes at least once during 2022–2023. That figure suggests a substantial audience, but it tells us little about how frequently people chose them or what influenced their preferences.
Menthol creates a cooling sensation that can make tobacco smoke feel less irritating. For some smokers, this changed how they experienced cigarettes, even though it did nothing to make smoking safer.
Australia's decision to ban menthol cigarettes and flavour capsules from 1 July 2025 has brought renewed attention to their earlier popularity. Understanding that history means examining the science behind menthol, the development of flavoured tobacco products, and what Australian smoking data actually reveals.
What Makes Menthol Cigarettes Different?
Menthol is often associated with mint flavour, but its effect on cigarette smoke goes beyond taste. Found naturally in peppermint and other mint plants, menthol can also be produced synthetically. It activates a sensory receptor called TRPM8, which responds to cold temperatures. This produces a cooling sensation in the mouth and throat, even though the smoke itself has not become colder.
Ordinary cigarette smoke contains substances that irritate the respiratory tract. Menthol can reduce the perception of that irritation, making the smoke feel less harsh to some smokers. The distinction matters because a cigarette that feels smoother is not necessarily exposing the smoker to fewer harmful chemicals. Menthol does not remove carbon monoxide, carcinogens or the addictive nicotine found in tobacco smoke.
The intensity of the mint flavour also varies. Some cigarettes were manufactured with a pronounced menthol taste, while lower concentrations of the compound could produce a cooling effect without an obvious mint flavour. Research has shown that even relatively small amounts of menthol may activate the body's cold-sensitive receptors.
These differences help explain why menthol cigarettes developed a distinct identity within the tobacco market. What smokers perceived as a difference in taste could also involve changes in how their bodies registered irritation. Neither effect made menthol cigarettes a safer alternative to conventional tobacco products.
The History of Menthol Cigarettes in Australia
Menthol cigarettes first appeared internationally during the 1920s and 1930s, before becoming more widely marketed in the 1950s. Early advertising sometimes presented them as an option for smokers experiencing a cough or sore throat. Such claims encouraged an association between menthol and respiratory comfort, despite the health risks of tobacco smoke.
In Australia, menthol cigarettes developed a particularly strong association with advertising directed at women. Alpine, a brand manufactured by Philip Morris, became one of the country's most recognisable menthol products. Its marketing frequently targeted younger female smokers, using imagery and packaging intended to distinguish it from conventional cigarette brands.
During the 1980s, Alpine was also sold in smaller packs of 15 cigarettes. Researchers later identified these smaller packs and the brand's promotional strategies as factors that may have increased its appeal among younger smokers.
Australian tobacco advertising restrictions gradually reduced opportunities for such campaigns. Television and radio advertising ended in 1976, followed by newspaper and magazine advertising in 1992.
Menthol's popularity nevertheless changed unevenly. A study examining Australian smoking patterns from 1980 to 2008 found substantial declines in menthol use among younger women, while use among older female smokers remained comparatively stable. The findings suggest that advertising and changing product preferences played important roles in shaping Australia's menthol cigarette market.
Why Did Some Australians Prefer Menthol Cigarettes?
People rarely develop a smoking preference for one reason alone. Taste, familiarity and previous experiences can all influence which cigarettes someone uses. Menthol added another element to that decision: a cooling sensation that changed how tobacco smoke was perceived.
For some Australian smokers, the appeal was linked to the way menthol reduced the perceived harshness of smoke. Others may have become accustomed to a particular product over time. Once a smoking routine becomes familiar, the brand and its associated flavour can become part of that habit. This does not mean menthol cigarettes were safer or that everyone who used them shared the same motivation.
Brand identity also played a role in how these products were presented. Esse Menthol, for example, illustrates how manufacturers incorporated menthol into a recognisable cigarette range. The Esse name is also associated with slim and superslim cigarette formats, showing how flavour and physical design could be combined within a product identity. However, the existence of such products does not establish how widely they were used in Australia.
There is a further distinction between trying menthol cigarettes and consistently preferring them. Australia's National Drug Strategy Household Survey measured whether respondents had used menthol cigarettes during the previous 12 months. That information helps establish patterns of use, but it cannot explain every person's reasons for choosing them.
Research also complicates the idea that menthol was simply a matter of personal taste. Its sensory effects can make smoke easier to inhale, while evidence reviewed by public health authorities links menthol with increased nicotine dependence and greater difficulty quitting.
These findings help explain why menthol attracted regulatory attention. What was once treated as a flavour preference became an important issue in Australia's tobacco control policies, culminating in the prohibition of menthol additives in July 2025.
How Capsule Cigarettes Changed the Market
Flavour capsule cigarettes introduced a different approach to menthol delivery. A small capsule embedded inside the filter contained flavouring that was released when the capsule was crushed. Unlike conventional menthol cigarettes, these products allowed smokers to decide whether and when to activate the additional flavour.
Capsule cigarettes entered the Australian market in the period leading up to plain packaging legislation in 2012. Their presence subsequently grew, particularly among younger smokers. The technology itself was relatively simple, but it changed how tobacco manufacturers could differentiate their products.
A 2021 Australian study involving 41 young women who smoked found that participants used flavour capsules in different ways. Some crushed them immediately, while others waited until partway through smoking. The researchers identified personalisation as an important part of how participants described these products. However, the small qualitative sample cannot establish how common these behaviours were across Australia.
That chapter of the market ended with the tobacco regulations introduced on 1 July 2025, which prohibited menthol additives and crush-ball flavour accessories in tobacco products sold in Australia.
Who Smoked Menthol Cigarettes in Australia?
Menthol cigarettes did not always attract the same groups of Australian smokers. Research covering the period from 1980 to 2008 found that menthol brands were particularly common among women during the early 1980s. Among female smokers aged 18–29, menthol use fell from approximately 25% in the early 1980s to 7% in 1998. The decline was less pronounced among older women, suggesting that established smoking preferences changed more slowly.
More recent national surveys reveal a different aspect of menthol consumption. In 2022–2023, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare asked respondents about menthol cigarettes for the first time in its National Drug Strategy Household Survey. Around 31% of people who smoked reported using menthol cigarettes during the previous 12 months.
Interestingly, occasional smokers were more likely to report menthol use than daily smokers. Among those who smoked less often than weekly, 43% had used menthol cigarettes during the year. The figures were 35% for weekly smokers and 29% for daily smokers. Nevertheless, 23% of daily smokers reported using menthol cigarettes every day.
These figures distinguish occasional consumption from regular use. They also include manufactured and roll-your-own menthol cigarettes, rather than identifying preferences for particular brands.
By 2025, the proportion of smokers reporting menthol use during the previous year had fallen to 23%. This followed changes to Australia's tobacco regulations, although the survey alone cannot establish how much of the decline resulted directly from the ban.
The evidence presents a more varied picture than the traditional association between menthol cigarettes and a particular gender or generation. Smoking frequency, survey period and the way menthol use is measured all affect how these patterns should be interpreted.
Are Menthol Cigarettes Less Harmful?
One reason menthol attracted attention from health researchers was the gap between how a cigarette felt and what its smoke contained. A smoker might experience less throat irritation with a menthol product, but that sensation provides no reliable indication of exposure to harmful chemicals.
Burning tobacco releases a complex mixture of toxic substances, including carbon monoxide and chemicals known to cause cancer. Menthol does not remove these substances or protect the lungs from their effects. The risks of cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and chronic respiratory illness remain, regardless of whether a cigarette contains menthol.
Researchers have also examined menthol's relationship with nicotine dependence. Although nicotine is the primary addictive substance in cigarettes, menthol may influence its effects on the brain. Scientific reviews have associated menthol cigarette use with greater difficulty quitting compared with non-menthol smoking. These findings describe broader patterns and do not mean that every individual who smoked menthol experienced stronger dependence.
The distinction between immediate sensation and long-term harm is particularly important. Reduced discomfort can be noticeable within seconds, whereas smoking-related diseases may develop over many years. The absence of an unpleasant sensation says little about the damage occurring inside the body.
This difference between perceived harshness and actual risk helps explain why public health authorities became concerned about menthol additives. Changing the sensory experience of cigarette smoke does not change the fundamental health consequences of smoking.
How Smoking Habits Shaped Menthol Preferences
A person's preference for a particular cigarette can become closely tied to an established smoking routine. Someone who has used the same product for years may continue choosing it out of familiarity, even when other cigarettes are available. Menthol was one of the characteristics that could become associated with that routine.
This helps explain why changes in smoking preferences do not always follow the same pattern across generations. Australian research covering 1980 to 2008 found that menthol use declined considerably among younger female smokers, while the reduction was less pronounced among older women. The findings point to differences between generations, although they cannot establish why each individual continued or stopped using menthol products.
Brand familiarity may also have influenced these habits. Packaging, product names and advertising historically helped smokers recognise particular cigarette ranges. Once advertising restrictions became more extensive, existing product recognition could still persist among people who had encountered those brands earlier.
However, familiarity should not be confused with an independent preference for flavour. Nicotine dependence can reinforce repeated smoking behaviour, making it difficult to separate a person's attachment to a particular cigarette from the broader habit of smoking.
Australia's changing menthol consumption patterns therefore need to be understood in the context of established smoking behaviour, generational differences and the influence of earlier tobacco marketing. No single explanation accounts for why some smokers continued using menthol cigarettes while others moved away from them.
How Australian Smoking Preferences Have Changed
Australia's relationship with cigarettes has changed considerably over the past two decades. In 2001, approximately 19.5% of Australians aged 14 and over smoked daily. By 2025, that figure had fallen to 5.6%, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Fewer people were smoking, and those who continued generally smoked fewer cigarettes than earlier generations.
Menthol consumption followed its own changing pattern. The National Drug Strategy Household Survey found that 31% of people who smoked had used menthol cigarettes during 2022–2023. In 2025, the proportion was 23%, representing a decline of eight percentage points.
The change was especially noticeable among smokers aged 50–59. Within this age group, the proportion reporting daily menthol use fell from 28% to 9.8%. However, these figures measure reported behaviour rather than individual motivations, so they cannot tell us precisely why particular smokers changed their habits.
Smoking preferences are also becoming harder to interpret through traditional cigarette categories alone. Manufactured cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco and newer nicotine products are now measured as distinct forms of consumption, each following different patterns.
For menthol cigarettes, the historical evidence and recent survey findings reveal a category whose audience was never fixed. Its place in Australian smoking habits changed across generations, alongside the broader decline in tobacco use.
Conclusion
Menthol cigarettes became familiar to generations of Australian smokers for reasons that extended beyond their mint flavour. The cooling sensation influenced how tobacco smoke was perceived, while decades of marketing and established smoking habits helped shape preferences among different groups.
Yet their popularity was never consistent across the population. Historical research and more recent national surveys show considerable differences between age groups, smoking frequency and periods of tobacco consumption.
Understanding the history of menthol cigarettes in Australia means recognising how product design, consumer habits and changing attitudes towards smoking developed together. Their story offers a useful perspective on a tobacco market that looks considerably different today from the one Australian smokers knew several decades ago.
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