Mentholated cigarettes have been subjected to increasing scrutiny. Some critics have suggested that menthol cigarettes are smoked differently from non-menthol cigarettes, resulting in the potential for higher smoke exposure, while recently published biomarker data showed no effect of menthol on exposure. To better understand the effect of menthol on mouth level exposure (MLE) to "tar" and nicotine, a large consumer-based study was carried out in the US. The study included data from smokers using menthol (M) and non-menthol, (NM) full-flavor (2 M, 3 NM) and lights (2 M, 3 NM), king-size brand styles. Data were obtained from 55-75 smokers of each brand style. In addition to the number of cigarettes smoked during a day, yields of "tar" and nicotine were determined on both a per-cigarette and per-day basis. The data were examined using a two-way ANOVA with "tar" category and menthol as main factors to determine the significance of menthol's effect. The data were also examined using ANOVA within each "tar" category. The test of overall impact of menthol showed that menthol cigarettes produced lower MLE to "tar" and nicotine on a per-cigarette and per-day basis than non-menthol cigarettes. There was no statistically significant difference in the number of cigarettes smoked. When the effect of menthol was examined by "tar" band, the menthol lights cigarettes resulted in significantly lower MLE exposure to "tar" and nicotine on a per-cigarette and per-day basis. The per-day reduction in MLE was accentuated by menthol lights smokers consuming fewer (2.1, p = 0.02) cigarettes per day than the non-menthol smokers. However, no statistically significant differences were observed between the yields or cigarettes per day consumed by full flavor menthol and non-menthol smokers.