In 2020, the United Kingdom enacted a ban on menthol cigarettes in an effort to help discourage young people from taking up smoking. Many people subjectively believe that menthol cigarettes are more addictive than standard cigarettes because smokers eventually come to crave the cool sensation in the throat as much as they crave the nicotine. In addition, because menthol acts as a mild anesthetic, it helps to curb the overwhelming harshness that most people experience when they smoke cigarettes for the first time. In other words, menthol may help people to start smoking who would otherwise be put off by their first experience with cigarettes and never try them again.

It’s widely expected that the United States will also ban menthol cigarettes within the next year or so.

So, if you’re a menthol cigarette smoker, what should you do? If you love the cool rush of menthol, it’s time to consider quitting smoking and taking up vaping instead. As you’re about to learn, vaping has the potential to be uniquely appealing to menthol cigarette smokers. In fact, the experience of vaping a menthol e-cigarette can be better than smoking in every way.

What Are E-Cigarettes?

In case you’ve never tried an e-cigarette, here is a brief introduction to vaping. An e-cigarette is a battery-powered device that simulates smoking by heating a liquid until it turns to vapor. In most cases, the liquid contains nicotine. When you inhale the vapor from the e-cigarette, you absorb the nicotine in the e-liquid through your lungs and enjoy the e-liquid’s flavor. You also exhale a visible vapor, further adding to the illusion that you’re smoking.

What Do Menthol E-Cigarettes Taste Like?

As we just mentioned, using a menthol e-cigarette kit can have special appeal for a menthol cigarette smoker because, for menthol lovers, the experience of vaping a menthol e-liquid is better in every way than smoking a menthol cigarette.

If you’re a menthol cigarette smoker, it’s likely that you prefer menthol cigarettes because you don’t actually like the taste of the tobacco. You might think otherwise – but try to recall your first experience with a cigarette. You probably hated those first few puffs. You liked the nicotine rush, though, so you stuck with it – and the menthol made the harshness of the smoke easier to tolerate. Eventually, you convinced yourself that you actually liked the flavor of cigarette smoke.

Some of the benefits of vaping vs. smoking are obvious. Vaping doesn’t smell bad, and it leaves no lingering smoky odor in your home, in your car and on your person. It’s also significantly cheaper than smoking – and many health experts agree that, if you’re going to use nicotine either way, vaping is likely to be significantly less harmful than smoking.

For menthol smokers, though, vaping a menthol e-cigarette has another major benefit in that it tastes significantly better than a tobacco cigarette. Menthol isn’t a specialized ingredient that’s only available to companies in the tobacco industry. Menthol is extracted from peppermint leaves, and the menthol that tobacco companies use is exactly the same as the menthol that e-liquid companies use.

With a menthol e-cigarette, in other words, you get the same coolness that you’d get from a menthol cigarette – and you get it without any of the tobacco harshness – but you still get your nicotine. Do you like the cool, crisp flavor of a menthol cigarette? With a menthol e-liquid, you get the benefits of that experience with none of the drawbacks. The flavor is cooler and fresher than what you could ever get with a cigarette.

Another benefit of vaping a menthol e-cigarette compared to smoking is the fact that many governments – including the governments of both the United Kingdom and the United States – have banned flavors in tobacco cigarettes. An e-liquid maker can enhance a menthol e-cigarette with flavors like mint and fruit; you can’t experience those flavors with a menthol cigarette.

How to Choose the Best Menthol E-Cigarette

Since menthol is one of the most popular e-liquids among new and experienced vapers alike, it goes without saying that there are many options out there for those who want to try menthol e-cigarettes. To help you with your first purchase, we’ll offer a few words of advice to help ensure that you’ll choose the best menthol e-cigarette for your needs.

• Choose an e-cigarette that’s as easy to use as possible. If you buy your first e-cigarette from a brick-and-mortar vape shop, you’re likely to see a lot of refillable vaping devices that look stylish and very high end. For most beginners, though, it’s unwise to start with one of those vaping devices because they work best with lower-nicotine e-liquids and are designed for a direct-to-lung inhaling style. You might decide to switch to a refillable vaping device later when you gain more experience. When you’re just getting started, though, it’s a good idea to choose a device that uses pre-filled cartridges or pods.
• Choose an e-cigarette with several different menthol flavors available if possible. Some e-cigarette brands offer multiple types of menthol e-liquid including plain menthol, mint and menthol and fruit and menthol. In addition, some brands offer e-liquids with different levels of menthol. Some menthol e-liquids provide about as much throat cooling as a menthol cigarette, and others provide significantly more cooling and are almost like inhaling ice.
• Choose an e-cigarette with a high enough nicotine strength to help you through the transition from smoking to vaping. Cigarettes contain thousands of different chemicals, and your body expects to receive a steady supply of all of them – not just the nicotine. In other words, while you’ll still get the nicotine when you switch to vaping, you’re likely to continue craving cigarettes for a while. If you use an e-cigarette with a high nicotine strength, it’ll help you through the transition. Once you’ve completed the switch successfully and no longer crave cigarettes, you can gradually dial your nicotine strength down if you like.