Actually, we did not see this impression you mention amongst the smokers we saw in the focus groups. In fact, people who smoke menthol cigarettes seem to be a separate group. Typical cigarettes smokers do not like menthol. If they run out of cigarettes and ask someone for one, they say "no, thank you" to people who offer them a menthol cigarette.
So menthol cigarettes are not as appealing as one might think.