Every L&M Cigarette Type: A Guide

WARNING: Cigarettes are addictive.

L&M takes its name from Liggett & Myers, the company that launched it in the early 1950s, and has been a Philip Morris USA brand since 1999. It is Altria’s main lower-priced cigarette, ranked around sixth in the US by sales, and its current line is nine pack styles: four non-menthol families, two menthol, in king and 100 mm lengths, all in boxes. This guide lists them by the name on the pack and covers the brand’s history, where it sits in Altria’s range, and the rules that apply to its menthol packs.

Last verified September 11, 2026 against the Oregon (July 2026), New Jersey (June 2025) and North Dakota (June 2026) state tobacco directories. A listing means the style is certified for sale, not that every store carries it. Sources at the end.

The brand

The lineup

There are no soft packs and no 120s in the US L&M line. Utah’s fire-safe list also carries four “L&M Simple Tobacco” styles (Blue, Green, Orange, Yellow) under Philip Morris that do not appear in the Oregon or New Jersey directories or in any retailer listing we could find, so they are either regional, test-market or discontinued; and one online seller lists an “L&M Turkish Night” that is in no state directory. Treat both as unconfirmed.

History

Liggett & Myers, one of the companies formed when the Supreme Court broke up the American Tobacco trust in 1911, brought out L&M as a filter cigarette in the early 1950s, at the moment the industry was rushing into filters after the first lung cancer studies. Its “Miracle Tip” filter campaign of 1954 and 1955 ran the line “Just what the doctor ordered,” an advertising claim that is now a standard exhibit in histories of tobacco marketing, and the brand advertised on television until the broadcast ban took effect in 1971.

Liggett shrank through the 1970s and 1980s and became the smallest of the major companies; in 1997 it was the first to settle with the state attorneys general and admit that smoking causes cancer. In December 1998 Philip Morris paid $150 million for options on the US rights to L&M, Lark and Chesterfield, three brands that together were less than 0.2% of US volume, and completed the $300 million purchase in 1999. Under Philip Morris USA, and then Altria after the 2003 renaming, L&M was rebuilt as the company’s value-priced brand beneath Marlboro and grew as smokers traded down after the 2009 federal tax increase. The Blue Pack name dates from the 2010 ban on “light” as a descriptor; Turkish Blend was cleared by the FDA in 2020. L&M is made at Philip Morris USA’s Richmond Manufacturing Center in Virginia.

Regulation

L&M Menthol and Bold Menthol are subject to the menthol bans in Massachusetts (June 2020) and California (December 2022) and to local flavor ordinances; the federal menthol proposal was withdrawn in January 2025. Philip Morris USA is an original participant in the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement. The FDA’s 2020 order for L&M Turkish Blend was a substantial-equivalence clearance, meaning the agency found the product comparable to one already on the market, not a finding about its safety. Texas, where Saucey delivers tobacco, has no menthol restriction.

FAQs

Who makes L&M cigarettes? Philip Morris USA, the Altria subsidiary that also makes Marlboro, Parliament and Virginia Slims. Outside the US the brand belongs to Philip Morris International.

What does L&M stand for? Liggett & Myers, the Durham, North Carolina company that created it and owned it until 1999.

Is L&M the same as Marlboro? Same manufacturer, different brand and different price tier. L&M is priced below Marlboro.

What happened to L&M Lights? They became L&M Blue Pack when the FDA banned “light” and “mild” from packs in June 2010.

What do they cost? Less than Marlboro for the same pack, with the gap set by the manufacturer; taxes, which are most of the price, are the same on every brand. The breakdown by state is at How Much Does a Pack of Cigarettes Cost?

Sources

• Oregon Department of Justice, Tobacco Brand Directory, July 21, 2026; New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, Tobacco Directory, June 30, 2025
• Philip Morris USA, company site; Altria, company site; Philip Morris Companies, Form 10-K for 1998 (SEC EDGAR)
• Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising, L&M advertising collection (1951 to 1970)
• FDA, substantial equivalence marketing order for L&M Turkish Blend Box, April 15, 2020
• Tobacco Insider, US cigarette brand ranking, January 24, 2025 (industry retail-audit data)