Every Winston Cigarette Type: A Guide

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Winston was the first filtered cigarette to sell nationally, the best-selling cigarette in the country for ten years from 1966, and since 2015 a brand of ITG Brands, the US arm of Imperial. Its current US line is 14 pack styles: four non-menthol colors, one menthol, and a Select sub-line, all in boxes, in king and 100 mm lengths. This guide lists them by the name on the pack, explains the brand’s “no additives” history, and covers who makes Winston now and where.

Last verified September 11, 2026 against the New Jersey (June 2025) and Oregon (July 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

Fact	Winston
Manufacturer (US)	ITG Brands, Greensboro, North Carolina
Parent	Imperial Brands, UK. Outside the US, Winston belongs to Japan Tobacco
Launched	1954, by R.J. Reynolds, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Ownership	Reynolds 1954 to 2015; sold to ITG Brands on June 12, 2015 with Kool, Salem, Maverick and blu for about $7.1 billion, the day Reynolds completed its purchase of Lorillard
Market position	No. 7 US brand, 2.0% of sales, Nielsen December 2023; No. 1 from 1966 to about 1976
Price tier	Mid-price; ITG positions it between premium and value
Pack	20 cigarettes, box only
Lengths	King and 100s

The lineup

Style as printed	Length	Menthol	Notes
Winston Red	King, 100s	No	The original full-flavor blend
Winston Gold	King, 100s	No	Sold as Winston Lights until the 2010 descriptor ban
Winston White	King, 100s	No	Sold as Winston Ultra Lights until 2010; some catalogs still use the old name
Winston Black	King, 100s	No
Winston Menthol Green	King, 100s	Yes	Marketed since 2020 as “plant-based menthol,” meaning menthol extracted from mint rather than synthesized; the pack carries the disclaimer that it presents no reduced risk
Winston Select Red	King, 100s	No	Select sub-line, certified in California in September 2024
Winston Select Gold	King, 100s	No	September 2024

Not in the current directories. Winston Select Blend, a king box with a white filter tip that ITG introduced in April 2017, no longer appears in the New Jersey or Oregon lists and appears to have been replaced by the Select Red and Select Gold styles; some retailer catalogs still carry the old name. The 1990s Winston Select line from the brand’s NASCAR era is long gone. All Winston styles are boxes; there are no soft packs or 120s.

History

R.J. Reynolds introduced Winston in 1954, named for its hometown, as the first filtered cigarette aimed at the mass market rather than sold as a specialty; it arrived two years after the first studies linking smoking to lung cancer and rode the shift to filters that followed. “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should,” the slogan with the grammar that grammarians complained about, ran from 1954 to 1972. By 1966 Winston was the largest-selling cigarette in the United States, and it held that position for a decade until Marlboro passed it. The brand sponsored NASCAR’s top series as the Winston Cup from 1971 to 2003.

In 1997 Reynolds relaunched Winston as an “additive-free” cigarette with the “No Bull” campaign, which lifted its share briefly. Reynolds sold its international business, including Winston outside the US, to Japan Tobacco in 1999, which is why Winston is a JT brand in most of the world and an Imperial brand here. In June 2015 the US brand went to ITG Brands, the company Imperial created to take the brands Reynolds sold when it bought Lorillard. ITG closed the old Reynolds plant at Reidsville in early 2020 and now makes Winston at the former Lorillard factory in Greensboro.

Additives

Winston’s “no additives” positioning is the brand’s defining story. The 1997 relaunch ads said “Winston just got naked. No additives” and “100% tobacco,” and from 1999 the brand’s no-additives ads carried the statement “No additives in our tobacco does NOT mean a safer cigarette.” Winston’s current packaging makes no additive-free claim, and its menthol marketing carries the disclaimer that the cigarettes “do not present a reduced risk of harm compared to other cigarettes.” The claim is history; the tobacco is still tobacco.

Winston Menthol Green is subject to the menthol bans in Massachusetts (June 2020) and California (December 2022). Texas, where Saucey delivers tobacco, has no menthol restriction.

FAQs

Who makes Winston cigarettes? ITG Brands, in Greensboro, North Carolina, owned by Imperial Brands. Reynolds made them from 1954 to 2015.

Are Winston cigarettes additive-free? The brand marketed itself that way from 1997, and the current packaging does not make the claim. Whatever is or is not added, the statement the old ads carried still holds: no additives does not mean a safer cigarette.

Is there a Winston menthol? One: Winston Menthol Green, in king and 100s.

What happened to Winston Lights? They became Winston Gold in 2010, when the FDA banned “light,” “mild” and “low” from packs. Ultra Lights became Winston White.

What do they cost? Taxes are most of the price; the state-by-state breakdown is at How Much Does a Pack of Cigarettes Cost?

Sources

• ITG Brands, Winston and Our Company
• Oregon Department of Justice, Tobacco Brand Directory, July 21, 2026; New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, Tobacco Directory, June 30, 2025
• Arnett, “The Winston ‘No Additives’ Campaign,” Public Health Reports, 1999
• Tobacco Reporter, Nielsen brand shares, December 2023; WFDD, ITG Brands to close Reidsville plant, October 2019