The method used in our laboratories since 1965 for the determination of menthol in tobacco and tobacco products has meanwhile been improved and made suitable for series analyses. Menthol is isolated from the mentholated material to be investigated by steam distillation The distillate containing the menthol in question (dissolved in acetone) is directly subjected to gas chromatography for quantitative determination. The recovery was found to amount to 97 %, the coefficient of variation to 1.45 %, and the detection limit to 0.002 mg of menthol per mI.