So another impulse purchase at my local smoke shop (soon to open a second dedicated vape shop!), because it had been on my list to try.
As an aside, I find myself reluctant to plan for my vaping-- it's kind of like, I don't want to admit that it's something I enjoy enough to prioritize. So I think about buying online, and end up buying in the local store. Despite what I said earlier in the thread on brick and moarter prices, my shop's prices aren't all that different from online. 15mL Johnson Creek is $9.99 vs $9.95 online (thought the chocolate truffle is on sale at the website for $7.95 at the moment), my Smoov starter kit cost me $25, which is what it costs from the website. And JC isn't actually that much more expensive than other popular vendors: $19.95 for JC vs $13 for HHV, $15 for 36 oz at Mister-E-Liquid, $22 at Virgin Vapor, $14 for 30mL at SI/Volt. So it's on the high side, but all are basically $10-20 for 30 oz.
I'd wanted to try one of the Johnson Creek chocolates and, as much as I've been enjoying their Red Oak 100% VG line, I wanted something I could use in a tank on my Triton. So I got the original PG-containing Chocolate Truffle, which JC lists as the lighter of their chocolate e-juices.
Packaging: Per JC usual, an amber glass bottle with a very nicely designed label including all the particulars. The original bottle lid is childproof, though the dropper top provided by the shop is not. I don't know if JC's own dropper tops are childproof, like Halo's (the pics on the website suggest not), but I've become more aware of the importance of this feature recently.
The taste: I honestly didn't much like it at first puff-- the chocolate tasted too artificial, and the other components didn't seem to go very well with it. But it had a very satisfying throat hit and mouth feel, and it grew on me. The first note is the chocolate, which is a moderately sweet, simple chocolate similar to hot cocoa or a hershey bar. Under that is an almost coffee-like bitterness, making the whole reminiscent of cafe mocha. And the tobacco adds a green, herbal note which actually blends the whole thing together into something quite pleasant and complex. It has a subtlety that makes it quite unique. I think overall the JC Chocolate Truffle is one of those flavors that I imagine doesn't taste anything like anything in the analog world, but actually tastes very natural when vaped.
Presentation: 9/10. I'm actually subtracting a point for the lack of a childproof dropper.
Vapor: 9/10, Good enough for smoke rings.
Flavor: 8/10. Nice but, like I said, quite subtle
Throat Hit: 8/10. Definitely notable, but not as strong as some others.
Overall: 8.5/10. Don't know that it'll be an all-day vape for me, but I've used it for several hours without tiring of it. It's less sweet than the RY4 or Tribeca I've been favoring lately, and it goes very well with a morning cup of coffee.
As an aside, I find myself reluctant to plan for my vaping-- it's kind of like, I don't want to admit that it's something I enjoy enough to prioritize. So I think about buying online, and end up buying in the local store. Despite what I said earlier in the thread on brick and moarter prices, my shop's prices aren't all that different from online. 15mL Johnson Creek is $9.99 vs $9.95 online (thought the chocolate truffle is on sale at the website for $7.95 at the moment), my Smoov starter kit cost me $25, which is what it costs from the website. And JC isn't actually that much more expensive than other popular vendors: $19.95 for JC vs $13 for HHV, $15 for 36 oz at Mister-E-Liquid, $22 at Virgin Vapor, $14 for 30mL at SI/Volt. So it's on the high side, but all are basically $10-20 for 30 oz.
I'd wanted to try one of the Johnson Creek chocolates and, as much as I've been enjoying their Red Oak 100% VG line, I wanted something I could use in a tank on my Triton. So I got the original PG-containing Chocolate Truffle, which JC lists as the lighter of their chocolate e-juices.
Packaging: Per JC usual, an amber glass bottle with a very nicely designed label including all the particulars. The original bottle lid is childproof, though the dropper top provided by the shop is not. I don't know if JC's own dropper tops are childproof, like Halo's (the pics on the website suggest not), but I've become more aware of the importance of this feature recently.
The taste: I honestly didn't much like it at first puff-- the chocolate tasted too artificial, and the other components didn't seem to go very well with it. But it had a very satisfying throat hit and mouth feel, and it grew on me. The first note is the chocolate, which is a moderately sweet, simple chocolate similar to hot cocoa or a hershey bar. Under that is an almost coffee-like bitterness, making the whole reminiscent of cafe mocha. And the tobacco adds a green, herbal note which actually blends the whole thing together into something quite pleasant and complex. It has a subtlety that makes it quite unique. I think overall the JC Chocolate Truffle is one of those flavors that I imagine doesn't taste anything like anything in the analog world, but actually tastes very natural when vaped.
Presentation: 9/10. I'm actually subtracting a point for the lack of a childproof dropper.
Vapor: 9/10, Good enough for smoke rings.
Flavor: 8/10. Nice but, like I said, quite subtle
Throat Hit: 8/10. Definitely notable, but not as strong as some others.
Overall: 8.5/10. Don't know that it'll be an all-day vape for me, but I've used it for several hours without tiring of it. It's less sweet than the RY4 or Tribeca I've been favoring lately, and it goes very well with a morning cup of coffee.
