Im glad I stuck with this thread even though it seemed futile at first... because there would surely have been suspicions of exaggeration on my part. But judging from the above responses, I feel a little vindicated. Although now Im actually worried about vaping something that smells so foul.
Funny thing is, when I spoke to the folks at MBV, the lady tried to turn my complaint about the rotten smell into a product benefit…"oh, that happens, because we mix all our liquids fresh"
So there seem to be two possibilities: the inherent foul smell of certain flavours (tobacco based, mainly) and/or stale nicotine. If it was the latter, there would probably be a lot of people reporting it here, no matter what flavour they purchased. So I have to assume it is just some specific flavours that smell like sh**!
You are right in saying that this one stinky component could put the entire consignment at risk…so we have already decided to isolate it like nuclear waste. It has been wrapped in multiple layers of cling film and put into two ziplock bags.
What a drama! Granted I should have researched the smell factor in greater depth, but in all my reading here, the topic never seems to have come up. I am very mindful of inconveniencing buddies who do me such big favors…and this episode has made me look like a bit of a tool who imposes a little too much on friends.
So…despite MBV's attractive prices, I don't think I will ever have the courage to purchase liquids from them again.