I agree completely. If the flavor says it's this flavor, then it should taste like said flavor...
A prime example includes the Marshmallow, Cotton Candy, and the Sweet Dreams' like Vanilla/Cherry flavors from MFS and the Juicy Peach from Good Prophets.
I've said this before but I think it bears repeating here. As someone who has been losing sight for some 20 or so years and now has only miniscule sight remaining that nobody can refer to as usable, my sense of taste, feel of texture, and even sounds are heightened more with each drop in my vision. I would gander a guess that when my sight is completely gone, those extra senses will kick in much stronger.
Now I don't particularly care for menthol but that's just a personal preference; it has nothing to do with the person mixing it or the combination of ingredients. It is nothing more nor less than my dislike of menthol.
When Chris at MFS attempted to created the Cherry-flavored Sweet Dreams e-liquid (think the Bidis that were so popular some years back... the county here decided they didn't want them here b/c it might "encourage" teens to smoke, which is a load of bull....!) I am living proof, in a matter of speaking, of someone who would have began smoking regardless of advertisements or the like. I began in my pre-teens then continued on throughout my 20s, 30s, and finally switched to the E-Cigs in my 40s. The process Chris went through (MFS) was meticulous and greatly appreciated. I would always let him know if the taste was a bit strong or was low in the cherry-flavoring/vanilla flavor, etc... and the last batch I received from him was right on the mark.
PS: Thank you Chris, if I forgot to tell you!
The important thing any vapor needs is an excellent sense of taste. If you want to learn more about training your palate to different flavors, try spending time at a taste-testing session at a winery; attempt to take a day to visit a coffee roaster establishment to taste-test their coffees when pulled as espresso shots. The latter is where you learn the undertones, overtones, and the flavors that burst out from the coffee beans albeit one has to have a very well-educated barrista to pull the shots. I don't worry about that anymore because I roast my own coffee beans, grind them in a burr grinder, and finally pull 1, 2, or 3 shots using different size filters that fit into a portafilter that sits in the group head after the beans are ground, packed, tamped, and ready to brew. It's much like tasting fine wines at a winery Some wines are great with a meal, others for resting after a long day, and others are for dessert, etc... It's a matter of studying which goes with what and then sticking to it. It helps tremendously to learn from the best: the best winery taste-tester, the coffee company's taste-tester to determine the best beans and from where they originate, etc... I prefer Persian coffee means known as Sumatra when pulled right through the espresso machine along with the Kona beans that are grown in Hawaii.
Besides, if you learn to taste-test in your free time, you will certainly impress any dates you may have by knowing the right wine for the right meal and the best coffee for the greatest after-meal flavor with dessert. It just takes time. Even my 14yo can tell the differences between where a wine was grown, the undertones, overtones, and flavors that stand out in her mind when she tastes them (Wine tasting requires one to sort of swish the wine in a glass to determine color, body, and etc... but then there's the testing and that requires tasting the flavor but you always spit out the wine to prevent coloring the next one; it's much the same in cupping coffee beans from various coffee growers)
For some, it's natural but for others, it is an ability/gift you can learn or at the very least learn to appreciate it. I don't see e-liquid as any different.
Why would you say that a juice tastes like pears if it doesn't? That's not very helpful to someone looking for a juice that tastes like pears, is it? If you don't think it tastes like pears, don't say that it does - tell us what it really tastes like.
I don't think we're expecting too much. Some juices come pretty darn close to tasting like the real thing without a chemical flavor. Others are just the opposite. Those who manufacture the latter should strive to be more like the former. Those of us who care about the quality of the flavor pursue it. If you don't, that's fine.