Very well put, SW. I think tolerance is also worthy of mention here, however. No bones about it. While we may discuss any number of things in tandem regarding the vaping experience as a whole, quintessentially a replete conversation about the e-liquid in particular cannot be had sans the inclusion of the subject of addiction and the part that tolerance plays in it.
If, indeed, TH is the result of nicotine hitting the back of the pharynx and causing vasoconstriction, and it is a significant qualifier in the labeling of an e-liquid as a good one, then every e-liquid, no matter how good, will eventually be "less good". Despite our constant barrage of variations, the body is extremely adept at adaptation. As a person who works out 4-5xwk you probably understand this dynamic quite well.
This may be illustrated and evinced, relative to the smoking experience, by the fact that, eventually a cigarette for many becomes a near unconscious thing. When you light up that Newport, unless you've been a decent while without, it probably doesn't have that je ne sais quoi that made you smoke your second one or third thirty years ago.
My point? Well, despite the most valiant efforts of vapers everywhere to find the perfect throat hit, it may well be the case that if one does find it, whether by liquid or voltage or watts, what have you, it will be lost just as quickly barring enough variation to keep the throat guessing and unsuspecting. It seems as though you've been doing just that. Just food for thought.
Congrats on cutting down the analogs to near oblivion. I've been just over a week without myself. I agree that flavors change; greatly so. Nonetheless, it may be that satisfying the nicotine "craving" or drop in dopamine levels in the cerebrum and the reward center's subsequent compulsion mechanism, and a flavor that is subjectively palatable for so doing, may be the best measure of a good liquid after all. To say the least as to whether it is the measure of a good vaping experience altogether.
