Does anybody remember a contest MOV had a while back, "Chatting for Prizes"? It ended Saturday the 7th. Well I was the lucky random winner, and got my package on Monday!!
That morning I heard the mail dude trying to shove a package through my mail slot. I am like, "Tennessee. Who do I know in Tennessee?"
So I clawed open the package like a kid on Christmas morning. I found a neatly wrapped, well protected bottle of Orange Chocolate Cream at my nic level. And deeper in the package was a beautiful tin, protecting eight glass bottles of tobacco.
So I open the tin to read each bottle, even though I know the flavors by heart from the 20 trips to the website. Each 3.7ml bottle is shrink wrapped and lined up like little soldiers. Clove and Applewood and Gold and Blue Ridge and Black Forest and Cubano and Frostbite and Original.
Thank you MOV for the fastest shipping ever! You must have had the USPS guy waiting with you until I PMed my choice of samplers. Great packaging, and thanks for the extra!!
So far, Mountain Oak Vapors gets an A+ for service!
The Juices, a flavor each day review.
The sampler pack is eight flavored tobaccos in 3.7ml glass bottles with drippers. The bottles come in a beautiful windowed tin. The juice was all well protected with bubble wrap, inside a large bubbled mailer, and sent Priority Mail.
Day 1:
I have been wanting to try the MOV Gold. It is a "Smooth & Mild Tobacco laced with tantalizing Honey" according to the website. It is very carto friendly. You can tell that they have worked to get the perfect viscosity. The tinted brown bottles hide the liquid, but as I fill the carto, I notice that the e-juice is almost clear.
Gold has a honey taste with a hint of lemon*. It is not as sweet as I expected, just slightly so. The tobacco is also there. Everything is very clean tasting. The vapor is amazing for a 70PG/30VG blend. Throat hit is mild. The base reminds me of Eco-pure, because it is so clean tasting. You can really taste the flavors. It is a well crafted blend, with nothing overpowering.
If you like honey and lemon together, you will like MOV Gold. I like it, but I don't love it. However, I can tell I will find a flavor I love in this tin. The base is great. The craftmanship is noticeable. I am just not a fan of honey and lemon together. As a nicquid, I give MOV Gold a solid B.
*The lemon I tasted in this juice is not there. It is how my brain is interpreting one of the base flavors. I taste it throughout the tobacco line, but I am alone in this.
Day 2 preview: Applewood. Just filled the carto. Early impressions, very good!
Day 2:
Applewood is another of the tobacco flavors from the MOV (Mountain Oak Vapors) tobacco sampler pack. In 18mg and at 70PG, this is a clear nicquid. Carto ready, this juice went from glass dropper to full carto in just under a minute.
With the first inhale you can taste the strong, fresh apple. The rich, woody tobacco follows quickly, creating a delicious blend. On exhale, the apple lays back a bit and allows the tobacco to flourish. The apple never abandons you though, giving you a pleasent aftertaste. Flavors like this are the reason cigarettes taste nasty to me now.
Applewood is fruit sweet, not like candy. The fruit compliments the tobacco nicely. This will make a fruit vaper a very good all day vape. Tobacco lovers will enjoy this blend periodically. If you dialed back the apple a bit, the reverse would be true.
The vapor is great, and the throat hit is average (not strong, but there). I would suggest this flavor to any vaper who is looking for a full-bodied Applewood Tobacco. It is a very good, strong, yet smooth blend. I feel comfortable giving MOV Applewood an A-.
Day 3 preview: Blue Ridge. First impressions, WOW, just WOW.
Day 3:
Blue Ridge is described with "blueberries meld seamlessly with our signature tobacco recipe." I am not a big fan of blueberries. I like strawberries, banana, and maybe melons mostly. So I would not have ordered this, had it not come in the tobacco sampler pack.
The liquid is again very clear. The vapor is excellent, and the throat hit is slightly above average. Like the other tobaccos from MOV, this ejuice is very carto and atty friendly.
When I first tried this juice, I was amazed. Great flavor! The blueberries do not overpower the tobacco. Fruit lovers and tobacco vapers will both like this blend. The fruit is fresh and sweet. The tobacco holds its own, both giving a bite and mellowing the sweetness. Together they mesh into one fantastic flavor.
There are three ejuices I keep on hand. If I run low of any of them, I order more. This is out of over 200 flavors I have tried (I have pictures). So it is really hard to become my all day vape. Blue Ridge just made that list. I have been vaping it for a solid day, and it just keeps getting better.
On a side note, I can again taste the lemon I mentioned in MOV's Gold. I think it is how my brain interprets something in the tobacco base. In Gold, it was not a complimentary flavor. In this juice, I love the tartness it brings.
Blue Ridge gets a blue ribbon, A+!
Day 4 preview: Cloverfield. First impression, how do I get this taste out of my mouth?
Day 4:
Cloverfield is a 2008 American found-footage style (think Blair Witch) action / horror film directed by Matt Reeves. It is a very good movie.
Cloverfield is also a flavor in Mountain Oak Vapors' Tennessee Original Sampler Pack. Let us start with some history.
Kretek (clover and tobacco cigarettes) were invented in 1880 by some Indonesian guy to alleviate his chest pains.
Forward 130 years, and the Unites States are still importing nearly all of their clove cigarettes from Indonesia. The U.S. Congress passed legislation during President Barack Obama's first year in office banning the production and sale of cigarettes with flavors such as clove, cinnamon, strawberry or cherry, but not regular or menthol cigarettes. Clove cigarettes are banned (did anybody notice?). So Indonesia cries discrimination to the WTO. A week ago the WTO agreed with Indonesia, saying if menthol cigarettes are legal, clove cigarettes should be legal. Expect Kreteks to return. End lesson.
I never smoked Kreteks. Sure, I have tasted them. I have smelled them at parties. They are as different to tobacco as apples are to chocolate. Their closest relative might be cinnamon.
MOV's Cloverfield is a warm, sweet spice blanketing the tobacco. The tobacco is there, but well in the background. The clove flavor is powerful. I taste other things going on, but before I can focus on them the clove slaps me in the face.
Even after several hours of vaping, I just can't get a handle on anything but the clove. I don't think I like clove (never have). I think I will let somebody more familiar with clove describe this.
Cloverfild is the clearest of these clear ejuices yet. The throat hit is not as strong as I would have expected, more mild to average. Vapor production is great.
Note: If you need to get a bad flavor out of your mouth (like Crab Juice), Cloverfield would work great. Now how do I get this clove taste out of my mouth.
Day 5 preview: Tennessee Original first impressions. Is that a hint of clove? *rinses mouth and drinks 16 oz. water* Much better, but still need more time for taste buds to recover.
Day 5:
When I started out vaping, I was a butterfly. I would hop from flavor to flavor, never settling on a single juice for more than a few puffs. I liked fruits early on, but never found satisfaction with any one. I delved into dessert vapes, but soon found they were much too sweet. Cinnamon Red Hot was my first all day vape. I am not even into cinnamon. It just filled the cravings for sweetness (but not too much), throat hit, and strong (good) flavor I needed. That lasted about three weeks. After Cinnamon Red Hots I was able to stay with a juice for a few days as long as it filled that niche. Only tobaccos (and CRH) have filled that niche so far.
I don't normally vape straight tobaccos. I like a little hint of fruit or better still nuts in a tobacco flavor. Something to add to the blandness. Most "USA" or "Red" mixes taste like licking the dust off a tin shed. Other tobaccos can taste like eating peanut shells or standing downwind to a leafy campfire. Tennessee Original is not like either extreme. It has a complex flavor without extending outside of tobacco. There is no nutty or woody flavors, and it is far from bland. The closest thing I can come up with, imagine if DK Tab tasted good.
Mountain Oak Vapors' Tennessee Original has everything I look for. It has a natural tobacco sweetness to it. The sweetness is ingrained in the tobacco, like the charred-oak barrel flavor in bourbon. It just fits. Tennessee Original also has a decent thoat hit. Not overpowering, just above average for tobaccos. The final thing I look for is strong flavor. Tennessee Original has a mellow flavor, but there is plenty of it. It is smooth. Very smooth, with just enough grit.
Some days, a reviewer enjoys their task. When Roger Ebert went to see Star Wars. When Zagat visits Le Bernardin. When the Rolling Stone hears the Rolling Stones. And yes, when thehangdude vapes Tennessee Original. This is simply the best straight tobacco vape I have had. I could easily take this one flavor to the proverbial deserted island (with a solar charger). A+
Day 6:Frostbite first impressions. There is no menthol smell, only slight tobacco. I thought they mixed the wrong ejuice.
Have you ever been drip filling a carto and get some in the middle tube? You very gently suck the carto just enough to empty the center. This is when my mouth became frostbitten, and I knew it was the right flavor. Just the fumes gave my mouth a cool numbness!
Day 6:
Many of my friends smoke menthols. Many of the same friends smoke blunts, but I won't go there. I was a pack a day Marlboro smoker from the age of 15. I couldn't tell a Newport from a Kool. I have bummed menthol cigarettes many times, but could never take more than one.
Menthol vapes are generally in three catagories: menthol, mint and menthol, and tobacco and menthol. Frostbite falls into the last two. It blends tobacco with a mint and menthol. On the inhale you get a cool tobacco. It is not until you exhale that you taste the menthol and spearmint, with just a hint of wintergreen. I like that the menthol does not overpower the vape. I can still taste the Tennessee Original tobacco. After the vape, your mouth is left fresh and cool.
After smoking the occasional Kool, I was expecting a stronger throat hit. Even most menthol vapes pack a wicked punch. Keeping just tobacco on the inhale, this vape sports an average throat hit. Vapor production is good, and your mouth stays fresh and cool for several minutes after your vape.
So how do I score this vape? Should I give it a D, because I dislike menthols? Should I give it a B, because as menthols go, this one is better for me? I am not going to grade Frostbite, because like Cloverfield, I am not the best judge. Too many people are all day menthol vapers, and for me to tell them what they should like is just silly.
Day 7 preview: Cubano Flame first impressions. Have you had Atomic Fireballs? The ones with the white middle?
Day 7:
Cubano Flame is not a cigar vape. It is (thankfully) not a pork and swiss vape, named after the Cuban sandwich. It is a cinnamon and clove flavor.
Clove again? Yes, but this time used with restaint. The cinnamon is a mellow version of Atomic Fireballs, the individually wrapped jawbreaker candy. Cubano Flame is both slightly sweet and slightly hot. The sweet cinnamon comes through best on the inhale. You get a bite of spicey cinnamon on exhale, with the clove as the final act.
Is this a tobacco vape? Not technically. I can taste a hint of the Tennessee Original throughout the vape, but it is well in the background. I am a tobacco vaper, yet my first all-day vape was Cinnamon Red Hots. Cinnamon is an excellent tobacco crave buster. The mind somehow "thinks" of cinnamon as a satisfactory replacement for tobacco. It is hard to convince people of this until they try it, but it does work. So, is this a tobacco vape? Um, no.
Cloverfield was a clove lover's delight. Cubano Flame uses clove to add depth to the flavor. It is used to prevent this from being another cinnamon candy flavor. It gives the blend more of a cinnamon clove vibe.
So how do I rate Cubano Flame. It is clean, yet complex. It is a unique blend. It is a clear ejuice with clouds of vapor. It has nothing I can find wrong with it. But I don't like it. I can vape it, it is not repulsive. But as a tobacco vape lover, why would I choose this over the Tennessee Original or Blue Ridge. Both of those are perfect all-day everyday vapes for me. This is a well crafted ejuice, just not my cup of tea.
Day 8 preview: Black Forest first impressions. Smells like black licorice, but the taste is much more complex...
Day 8:
Black Forest is a tobacco vape that is flavored with black licorice. It is a good blend, not overwhelmed by either flavor. Like all the Tennessee blends, it is nearly clear and produces great clouds of vapor.
Licorice has been widely used as flavoring for tobacco for years. Nearly all America cigarettes use it to sweeten, smooth and enhance the flavor of tobacco. It also helps reduce dryness in the mouth and throat of smokers.
Black Licorice is a "love it or hate it" flavor. Much like a velvet painting of Elvis, it is not for everyone. Licorice comes from the root of a legume (think beans/peas), and has a similar taste to anise and fennel. But most people associate it to the black rope candy we all tasted in our youth.
If you like Black Licorice, you will love this vape. It is used in Black Forest to give a sweetened boost to the tobacco. The licorice comes through at the end of the vape, and really compliments the Tennessee Original. Like a bite of chocolate with a cup of coffee, it just fits.
If you don't like black licorice, you will taste nothing else. You will wonder how they can ruin a good tobacco by adding this *insert expletive here*.
This is a tobacco vape. It does not try to be a candy. Like the blueberries used in Blue Ridge, Mountain Oak Vapors used perfect restraint. The tobacco is complimented, not overpowered by the licorice. Another amazing blend.
I am one of the few people who don't care either way about black licorice. I can enjoy it, but would never buy any. But this is a tobacco flavor, with licorice. It is very well done, so I give it an A-.
Day 9 preview: Classic CountRY4. Three people were given six RY4 blends to sample. All three chose this blend as the best. It is very good.
Day 9:
Ludo (one of the owners of Janty) and a Chinese flavor chemist were trying to come up with an e-cigarette flavor. On their fourth attempt of the day (back in 2007) they invented RY4, short for Ruyan (Chinese slang for cigarette-like) and their 4th formula. The DeKang chemist left two years later with his secret recipe to form Hangsen. He was soon imprisoned for industrial theft of intellectual property. Since 2009, the legend of the "original" RY4 has grown. Most say it is lost forever. (This story may be true, but is based solely on hearsay.)
American vendors have been delving into RY4s, often in unique ways. Some add an extra ingredient to seperate themselves. Chocolate or nuts are common. Maple, licorice, even grape are used. Some RY4s are heavy with vanilla, some with caramel. Some are sweet like Koolaid, and some have been strained through dirty socks.
I have tried at least one RY4 from 25 different vendors. Three are worth buying again. Until now.
Mountain Oak Vapors sent me a sample of their Classic CountRY4. It uses their Smooth & Mild tobacco, which I had not tried before. The tobacco is not much different than the Tennessee Original, just a bit more laid back. They sweeten this smooth tobacco with caramel and vanilla for a classic RY4 blend.
The caramel in CCRY4 is rich. It is not a milky or candy caramel. It reminds me of the caramel my favorite ice cream shop ladled onto my scoop of vanilla. I can picture the rich, caramelized, redish-brown goo as I vape this treat. The caramel lingers, forming a perfect base note to the eliquid.
On the high side, the bright vanilla rounds out this RY4 blend. This is a light vanilla extract, not a heavy vanilla bean. It forms a great contrast to the rich caramel.
Classic CountRY4 is well balanced. Good tobacco, rich caramel, and a bright vanilla form one of the best RY4s I have had. It is easily an all-day vape. This is yet another outstanding ejuice from Mountain Oak Vapors. They have created a fantastic tobacco blend, and continue to compliment it with quality flavorings. Classic CountRY4 easily gets an A.
Final notes:
Since my receiving the tobacco sampler from MOV, they have made a few changes. Cubano Flame is no longer on their website, but you can order it by using the comments while ordering. It has been replaced in the sampler by Smooth & Mild.
Cloverfield is no longer part of the tobacco sampler. Classic CountRY4 is its replacement flavor.
That morning I heard the mail dude trying to shove a package through my mail slot. I am like, "Tennessee. Who do I know in Tennessee?"
So I clawed open the package like a kid on Christmas morning. I found a neatly wrapped, well protected bottle of Orange Chocolate Cream at my nic level. And deeper in the package was a beautiful tin, protecting eight glass bottles of tobacco.
So I open the tin to read each bottle, even though I know the flavors by heart from the 20 trips to the website. Each 3.7ml bottle is shrink wrapped and lined up like little soldiers. Clove and Applewood and Gold and Blue Ridge and Black Forest and Cubano and Frostbite and Original.
Thank you MOV for the fastest shipping ever! You must have had the USPS guy waiting with you until I PMed my choice of samplers. Great packaging, and thanks for the extra!!
So far, Mountain Oak Vapors gets an A+ for service!
The Juices, a flavor each day review.
The sampler pack is eight flavored tobaccos in 3.7ml glass bottles with drippers. The bottles come in a beautiful windowed tin. The juice was all well protected with bubble wrap, inside a large bubbled mailer, and sent Priority Mail.
Day 1:
I have been wanting to try the MOV Gold. It is a "Smooth & Mild Tobacco laced with tantalizing Honey" according to the website. It is very carto friendly. You can tell that they have worked to get the perfect viscosity. The tinted brown bottles hide the liquid, but as I fill the carto, I notice that the e-juice is almost clear.
Gold has a honey taste with a hint of lemon*. It is not as sweet as I expected, just slightly so. The tobacco is also there. Everything is very clean tasting. The vapor is amazing for a 70PG/30VG blend. Throat hit is mild. The base reminds me of Eco-pure, because it is so clean tasting. You can really taste the flavors. It is a well crafted blend, with nothing overpowering.
If you like honey and lemon together, you will like MOV Gold. I like it, but I don't love it. However, I can tell I will find a flavor I love in this tin. The base is great. The craftmanship is noticeable. I am just not a fan of honey and lemon together. As a nicquid, I give MOV Gold a solid B.
*The lemon I tasted in this juice is not there. It is how my brain is interpreting one of the base flavors. I taste it throughout the tobacco line, but I am alone in this.
Day 2 preview: Applewood. Just filled the carto. Early impressions, very good!
Day 2:
Applewood is another of the tobacco flavors from the MOV (Mountain Oak Vapors) tobacco sampler pack. In 18mg and at 70PG, this is a clear nicquid. Carto ready, this juice went from glass dropper to full carto in just under a minute.
With the first inhale you can taste the strong, fresh apple. The rich, woody tobacco follows quickly, creating a delicious blend. On exhale, the apple lays back a bit and allows the tobacco to flourish. The apple never abandons you though, giving you a pleasent aftertaste. Flavors like this are the reason cigarettes taste nasty to me now.
Applewood is fruit sweet, not like candy. The fruit compliments the tobacco nicely. This will make a fruit vaper a very good all day vape. Tobacco lovers will enjoy this blend periodically. If you dialed back the apple a bit, the reverse would be true.
The vapor is great, and the throat hit is average (not strong, but there). I would suggest this flavor to any vaper who is looking for a full-bodied Applewood Tobacco. It is a very good, strong, yet smooth blend. I feel comfortable giving MOV Applewood an A-.
Day 3 preview: Blue Ridge. First impressions, WOW, just WOW.
Day 3:
Blue Ridge is described with "blueberries meld seamlessly with our signature tobacco recipe." I am not a big fan of blueberries. I like strawberries, banana, and maybe melons mostly. So I would not have ordered this, had it not come in the tobacco sampler pack.
The liquid is again very clear. The vapor is excellent, and the throat hit is slightly above average. Like the other tobaccos from MOV, this ejuice is very carto and atty friendly.
When I first tried this juice, I was amazed. Great flavor! The blueberries do not overpower the tobacco. Fruit lovers and tobacco vapers will both like this blend. The fruit is fresh and sweet. The tobacco holds its own, both giving a bite and mellowing the sweetness. Together they mesh into one fantastic flavor.
There are three ejuices I keep on hand. If I run low of any of them, I order more. This is out of over 200 flavors I have tried (I have pictures). So it is really hard to become my all day vape. Blue Ridge just made that list. I have been vaping it for a solid day, and it just keeps getting better.
On a side note, I can again taste the lemon I mentioned in MOV's Gold. I think it is how my brain interprets something in the tobacco base. In Gold, it was not a complimentary flavor. In this juice, I love the tartness it brings.
Blue Ridge gets a blue ribbon, A+!
Day 4 preview: Cloverfield. First impression, how do I get this taste out of my mouth?
Day 4:
Cloverfield is a 2008 American found-footage style (think Blair Witch) action / horror film directed by Matt Reeves. It is a very good movie.
Cloverfield is also a flavor in Mountain Oak Vapors' Tennessee Original Sampler Pack. Let us start with some history.
Kretek (clover and tobacco cigarettes) were invented in 1880 by some Indonesian guy to alleviate his chest pains.
Forward 130 years, and the Unites States are still importing nearly all of their clove cigarettes from Indonesia. The U.S. Congress passed legislation during President Barack Obama's first year in office banning the production and sale of cigarettes with flavors such as clove, cinnamon, strawberry or cherry, but not regular or menthol cigarettes. Clove cigarettes are banned (did anybody notice?). So Indonesia cries discrimination to the WTO. A week ago the WTO agreed with Indonesia, saying if menthol cigarettes are legal, clove cigarettes should be legal. Expect Kreteks to return. End lesson.
I never smoked Kreteks. Sure, I have tasted them. I have smelled them at parties. They are as different to tobacco as apples are to chocolate. Their closest relative might be cinnamon.
MOV's Cloverfield is a warm, sweet spice blanketing the tobacco. The tobacco is there, but well in the background. The clove flavor is powerful. I taste other things going on, but before I can focus on them the clove slaps me in the face.
Even after several hours of vaping, I just can't get a handle on anything but the clove. I don't think I like clove (never have). I think I will let somebody more familiar with clove describe this.
Cloverfild is the clearest of these clear ejuices yet. The throat hit is not as strong as I would have expected, more mild to average. Vapor production is great.
Note: If you need to get a bad flavor out of your mouth (like Crab Juice), Cloverfield would work great. Now how do I get this clove taste out of my mouth.
Day 5 preview: Tennessee Original first impressions. Is that a hint of clove? *rinses mouth and drinks 16 oz. water* Much better, but still need more time for taste buds to recover.
Day 5:
When I started out vaping, I was a butterfly. I would hop from flavor to flavor, never settling on a single juice for more than a few puffs. I liked fruits early on, but never found satisfaction with any one. I delved into dessert vapes, but soon found they were much too sweet. Cinnamon Red Hot was my first all day vape. I am not even into cinnamon. It just filled the cravings for sweetness (but not too much), throat hit, and strong (good) flavor I needed. That lasted about three weeks. After Cinnamon Red Hots I was able to stay with a juice for a few days as long as it filled that niche. Only tobaccos (and CRH) have filled that niche so far.
I don't normally vape straight tobaccos. I like a little hint of fruit or better still nuts in a tobacco flavor. Something to add to the blandness. Most "USA" or "Red" mixes taste like licking the dust off a tin shed. Other tobaccos can taste like eating peanut shells or standing downwind to a leafy campfire. Tennessee Original is not like either extreme. It has a complex flavor without extending outside of tobacco. There is no nutty or woody flavors, and it is far from bland. The closest thing I can come up with, imagine if DK Tab tasted good.
Mountain Oak Vapors' Tennessee Original has everything I look for. It has a natural tobacco sweetness to it. The sweetness is ingrained in the tobacco, like the charred-oak barrel flavor in bourbon. It just fits. Tennessee Original also has a decent thoat hit. Not overpowering, just above average for tobaccos. The final thing I look for is strong flavor. Tennessee Original has a mellow flavor, but there is plenty of it. It is smooth. Very smooth, with just enough grit.
Some days, a reviewer enjoys their task. When Roger Ebert went to see Star Wars. When Zagat visits Le Bernardin. When the Rolling Stone hears the Rolling Stones. And yes, when thehangdude vapes Tennessee Original. This is simply the best straight tobacco vape I have had. I could easily take this one flavor to the proverbial deserted island (with a solar charger). A+
Day 6:Frostbite first impressions. There is no menthol smell, only slight tobacco. I thought they mixed the wrong ejuice.
Have you ever been drip filling a carto and get some in the middle tube? You very gently suck the carto just enough to empty the center. This is when my mouth became frostbitten, and I knew it was the right flavor. Just the fumes gave my mouth a cool numbness!
Day 6:
Many of my friends smoke menthols. Many of the same friends smoke blunts, but I won't go there. I was a pack a day Marlboro smoker from the age of 15. I couldn't tell a Newport from a Kool. I have bummed menthol cigarettes many times, but could never take more than one.
Menthol vapes are generally in three catagories: menthol, mint and menthol, and tobacco and menthol. Frostbite falls into the last two. It blends tobacco with a mint and menthol. On the inhale you get a cool tobacco. It is not until you exhale that you taste the menthol and spearmint, with just a hint of wintergreen. I like that the menthol does not overpower the vape. I can still taste the Tennessee Original tobacco. After the vape, your mouth is left fresh and cool.
After smoking the occasional Kool, I was expecting a stronger throat hit. Even most menthol vapes pack a wicked punch. Keeping just tobacco on the inhale, this vape sports an average throat hit. Vapor production is good, and your mouth stays fresh and cool for several minutes after your vape.
So how do I score this vape? Should I give it a D, because I dislike menthols? Should I give it a B, because as menthols go, this one is better for me? I am not going to grade Frostbite, because like Cloverfield, I am not the best judge. Too many people are all day menthol vapers, and for me to tell them what they should like is just silly.
Day 7 preview: Cubano Flame first impressions. Have you had Atomic Fireballs? The ones with the white middle?
Day 7:
Cubano Flame is not a cigar vape. It is (thankfully) not a pork and swiss vape, named after the Cuban sandwich. It is a cinnamon and clove flavor.
Clove again? Yes, but this time used with restaint. The cinnamon is a mellow version of Atomic Fireballs, the individually wrapped jawbreaker candy. Cubano Flame is both slightly sweet and slightly hot. The sweet cinnamon comes through best on the inhale. You get a bite of spicey cinnamon on exhale, with the clove as the final act.
Is this a tobacco vape? Not technically. I can taste a hint of the Tennessee Original throughout the vape, but it is well in the background. I am a tobacco vaper, yet my first all-day vape was Cinnamon Red Hots. Cinnamon is an excellent tobacco crave buster. The mind somehow "thinks" of cinnamon as a satisfactory replacement for tobacco. It is hard to convince people of this until they try it, but it does work. So, is this a tobacco vape? Um, no.
Cloverfield was a clove lover's delight. Cubano Flame uses clove to add depth to the flavor. It is used to prevent this from being another cinnamon candy flavor. It gives the blend more of a cinnamon clove vibe.
So how do I rate Cubano Flame. It is clean, yet complex. It is a unique blend. It is a clear ejuice with clouds of vapor. It has nothing I can find wrong with it. But I don't like it. I can vape it, it is not repulsive. But as a tobacco vape lover, why would I choose this over the Tennessee Original or Blue Ridge. Both of those are perfect all-day everyday vapes for me. This is a well crafted ejuice, just not my cup of tea.
Day 8 preview: Black Forest first impressions. Smells like black licorice, but the taste is much more complex...
Day 8:
Black Forest is a tobacco vape that is flavored with black licorice. It is a good blend, not overwhelmed by either flavor. Like all the Tennessee blends, it is nearly clear and produces great clouds of vapor.
Licorice has been widely used as flavoring for tobacco for years. Nearly all America cigarettes use it to sweeten, smooth and enhance the flavor of tobacco. It also helps reduce dryness in the mouth and throat of smokers.
Black Licorice is a "love it or hate it" flavor. Much like a velvet painting of Elvis, it is not for everyone. Licorice comes from the root of a legume (think beans/peas), and has a similar taste to anise and fennel. But most people associate it to the black rope candy we all tasted in our youth.
If you like Black Licorice, you will love this vape. It is used in Black Forest to give a sweetened boost to the tobacco. The licorice comes through at the end of the vape, and really compliments the Tennessee Original. Like a bite of chocolate with a cup of coffee, it just fits.
If you don't like black licorice, you will taste nothing else. You will wonder how they can ruin a good tobacco by adding this *insert expletive here*.
This is a tobacco vape. It does not try to be a candy. Like the blueberries used in Blue Ridge, Mountain Oak Vapors used perfect restraint. The tobacco is complimented, not overpowered by the licorice. Another amazing blend.
I am one of the few people who don't care either way about black licorice. I can enjoy it, but would never buy any. But this is a tobacco flavor, with licorice. It is very well done, so I give it an A-.
Day 9 preview: Classic CountRY4. Three people were given six RY4 blends to sample. All three chose this blend as the best. It is very good.
Day 9:
Ludo (one of the owners of Janty) and a Chinese flavor chemist were trying to come up with an e-cigarette flavor. On their fourth attempt of the day (back in 2007) they invented RY4, short for Ruyan (Chinese slang for cigarette-like) and their 4th formula. The DeKang chemist left two years later with his secret recipe to form Hangsen. He was soon imprisoned for industrial theft of intellectual property. Since 2009, the legend of the "original" RY4 has grown. Most say it is lost forever. (This story may be true, but is based solely on hearsay.)
American vendors have been delving into RY4s, often in unique ways. Some add an extra ingredient to seperate themselves. Chocolate or nuts are common. Maple, licorice, even grape are used. Some RY4s are heavy with vanilla, some with caramel. Some are sweet like Koolaid, and some have been strained through dirty socks.
I have tried at least one RY4 from 25 different vendors. Three are worth buying again. Until now.
Mountain Oak Vapors sent me a sample of their Classic CountRY4. It uses their Smooth & Mild tobacco, which I had not tried before. The tobacco is not much different than the Tennessee Original, just a bit more laid back. They sweeten this smooth tobacco with caramel and vanilla for a classic RY4 blend.
The caramel in CCRY4 is rich. It is not a milky or candy caramel. It reminds me of the caramel my favorite ice cream shop ladled onto my scoop of vanilla. I can picture the rich, caramelized, redish-brown goo as I vape this treat. The caramel lingers, forming a perfect base note to the eliquid.
On the high side, the bright vanilla rounds out this RY4 blend. This is a light vanilla extract, not a heavy vanilla bean. It forms a great contrast to the rich caramel.
Classic CountRY4 is well balanced. Good tobacco, rich caramel, and a bright vanilla form one of the best RY4s I have had. It is easily an all-day vape. This is yet another outstanding ejuice from Mountain Oak Vapors. They have created a fantastic tobacco blend, and continue to compliment it with quality flavorings. Classic CountRY4 easily gets an A.
Final notes:
Since my receiving the tobacco sampler from MOV, they have made a few changes. Cubano Flame is no longer on their website, but you can order it by using the comments while ordering. It has been replaced in the sampler by Smooth & Mild.
Cloverfield is no longer part of the tobacco sampler. Classic CountRY4 is its replacement flavor.
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Thanks again for a well-written review!
They happen to be having a special "build your own" 3-pack of 15ml bottles on sale, so that's what I did.
Let the 
commence!
