I'd first like to thank everyone here that has posted any info and reviews of all of the NET's that have been talked about. As has been mentioned time and again... the info contained here is invaluable.
My initial foray into vaping several years ago, showed promise but it was far from satisfactory enough for me to even consider following through at that time other than just to test the waters with the original Blu e-cigs. AFAIK, there were no commercial NET's at that time and I'm uncertain if TA's or TE's even existed. If they had, perhaps I would have gone further.
A year ago last Febuary, I decided to revisit them again and found the e-liquids and more importantly the devices were finally something worth my consideration. Now after that year, I'm still smoking real cigarettes but at least I've cut down from 2+ PAD to 1 or less. The first month, I was vaping the all artificial menthols... correction, for the most part they were mint.. None of them had any tobacco flavor ( real or artificial ) that I could detect. It was then, that I found out about Highbrow Vapor. I ordered one of Bryan's Menthol Tobaccos ( based on his "Exotic blend" ) and once received... found the taste almost cigar like.
Luckily, EleanorR was also visiting the HBV forum thread back then and she ( and others ) said to let it steep for at least a week and then come back to it. A week later, the difference was astoundingly different and everything I disliked had completely changed. I vaped that one for a month but I started to find it was actually too complex of a set of flavor notes for what I was desiring. Still, I ordered up some of HBV's French Pipe ( out of couriosity more than desire ) and the tabac de Perique. After these had steeped a week or so... I checked them out and found the French Pipe a really nice, though a bit too sweet, cherry/vanilla blend that did indeed remind me in a mannor of the pipe blends I'd had in the past. As for the Perique... it was funky, at least to me but in a very interesting way. I then tried out their RY4 and found the tobacco notes were subdued enough to be not to overly complex and surprising to find that I actually liked the carmel/vanilla in it as well. Up to this point... none of the desert, drink or bakery types of e-juices had any interest for me even though they were very tasty... they just didn't suit the desire I was trying to replace of a cig like the other tobacco blends were doing...
Having found, what to me was a decent vape even if not completely satisfying as a complete replacment for a cig.. I started focusing on the equipment side of things more... I've always been mechanically, electronicly and otherwise technically oriented... So it was easy for me to understand the equipment and how it worked.
My primary APV equipment is the VAMO and a Kicked Bolt... I'm using an AGA-T+ for my all day vaping and a IGO-L as my dripping atty. I'll also resort to my selection of Vivi Nova ( by Vision ), Evod and a few other odds and end clearo's. With the exception of one carto, the Smoktek Shorty which is nice for taste testing... I stay away from all of the other filler type carto's.
I'm focusing mostly on non-aromatic's for now... the aromatics are certainly something I have an interest in for a later time. I also have an issue with dealing with throat hit since I've been a heavy smoker for over 35 years... so the majority of the e-juices I select will be in the 6mg range... anything more just starts me off on a coughing fit right now which is a little bit of why I'm not looking at the aromatics very much yet.
Based on a lot of the previous reviews and recommendations that have been made here... the following is where I chose to start with in my quest to finally find a vape that will let me kick the cigs once and for all. My desire is such, that for a little over the last 2 weeks... I've read this whole thread.
My first order was with GoodeJuice was on Saturday, Feb 23rd and I received them the following Tuesday. The ones selected were primarily just directed at a few of their menthol line since that is what I'm looking for first and formost. These include only one NET and the others are from their Premium line instead of the House Brewed.
Products
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1 x NET Menthol eJuice
Nicotine Strength Low - 6mg
Bottle Size 12ml
1 x Commercial Tobacco Menthol eJuice
Nicotine Strength Low - 6mg
Bottle Size 12ml
PG/VG Base 50/50
1 x House Blend Menthol Tobacco eJuice
Nicotine Strength Low - 6mg
Bottle Size 12ml
PG/VG Base 50/50
The NET Methol, before it is well steeped... is weak up to around 6w of power. The tobacco starts to finally come out at that power level but unfortunately... the TH does too which makes me back it back to the 6w range again in order to avoid coughing too much. The menthol in this one is very weak at all power levels I've tried. I even had a non-menthol smoker try it and they even said they could barely taste it. I don't care for strong menthol either... so you wouldn't see me with a Kool or Newport.. I want the tobacco to take front seat and the menthol to just freshen it up at most. I'll try GeJ's NET Menthol ICE version later... I was afraid that at first it would have been too much so I didn't order it this time.
While the other two aren't NET's... I'l at least say they are really nice none the less. The House Blend is straight up tobacco with a background menthol taste ( not mint btw ) and the Commercial one is and American blend with cocoa flavor in it. For artifical tobacco flavorings... they are the best I've ever had.
Later, after getting a bit more budget to spend... I added another order with GeJ to get many of the standard NET's that have spoken about. Ordered on Friday the 1st and they arrived yesterday on Tues. Since I'm primarily a menthol smoker/vapor... I did increase the nicotine to 12mg for two reasons, first Mr.Mann suggestion since GeJ's could be ordered higher without seeming as high as other brands and also because I intend to be sharing these with all of my friends whom are either just starting in vaping or I'm wanting to get them started. I also wanted to taste these flavors in their unadulterated form so the reviews I've read would make more sense and I could then start my own palate education to some extent.
Products
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1 x Patriot Tobacco eJuice
Nicotine Strength Medium - 12mg
Bottle Size 12ml
1 x Natural Perique Tobacco eJuice
Nicotine Strength Medium - 12mg
Bottle Size 12ml
1 x GJ4 Tobacco eJuice
Nicotine Strength Medium - 12mg
Bottle Size 12ml
1 x Wild Turkey Tobacco eJuice
Nicotine Strength Medium - 12mg
Bottle Size 12ml
1 x Acadian Gold Tobacco eJuice
Nicotine Strength Medium - 12mg
Bottle Size 12ml
1 x Wrangler Light Tobacco eJuice
Nicotine Strength Medium - 12mg
Bottle Size 12ml
I really should have ordered these in 6mg instead... the TH is killing me for now. I can hardly turn them up to the power they deserve to be vaped at. I can say the Patriot, even though I only could barely taste the tobacco at 6w, has more cocoa flavor than I expected. The GJ4 is great, even at 6w but does still need cranked up so the tobacco notes would come out more ( at least for me ). The Wild Turkey is "in my face" strong.. lol and the Wrangler Light is also a very nice flavor even if I can't crank it up much as it needs. I haven't gotten to the Acadian Gold or Perique either yet but I do look forward to them.
Heathers Heavenly Vapes...
At HHV, I got two sample packs of several of the e-liquids that have been recommended here. Ordered on Friday the 1st and they arrived today. I've got all of the caps off for a day or two to ready them for a long step. I of course will sample them before I set them back just to get an idea of what they are like to start with.
Products
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1 x E-Liquid 3ml Sample 4 Pack
Flavor #1 Legend
Flavor #2 Shadow
Flavor #3 Pirates Booty
Flavor #4 Huntsman
1 x E-Liquid 3ml Sample 4 Pack
Flavor #1 Dark Horse
Flavor #2 Dragons Fire
Flavor #3 Heavenly Tobacco
Flavor #4 Georgia Peach Tobacco
I haven't gotten to try any of these yet... I'll post back my initial impressions, be it what they are... after I do. I do hope to find that one of the non-aro's here will satisify me and not be overly complex since I can have menthol added to any of them. All of the others.. will simply be for the occasional vape when I fell like something with much fuller flavor.