i've only been off cigarettes for about 1.5 months so i'm sure my tastebuds are funky, but if anything they're less sensitive. but this is not a "hint" or "note" of hickory or mesquite. this is an overwhelming and toxic flavor that makes me nauseous.
to give you an idea of how strong this is, and to put to rest the cries that this is a wattage/atomizer issue:
after trying the renegade in the first (brand new) stardust, i promptly washed it out after about 2 minutes of vaping. and briefly dry burned. then i put some BWB Dulce De Leche in it. still got that terrible taste, but i kept going, hoping to vape it off. eventually after 5 minutes i realized it was not happening, and i made the horrible mistake of pouring the small (~1ml) amount of Dulce back into the bottle. Now the entire bottle is tainted with this noxious taste, no matter what i vape it thru (when only minutes before, it tasted great, and every other bottle in the BWB order i got tastes great). There couldn't have been more than a single drop of renegade left collectively in the stardust (if that) but somehow it managed to contaminate an entire 10ml bottle.
Look, i understand that you guys want to defend a vendor that you appreciate and prefer, but don't let that cloud your logic. NLV is cheap and highly respected, and shipped to me in a timely manner. I want their juice to taste good. i really do. it would save me money, and having to shop around. It would benefit me greatly. I have nothing to gain by ruling out NLV as a vendor. Which is why i started this thread. to try and salvage my NLV experience before i rule them out of my go-to list because it seemed like a dream come true (what with the price, shipping, and positive hype).
lastly: it's been several days and Gene has not yet responded to my request. If anyone has doubts or wants to analyze this juice for themselves, I WILL SEND IT TO YOU! if you vape this juice yourself, there will be no argument. the juice is of no use to me, and frankly all the white-knight-ery in this thread is getting pretty annoying. I've only been on this forum for a month or so, and this is my second thread EVER. i do not appreciate the many insinuations or direct accusations that i am a liar, troll, manipulator, bad-mouther, incapable of tasting flavor, etc.