The Really Big RY4 Roundup (long)

[Jim Bob]

I'd love to hear what people think of the VaporGod RY4. I just received a second 30mL bottle today (I thought the first one was an error, and they were kind enough to send me a replacement), and somehow it tastes... minty/mouthwashy in an odd sort of way that is quite offputting. I haven't detected this in any of their other flavors (I've been having a very pleasant time with their Apple/tobacco FlavorLab flavor), but this is confusing me greatly.

IF I recall correctly that was the first RY4 I had ever tried, around I believe August 2011 or so... IMO it's not "bad", what I got at the time had a very distinctive "sour note" (sorry best description I can think of) and the smell lingered in the room for some time.(wife was not fond of that sour note smell)
Since I've never tried the original RY4 I can't say IF this is similar or not. I didn't order more, though I "Could " vape it again, I found other ones I like better, that's not to say many would not love it. Tastes being what they are YMMV

 

[toto1013]

Mr.M,

You might as well ask me to describe how Boba's Bounty tastes. Describing flavors is mostly downright impossible. That's one of the reasons I started The RY4 Roundup thread---at least with RY4s, we have the "Big Three" component ingredients to fall back on. To review an RY4, you don't have to literally describe the flavor, you just have to schmooze about vanilla, caramel, and tobacco. Oh, we might say that the caramel is rich or the tobacco is odd, and we might discuss nuttiness, marshmallow, or cotton candy as possible ingredient flavors, but we never really get down to defining the taste of caramel or tobacco or basically anything else. I can write one of my long reviews in such a way that I seem to know something authoritatively without ever defining a single flavor.

Define how "chocolate" tastes. Can't do it, right? All we can do is compare chocolates as to how they differ: one is more bitter, another is more creamy, a third is darker or more chalky, and so on.

We can say that NLV Bounty Hunter has a cereal component, but that's describing the flavor in terms of another flavor, and not even very specifically at that (Cap'n Crunch? Cheerios? Grape Nuts?---hell, even Grape Nuts tastes nothing like its name---no grapes, no nuts. LOL.)

OK, we can sort of describe lemonade in term of tartness versus sweetness, but what is the flavor of lemon at its essence? Well, um, it tastes like... (wait for it) LEMON! Duh. We might as well say that it tastes yellow. The only thing we can do is hope that the reader has actually eaten real lemons and then describe the flavor of a lemon eliquid as exactly like that, sort of like that, or nothing like that.

Same with Spring Vapor Black Label 555 or BWB 555 Exotic. I wouldn't know how to begin to describe what they taste like. The best I can do is to say that I like them, or to offer the somewhat exaggerated comment that---unlike many 555s---they don't make me scrunch up my face, gag, or want to puke. I mean, besides "tobacco and nuts," which is the uber-generic definition of 555, what can we truly say? Only that those two juices taste more like really yummy tobacco blends than ordinary 555s.

Now, aren't you glad you asked? You've squeezed out of me one of the Secret Truths of Juice Reviews: Reviewers hardly ever describe how juices taste. Why not? Because we can't. We just compare the taste of the juice to known flavors or use flavor qualities (tart, sweet, sour, pungent, tangy, rich, creamy, etc.) in the same way (as comparisons to other juices or known flavors).

There, I've revealed the Magician's secret to how the trick is done. It's all smoke and mirrors. Well, I guess it's just mirrors, since smoke is verboten. Vapor and Mirrors. LOL.

Mr.M,

It was a fair question. I just decided to tell the truth rather than try to BS my way through a response. In fact, I liked your question, because it gave me the chance to write something real.

Bravo...my sentiments exactly; although, I could not voice them as eloquently as you. It is definitely real in my estimation.

 

[revolver]

The Svpernova Collection. #1. Fourth Ruyan.
A brand new e-liquids' line soon to be launched by a brand new argentinean-based e-juice company -run by a friend; Lodge of G - e-liquids...

Anticipation.

As many of us -the "loyal" ones at least- must do, I have always wondered what cheating on her must feel like. I mean... Not that I would; Not that I fully-really want to, in fact. God, again, no... But again; then again, deep down... I mean... Who hasn't ever wondered what her -and I do mean "the other" her, of course- perfectly porn-inspired lips; sick sick feverish lips, might feel like... !? I know I have. Her suggestive looks; her masterly-crafted body language; her state-of-the-art madness and smile. Her dirty and fascinating place in my mind. But, as fantasy-based experiences are certainly not enough, the more I imagine, the more puzzled I am... It's like when you really get to know to the last details of that particular song by heart; every micro-second to it; every tiny sound, and then some... You certainly can play it over and over -perfectly- in you mind, but heck! It feels too "abstract" -not "loud" enough- and yes! you certainly need to listen to it, not rewind it time and again in your head; in the empty void of cool thoughts and effects, not yet, real enough. Well, same thing here... What is the true flavor!? The true soundtrack; What is her freaking soul-track? One can only afford to wonder; trapped in your own mind maze; only abstract; half-dead and only half, alive.
But again; then again, it is but mistery that keeps us mesmerized; it is part of human nature; it is who we are... Victims of Novelty. Victims of Rush. It is the new we are after; chasing the very mistery behind mistery itself, which seems per se impossible to find, our desires aim at, at least, getting closer to what might be on the other side. And so, driven by our instincts, we are junkies to the new and its lust, as anticipating what's to come. And so, at this very moment, this juice which I have not yet tried, feels just like that; mistery, pure mistery. Perfect as such.

 

[midficollege]

I want to vape juice from the most creative artisan juice-makers on the planet.
...
Basically, any standard retail juice I can DIY myself---and probably with the same so-so results---gets crossed off my list. I simply won't buy it. Not anymore, and never again.

Bill-

I'm surprised that you put JuicyVapor in the category of "talented DIY-er working with stock flavors". Their new stuff, at least according to their site, has lychee-fruit flavor added somehow? That seems like something within the 'artisan juice crafters experimenting" realm to me. As do their prices which are more than I personally have available to spend on juice (approaching Janty/MrsT's $1/mL with their $0.72/mL. While the site isn't that terribly well made... I've yet to try their juices. The fact that they offer a lot of the middle grounds of nic strengths that nobody else touches (20mg/mL, 22mg/mL) also impresses me.

Still, personally, I have to consider that it has to be much easier to "fine-tune" a juice on a 2L vat of PG than it is within the context of a 5mL vial, simply by virtue of having much finer granularity between the amounts of any given flavor compound that you may want to add.

Anyway- like I said, I haven't tried their stuff, and there are some very talented juicemakers (Sweeney over at Stealth Vapors, for one) making Artisan stuff for a lot less than Juicy charges... but I was surprised to find them as being, in your mind, a "Stop&Shop" rather than "Williams-Sonoma" type deal.

 

[billherbst]

midfi,

Sorry, I'm afraid my brain damage kicked in again. I was thinking of another site---not JuicyVapor---but somehow that name got substituted in my head. I just went to the JuicyVapor site, and I wasn't thinking of them at all. (And yes, JuicyVapor's eliquids could hardly be considered "inexpensive.") I can visualize the site I was thinking of, but I can't think of the vendor's name right now.

By the way, when I wrote that I didn't mind paying more, what that means is that I will (and do) pay 50¢/ml rather than 30¢/ml for retail nicquids. I absolutely refuse to pay $1/ml or anything close, since that elevated price range seriously offends me. That's why I've never tried Ms.T's, and also why I've made only one purchase from JantyUSA---I did buy 15ml bottles of Janty RY4 Elixir in PG and VG, but that was "taking one for the RY4 team" solely to be able to review Janty RY4 for this thread. Any juice that costs $1/ml darn well better magically restore my lost youth or have some other miraculous benefit beyond just tasting good.

Another aside (since JuicyVapor was not the vendor I meant)---lychee fruit flavoring might seem exotic in the U.S., but it's common in China. Heck, you can buy "litchi" fruit DIY flavoring from HealthCabin. To me, "Artisan" means that you make your own extracts if possible or---at the very least---use the highest-quality flavorings, nic, and bases you can source.

You're right of course about batch sizes in mixing. Mixing individual 10ml to 30ml bottles of juice must be a PITA for accuracy and consistency. But I wouldn't call two liters a "vat." That's the size of a large soda bottle, and the equivalent of only 33 30ml bottles, which is fine with me. I don't require my juice to be "custom-mixed-to-order." Some vendors I love (such as NiteLiteVapor) don't even make their own juice. They hire a manufacturer/supplier to make it to their custom specs, as Gene at NLV does. I'm not asking that vendors make juices in their kitchen sinks. LOL.

I understood what you meant by "Stop&Shop" versus "Williams-Sonoma," but I have to add that I wouldn't be caught dead shopping at Williams-Sonoma. OMG, don't get me started on class warfare and lifestyle-obsessed consumerism.

Please don't be shocked if you encounter biases in my posts. I'm as prone to bias in my opinions as anyone else. But feel free to continue pointing out my errors and exaggerations. We all need spotters on the pommel horse.

 

[Roxxette]

but but Bill is American made !

 

[yugoshavia]

Ohh wow.. I wonder what I have been missing on ry4 flavors. My first vendor was awesomevapor and I've pretty much stuck with them till recently. So they are the only ry4 I've actually tried. Thanks for the reviews.

 

[billherbst]

Ohh wow.. I wonder what I have been missing on ry4 flavors. My first vendor was awesomevapor and I've pretty much stuck with them till recently. So they are the only ry4 I've actually tried. Thanks for the reviews.

yugoshavia,

You're very welcome.

I apologize for the slowdown in reviews over the past couple months. The fault there is mine, I'm afraid. I reached a point awhile back where, after doing reviews of more than 70 RY4s and spending a significant bucks buying RY4s for review, I hit a wall. I simply haven't been willing to spend much more money on RY4s simply to keep the thread going. I wish I had deeper pockets, since we still have easily 50-75 more RY4s to review. In addition, it would be very worthwhile to buy new bottles of all reviewed RY4s to see if some have improved (or lost luster) since the original reviews, which now stretch back a full year. I'd love to see if today's AwesomeVapor RY4 is still as relatively undistinguished to me as last year's was. Sometimes things change, other times they don't.

At this point, I depend on others---either readers of the thread or vendors---to send me samples of new RY4s for review. That might change in the future, but for now, that's where things stand.

I invite others to post detailed reviews of RY4s on the thread. Yeah, sure, I've amassed enough street cred now to be considered the "RY4 Guru" by some folks---LOL---(I'm also the thread's "janitor"), but the more the merrier, you know? Numerous regular posters on this thread and elsewhere on ECF qualify as candidates to whom I might happily offer the CEO/custodian job and hand over the reins, but no one's applied yet. Double LOL.

 

[yugoshavia]

Right now I'm going to try to get madvapes ry4 and the 3rd or 4th ranked ry4 on your list. The ry4 from AwesomeVapor is caramel sweet, slight tobacco taste. But thats about it..

 

[On Target]

Has anyone heard if Backwoods Brew is going to come out with a new RY4? I just this week purchased a Provari V2 and broke out my bottle of BWB RY4. Have not vaped it for a few weeks because, same as Bill, I just dit not really care for it as much as other RY4's in my juice inventory (MOV CountRY4, Prime Vaping, Quic Nic, etc). Well, I must say an additional month of steeping has really helped - it is now a pleasure to vape (in a SR Boge Carto) at 4.6 volts. I am so glad I still have about 20 - 25mls remaining from Don's last batch. Hopefully he will come up with a good "version 2".

 

[Roxxette]

"On Target" i really hope he comes up with a ry4 v2 today i scored 2 bottles on the classifieds but i know its only matter of time that it cant be found.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[billherbst]

I'd bet dollars-to-doughnuts that Don is working on that. This isn't like tossing together some ingredients for a quick-and-easy DIY juice for oneself. Nope.

Think about it: Creating a retail juice is a long process, requiring discipline and patience. Getting in the ballpark might be easy and quick enough sometimes, but refining the flavor? Getting the recipe just right? OMG, that takes nearly endless experimentation, testing, waiting, tweaking, testing again, tweaking some more, waiting again, and on and on. And sometimes a juice-maker might go through all that only to conclude that the juice just isn't good enough. Then it's back to the drawing board and re-boot from scratch.

And all the while the juice-maker is trying out many different flavorings from various sources. What if a new juice is 90% through beta-testing, but then a new flavoring comes in that might make it even better? That's a whole 'nother round of testing and tweaking right there.

And then each vendor has to be relatively certain that the flavorings in the juice will continue to be easily available. That's what did in the original BWB RY4---problems sourcing some of the flavoring ingredients. Don't want to come out with a new juice and then have the flavorings source go belly up two months later.

So, "Patience, Grasshopper" is a mantra for both juice-masters and customers. And "Perseverance furthers," as the I Ching sometimes advises. And especially the biblical "All good things come to those who wait." I understand that urgency and desire are directly proportional, but "Patience is a virtue."

Now, with that cosmic wisdom and $4.00, you can get a cappuccino. LOL.

 

[toto1013]

So very well said bill. From what little Diying I have done, I sit in amazement that a vendor can make an e-liquid that a large majority raves about. Taste/smell is so subjective, as well as all different kinds of hardware that the e-liquid is used in/with(various volts-ohms) as well as nic amount itself can change the perception, etc.....

 

[Roxxette]

Sometimes makes me think how many vendor dont like the liquid they sell

 

[On Target]

Bill, I think I already knew this answer - I just had to hear it from you! LOL. I have spent my fair share of time in the woods and on the water so by nature, I do have patience. But that doesn't mean I like it.

 

[billherbst]

Bill, I think I already knew this answer - I just had to hear it from you! LOL. I have spent my fair share of time in the woods and on the water so by nature, I do have patience. But that doesn't mean I like it.

Yes, I figured you already knew. I was just prattling on in my usual way, sharing stuff I think about a lot. Just posting the obvious, LOL.

As for patience, I am so with you. It's one thing to understand about patience intellectually, but quite another to actually live that truth.

 

[lannister]

How does NLV gold stack up with everything else in RY4 fan land? I've seen it mentioned in this thread- is it an RY4? Do you recommend it?

 

[thehangdude]

NLV Gold is closer to a 555 or Caramel Tobacco than a RY4. It is a strong tobacco (with very good flavor) flavored with nuts, caramel, and honey.

The reason you have seen it in this thread, it is one of billherbst's favorites, and this is Bill's thread (although he tries to say otherwise).

I would recommend trying a few of NLV's flavors. Gold is a very good flavored tobacco. Bounty Hunter is a good vanilla (reminds me of Captain Crunch). Others could suggest more. The prices/quality can't be beat.

 

[lannister]

Thanks! I appreciate it!

 

[dlsw]

Thanks! I appreciate it!

NLV Gold tastes like caramel popcorn with tobacco to me; others have compared it to Golden Grahams. It is really tough to do it justice with mere words.