I'll be talking about three new Janty RY4 variants on test this week for your consideration.
All are part of Janty's new Vitaya range of juices: RY4, RY4-X and RY7
All juices are PG mixed at 24mg. Tested on an Reo Mini and Reo Grand both at 3.7v on Cisco 510 1.5ohm atomizers.
First up: Janty Vitaya RY4
This juice, perhaps more so then the others, i didn't expect to be too much of a radical departure from Janty's mainstay: namely Janty RY4. Were this true I'd not have been disappointed, there's a good reason why Bill has Janty top of his rankings week in, week out. It is, without a doubt the best RY4 around (imo).
This mix however isn't quite the same at all. An immediate sweetness is noticeable at first on that inhale, one which does linger and stick to the teeth a little on the exhale and long afterwards. A subtle vanilla is present and one I'd say was a touch more prominent then Janty's original RY4 mix. The tobacco is subdued and barely brought to the forefront with the rather heavy sweet caramel swamping it for the most part. But what surprised me (and if I'm honest disappointed me most) was the lack of the trade mark sourness. that unique aftertaste of a sourness which blended so beautifully with the Janty to save it from being an overly sugary and sweet mix. It is there, if you really look for it, but you'll have to near trick your senses into finding it. Its one of those things were possibly the memory of Janty original is tainting the thoughts of this newer mix, but i was left a little lost with exactly 'what was the point?' in this vitaya mix.
On it's own its a dam good RY4. But its 'not the best RY4' anymore. The lingering sugary stickiness on the teeth and lack of tobacco bite with that smoothing, crisp sourness you know and love Janty for is far too subtle here to truly appreciate. A subtle, sweet and lingering RY4 mix with hints of greatness then, but never really reaching the heights of the original mix.
Next up: Janty Vitaya RY7
With the RY7 i had no real expectations. Unlike a strict RY4, i have no actual memory of what exactly an RY7 should actually consist of. In that sense this juice has no comparison and arguably only here as a footnote in the RY family tree.
In reality, this could pass quite comfortably as an RY4 and few would grumble it lacked any critical components. Its an vanilla heavy mix, but still surprisingly smooth and without a biting burnt custard aftertaste which can plague a vanilla heavy Ry variant (pink spots RY8 springs to mind as most guilty of this). There's caramel sweetness here too, its more of an aftertaste though and blends with a tobacco taste in the back of the mouth, just on the tongue. what i think this juice didn't need was my choosing a relatively high 24mg nicotine mix. The vanilla gives way to a peppery hotness which does spoil the subtleties i think this juice otherwise possesses. I also don't think it likes to be cooked hot and would likely have worked a little better at 16mg (or less) on a standard resistance atty or carto. It belongs to the dessert groupings of RY variants then, but its a surprisingly decent vape. It doesn't trouble Janty RY4 original (or even the Vitaya version above) but its one I'd comfortably vape and wouldn't bemoan its presence in an RY4 grouping either.
Finally: Janty Vitaya RY4-X
Theres little to tell apart here from the above named Vitaya RY4, save for the obvious question of: "what does the X mean?". It is, almost certainly a doubler of one or more of the components in the Vitaya RY4 mixes. Its more tobacco strong for one and also has a slightly odd, peachy fruity taste too on the exhale. Janty mixes have always had: peach aldehyde listed as an ingredient, here it's a lot more noticeable as part of the mix.
An odd finding however when checking the new and nicely labeled Vitaya mixes revealed that RY4-X and RY4 has exactly the same ingredients and % amounts of each. There was not one single difference between the two from an ingredients list perspective. Vaping them does reveal a subtlety between the mixes however, so whether this is all purely placebo or a labeling error remains unknown to me.
final comments:
Overal the Vitaya range seems an odd move by Janty from me, a difficult move to a new range of RY4's which remain classic to Janty'c core flavours and craft yet not really bettering what they'd achieved before.
The problem of course with bettering greatness (dare i suggest: near perfection) is its dam near impossible to better. Its all a bit catch 22 for Janty. Change your mixes too much beyond what people expect from a Janty mix and you'll likely turn people away, on the other hand however, change very little and call it all a new line of Janty mixes and people start to wonder whats really new here? In-truth the Vitaya range changes things only subtlety, they favor an even more sweeter edge (Janty comfortably was a dessert vape anyway) though looses some of the bite from the sourness on the exhale that once complimented the tobacco so well.
I'd happily vape any one of these 3 again, they are, by any measure exceptionally good juices. I'm just not sure i'd so so over the original and best Janty RY4 without at least thinking my money had been better spent on my tried and tested fave. Sometimes the grass isn't always greener...
