The Really Big RY4 Roundup (long)

[Roxxette]

Thats not good news lol , the weird thing is i dont remember the 7ml sample i used to have gettin these taste is horrible but not only that one a malibu and menthol bottle have the same taste also lol i put in in a carto to see if the taste will be different but damm is the same


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[billherbst]

Ok you guys can kill me for this....but if you like classic ry4 do you still use dekang?
I was thinking this today, why pay such high prices for similar juice? Is it the search for the best? Is it the need for a little variety?

Nah, no death row for those questions. Not even probation. No harm, no foul.

It's my job. Way back before I started this thread a year ago, RY4s were a significant part of my daily vapes. This thread has killed that. Now I don't vape RY4s for pleasure anymore. I just "appreciate" them, like some deranged wine connoisseur who drinks only during wine competitions and even then doesn't swallow---just swirls the wine around his mouth to savor the bouquet and then spits it out. Before I review a new RY4, I often comparison test it against a bunch of other RY4s---sometimes ten or more---to give perspective and clarify my perceptions of the flavor.

Yeah, I like Dekang RY4, quite a bit actually, and consider it (along with Janty Classic/Elixir) the reference standard for Classic RY4s, but the 50ml bottle of Dekang RY4 I bought from Health Cabin will be long dead from extreme old age decrepitude before I use up much of the contents. And yes, I do continue on rare occasions to buy an RY4 for review, but only because it's my job, and anyway, I never buy the uber-expensive ones.

Searching? Variety? No, it's just my job. (That phrase should be read to sound like Jack Webb on the 1950s TV series Dragnet with his deadpan delivery of the line, "Just the facts, m'am, just the facts.")

 

[CthulhuSaves]

I'm just saddened that this is 2012, and you had to explain who Jack Webb was. Buuuut then you compared yourself to someone that doesn't swallow, and that cheered me right the hell back up.

(Seriously, though. Dekang? Stuff tastes like a cross between almond extract and turpentine.)

Y'know, awhile back, during Good Prophet's joose sale, I grabbed a small bottle of their caramel. Nothing else in it, just caramel, and I was really surprised at how pleasant it was. I kept thinking, "Heck, this is better than four fifths of the RY4s I sample. It's not awesome, but unlike most of those RY4s, it's not god-awful, doesn't taste like pine sap or a mouthful of liquefied granola, and I can vape the heck out of it for days" (which is exactly what I did, and I wish I'd gotten more).

Just sayin'...

 

[Roxxette]

Lol liquefied granola


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[Jim Bob]

Well, Bill I (and I'm sure I'm far from alone) really appreciate all your hard work and feel bad that you no longer enjoy a good RY4 vape.

 

[billherbst]

Well, Bill I (and I'm sure I'm far from alone) really appreciate all your hard work and feel bad that you no longer enjoy a good RY4 vape.

No worries, JB. I have oodles of other juices that I like for just sittin' around vapin', and I'm in a deep DIY phase now, which is funfunfun even though I'm only an amateur juicemaker. As I wrote, I still appreciate RY4s very much; I just don't reach for them to satisfy my constant oral cravings.

 

[CthulhuSaves]

I just don't reach for them to satisfy my constant oral cravings.

Ok, Bill, now y'er just messin' with me. lol

 

[lannister]

No worries, JB. I have oodles of other juices that I like for just sittin' around vapin', and I'm in a deep DIY phase now, which is funfunfun even though I'm only an amateur juicemaker. As I wrote, I still appreciate RY4s very much; I just don't reach for them to satisfy my constant oral cravings.

Just out of curiosity, Bill, what juices do you enjoy for pleasure/ all day vaping? Besides your DIY. I do love RY4's and have tried several, only a couple of them do I love though. But I have been in an RY4 phase for a while and wouldn't mind mixing it up.

 

[billherbst]

Just out of curiosity, Bill, what juices do you enjoy for pleasure/ all day vaping?

lannister,

I vape all day---constantly---but I'm not an "all-day-vape" kind of guy when it comes to juices. I'm a bumblebee who flits from flower to flower. I don't ever vape one juice for more than five minutes before switching to another. I have 35 PVs on my desk, each with a labeled carto or tank loaded with a different juice (except for my bottom-feeders, on which I use atties), plus another hundred-or-so juices also in labeled cartos waiting on deck in cartridge ammo boxes that are on the desk within arm's reach. That group includes 50 RY4s in cartos used for comparison testing with new RY4s I'm reviewing. Any non-RY4 juice in a carto also has its own little 3ml plastic dripper bottle or 1-dram dropper bottle for topping up; these sit in other containers on the desk.

Membership in the "desk juice club" changes daily. Some juices that don't make the cut after a week or (meaning that they turn out not to please me enough to get vaped get relegated back to the big juice cabinets, while other new juices replace them and get trial memberships.

Below are 30-or-so of my personal fave staples, most of which have proven their staying power for me over time (in category groups, but not in any particular order individually):

Tobacco Blends:
Boba's Bounty from alienvisions
Bounty Hunter from nitelitevapor
NLV Gold, also from nitelitevapor
Kentucky Premium - vermillionriver
Kentucky Vanilla - vermillionriver
Classic Blend - vermillionriver
Vita Bella - goodejuice (to which I add vanilla)
Managua - want2vape
Natural Perique Tobacco - goodejuice
Bob's Krave Kutter - altcig
Tobacco Love - altcig
RYO - mom&popvapingshop
Jane's Toasted Toffee Kick Juice - ecsi
Black and Tan - cloudsofvapor
Rich Roasted Velvet Tobacco - gourmetvapor
Special Blend - mrvapes (on trial)

Coffees:
Kona Coffee Milkshake - virginvapor
Kona Latte - sweet-vapes
Coffee - coppercreek
Dark Roast - mrvapes
Espresso - backwoodsbrew
(plus another 15 or so that come and go)

Fruits and Desserts:
French Apple Tart - decadentvapours
Limoncello - highbrowvapor (on trial)
Gooey Butter Cake - both vapealicious and altcig
Strawberry - primevaping
Strawberry Cheese Cake - primevaping
Orange de Sangre - highbrowvapor (also on trial)
Ecoberry - want2vape
Crème Brûlée - want2vape

Plus another 30-or-so DIY homemade juices.

My current #1 favorite juice is NLV Gold.

Now, with all that information and $3.50, you can buy a cappuccino. LOL.

 

[goodtimes]

Bill, have you tried NLV's Twilite? I find it very similar to Jane's Toasted Toffee, but with maybe a bit more tobacco flavor and throat hit. I like the Toasted Toffee, but I like Twilite even more.

 

[billherbst]

Bill, have you tried NLV's Twilite? I find it very similar to Jane's Toasted Toffee, but with maybe a bit more tobacco flavor and throat hit. I like the Toasted Toffee, but I like Twilite even more.

goodtimes,

Yes, I have, and I understand your suggestion about Twilite's similarity to Jane's Toasted Toffee. Twilite doesn't have as much Toffee as Jane's, but the overall flavor impact is in the same general direction. Oddly enough, while Toasted Toffee is one of my faves, Twilite didn't reach me. I'm not sure why---maybe I need it to be sweeter? (Not that I like only sweet tobaccos---a fair number of my DIY Tobaccos are straight with no sweetener). I can't point to anything "wrong" with Twilite. It just didn't bowl me over at first, then didn't grow on me (I had the same initial reaction to Gold, but it completely won my heart in the weeks that followed).

I know Twilite is supposed to be a straight analog challenger, but I get a slight lemony-citrusy note from it. Do you get that, too? I like fruits, except when I don't. Here the subtle fruitness---assuming it's actually there and not just my ghost projection---seems neutral to me, meaning it's not the reason I don't love Twilite.

I haven't messed with adding any flavors to Twilite yet. I've left it pristine. And it has its own tank on my desk, so I re-try it from time to time, hoping that my reaction of "OK, but so What?" will change. Not yet, though.

I'm going through my 30ml bottle of NLV Gold at a pace that concerns me, since it's out of stock at NLV and juice ordering is down. Damn. I'm too old to chase juices on web site watches.

Wanna swap some Gold for Twilite?

 

[sandybeach]

lannister,

I vape all day---constantly---but I'm not an "all-day-vape" kind of guy when it comes to juices. I'm a bumblebee who flits from flower to flower. I don't ever vape one juice for more than five minutes before switching to another. I have 35 PVs on my desk, each with a labeled carto or tank loaded with a different juice (except for my bottom-feeders, on which I use atties), plus another hundred-or-so juices also in labeled cartos waiting on deck in cartridge ammo boxes that are on the desk within arm's reach. That group includes 50 RY4s in cartos used for comparison testing with new RY4s I'm reviewing. Any non-RY4 juice in a carto also has its own little 3ml plastic dripper bottle or 1-dram dropper bottle for topping up; these sit in other containers on the desk.

Membership in the "desk juice club" changes daily. Some juices that don't make the cut after a week or (meaning that they turn out not to please me enough to get vaped get relegated back to the big juice cabinets, while other new juices replace them and get trial memberships.

Below are 30-or-so of my personal fave staples, most of which have proven their staying power for me over time (in category groups, but not in any particular order individually):

Tobacco Blends:
Boba's Bounty from alienvisions
Bounty Hunter from nitelitevapor
NLV Gold, also from nitelitevapor
Kentucky Premium - vermillionriver
Kentucky Vanilla - vermillionriver
Classic Blend - vermillionriver
Vita Bella - goodejuice (to which I add vanilla)
Managua - want2vape
Natural Perique Tobacco - goodejuice
Bob's Krave Kutter - altcig
Tobacco Love - altcig
RYO - mom&popvapingshop
Jane's Toasted Toffee Kick Juice - ecsi
Black and Tan - cloudsofvapor
Rich Roasted Velvet Tobacco - gourmetvapor
Special Blend - mrvapes (on trial)

Coffees:
Kona Coffee Milkshake - virginvapor
Kona Latte - sweet-vapes
Coffee - coppercreek
Dark Roast - mrvapes
Espresso - backwoodsbrew
(plus another 15 or so that come and go)

Fruits and Desserts:
French Apple Tart - decadentvapours
Limoncello - highbrowvapor (on trial)
Gooey Butter Cake - both vapealicious and altcig
Strawberry - primevaping
Strawberry Cheese Cake - primevaping
Orange de Sangre - highbrowvapor (also on trial)
Ecoberry - want2vape
Crème Brûlée - want2vape

Plus another 30-or-so DIY homemade juices.

My current #1 favorite juice is NLV Gold.

Now, with all that information and $3.50, you can buy a cappuccino. LOL.

Good to know I'm not the only juice hoochie around here.

 

[billherbst]

Good to know I'm not the only juice hoochie around here.

sandy,

Not by a long shot. I guarantee that you and I are not the only members-in-questionable-standing of the Juice Hoochie Club. It's a big organization, with oodles of members.

 

[EleanorR]

Oddly enough, while Toasted Toffee is one of my faves, Twilite didn't reach me. I'm not sure why---maybe I need it to be sweeter? (Not that I like only sweet tobaccos---a fair number of my DIY Tobaccos are straight with no sweetener). I can't point to anything "wrong" with Twilite. It just didn't bowl me over at first, then didn't grow on me (I had the same initial reaction to Gold, but it completely won my heart in the weeks that followed).

I know Twilite is supposed to be a straight analog challenger, but I get a slight lemony-citrusy note from it. Do you get that, too? I like fruits, except when I don't. Here the subtle fruitness---assuming it's actually there and not just my ghost projection---seems neutral to me, meaning it's not the reason I don't love Twilite.

. . . . . . . . . .​

I'm going through my 30ml bottle of NLV Gold at a pace that concerns me, since it's out of stock at NLV and juice ordering is down. Damn. I'm too old to chase juices on web site watches.

Wanna swap some Gold for Twilite?

Bill, that lemony note is the first thing I noticed about Twilite -- and I love it!! (Alas, that note seems to dissipate over time. ) I still love Twilite in the evenings, and find it goes very well with Adult Beverages.

As for NLV's Gold: Welcome to the club. I'm already pimping it as the ECF 2012 Juice of the Year!

 

[goodtimes]

I know Twilite is supposed to be a straight analog challenger, but I get a slight lemony-citrusy note from it. Do you get that, too? I like fruits, except when I don't. Here the subtle fruitness---assuming it's actually there and not just my ghost projection---seems neutral to me, meaning it's not the reason I don't love Twilite.

Wanna swap some Gold for Twilite?

Hmm, I'll pay attention next time I vape the Twilite, but I don't recall any fruity notes, citrus or otherwise.

As far as the Gold, I haven't tried it yet and I'm kicking myself for not throwing some in with my most recent order. I guess I'll be waiting in line for Gene to open back up. Sorry!

 

[BeauJangler]

Bill, I completely agree that Twilite has a lemon flavor to it. Not necesarily citrusy, meaning no sourness or tartness, but like a lemon candy. Since it seems we have a similar flavor recognition I am shocked not to see Casablanca on your list of tobacco blend favorites. For me Vermillion's Kentucky Premium and Casablanca are hands down the best juices out there. Love this thread and hope it keeps evolving.

 

[billherbst]

Beau,

Nothing shocks me anymore about individual differences in eliquid flavor preferences from one person to another. Two people whose palates seem strikingly similar and who come to regard the other's juice opinions as infallible predictors can agree about liking or disliking 100 juices---only to discover total disagreement about the 101st. Taste is not merely subjective, it's eccentric as well. Also, the ability to discern or recognize flavors doesn't seem to be connected in any meaningful way to liking or disliking those flavors. Go figure.

I vaped a fair amount of BWB Casablanca during the first six months of my vaping journey, but that friendship (it was never a love affair, we were just dating on a trial basis) eventually went sour. The juice didn't really change; my palate did. Some undertone in Casablanca's tobacco base proved less-than-pleasing to me. I still have cartos of Maxboro (now called Bacco) and Hunter's Blend (in its original formulation) on my desk---I like them both well enough to keep each close at hand should a whim move me---but I don't find myself reaching for either very often. Café Mocha (now discontinued) and Espresso are my long-time favorite go-to BWB juices.

 

[Jim Bob]

Proud member here

sandy,

Not by a long shot. I guarantee that you and I are not the only members-in-questionable-standing of the Juice Hoochie Club. It's a big organization, with oodles of members.

 

[goodtimes]

So I finally got around to trying Vapor.....'s OuR-Y4. Pretty good, right off the truck even! For me, it bears a striking resemblance to BreezESmokes RY4 which was one of the first RY4s I tried about a year ago. Oddly enough, BES RY4 never got much love around here. Of course, I may be the only one who detects any similarity.

On a related note, I'm beginning to notice that my first thoughts when trying a new juice aren't so much about the particular flavors of the juice, but rather they're more along the lines of, "Hmm, this tastes a lot like X...". I guess that's inevitable given that vendors are working with a finite number of flavorings and tend to rely more on the blending than the uniqueness of the actual flavorings to achieve their goals.

 

[billherbst]

I'm beginning to notice that my first thoughts when trying a new juice aren't so much about the particular flavors of the juice, but rather they're more along the lines of, "Hmm, this tastes a lot like X...". I guess that's inevitable given that vendors are working with a finite number of flavorings and tend to rely more on the blending than the uniqueness of the actual flavorings to achieve their goals.

goodtimes,

I think you're onto something here. I haven't given this much thought previously, but reading your post, I began thinking, "OK, how does the brain work?" A partial answer is comparatively, by association. So, when we vape a juice that reminds the brain of flavors it has already judged as tasting "good," we are immediately inclined to like it. On the other hand, when we vape a juice whose flavor is completely unique and outside our existing database of flavor associations, our brains have no way of evaluating it. We may not reject it outright, but we're not sure where to put it, either.

I went through this recently with NLV Gold. When I first vaped it back in March, it was like no other juice I'd had from nitelite or any other vendor. Gene had created a brand new flavor whose profile was mysterious to me, and I didn't respond positively at first. My brain didn't actually tell me that Gold was "bad." It just kept saying to my consciousness, "What is this?" As I continued to vape it sporadically over the first couple weeks, my brain began to acclimate to Gold by gradually discovering different known flavors that were "sort of" like it. (I still don't know what those were, since this occurred beneath my awareness.) Within a month, Gold had acquired an assemblage of associations with many other flavors, each of which may have been only vaguely similar, but all of which were flavors I already liked. Before long, I was totally in love with the seemingly unique flavor of Gold.

I've also tried juices that went the opposite route---initially unknown, but eventually rejected as too strange and dissimilar to my existing flavor patterns.

I guess that's why some people love fruit-flavored eliquids that taste like jolly rancher candies. Those candies were part of their childhood flavor imprints, so the juices bring up those core associations that say, "Ooh, I remember this; I like it." I never ate jolly ranchers, so to me those same juices taste artificial and chemical. I like only fruit blends that taste like real fruits. Different patterns and associations.

The same process applies to food flavors and textures. I think back to my 20s, to the first times I ever tasted certain Middle Eastern or Asian foods---hummus, baba ghanoush, miso, tofu, seaweed, umeboshi plums, etc. They weren't rejected outright, just judged as odd or unusual. Over time, I came to appreciate those "exotic" flavors. Now, in my 60s, they are among my favorite foods and not exotic to me at all. I can't imagine not loving them.

Clearly, human beings are pattern-recognizing, pattern-seeking, and pattern-creating beings.

Interesting, huh? Well, it's interesting to me at least. LOL.