I have about 10ml of BWB's RY4 from March 2012. Will be trying it soon, after knocking down my current rotation more. First thing will be to get past it's reputation and judge the juice without the hype getting in the way. It's very rare for a juice to wow me on first vape, though it has happened a couple times. I think people often get let down by a hyped juice when the first vape isn't.. OMG best thing ever! If it doesn't wow me, it's got 10ml to prove itself to me, just hope I don't fall in love with 1ml left lol; unless of course it does become available again.
Reading the vanilla is a big part of what makes it great is good news for me; I loves me some vanilla. My expectations are pretty high, maybe not a fair mindset to enter into a juice, but cmon.. it's BWB's famous, hard to get when it was available, now discontinued and almost impossible to get, best RY4 ever according to some. With that, even really good could be a disappointment.
Jerms,
I still have 15mls of BWB RY4 from my second bottle, purchased in March 2012, just before it was discontinued.
As for vanilla, yes, BWB RY4 might qualify as vanilla-rich, but what grabs me with the juice is the pineyness of the tobacco base that Don uses in some of his blends---Adirondack comes to mind. The pine (not Kent C's pine pollen, but regular pine scent) isn't overwhelming, but it's there. If you like that, then BWB RY4 is superb. If not, well, you know. The other thing about BWB RY4 for me is that, even though I don't love the flavor profile, once I start vaping it, I find that I keep vaping it for a lot longer than most other RY4s, classics or customs. The pineyness seems to fade after a little while. Something about the overall flavor experience and unique mouthfeel is almost addictive.
Despite my personal reservations, I'm not at all surprised that so many people loved BWB RY4 and mourn its passing. I loved it at first, then fell out of love with it, and now I like it again in an odd sort of way. It was definitely special and a landmark in retail juices. No wonder Don has resisted offering a new RY4 that might not be as good. The original BWB RY4 is gonna be a hard act to follow.
Let us know your reaction. Be sure to give it a fair trial, though. How you feel about it after two minutes may not be how you'll feel after half an hour.