A funny thing happened yesterday on the holiday countdown to 2012. I went to my mailbox and there was a package from
CrystalELiquid, which is the newly-launched American juice-manufacturing offspring of U.S. and Canadian vendor Electronic-Cigz.com, which sells (among many other items) Altsmokes now-classic Silver Bullet and Omega tube mods.
CrystalELiquid touts itself as
the new U.S. premium e-liquid, and promises that its juices are
100% U.S.-made to the top specifications, highest grade ingredients, and the most exacting scientific testing, and production to produce the ultimate juice---crystal e liquid. Not exactly what Id call perfect grammar or composition, but you get the idea.
I opened the package to find two 30ml bottles of
RY4, but no invoice---just a business card from the vendor. Whats funny about this is that, while I did visit their site recently because Electronic-Cigz had a holiday sale, I dont remember ordering anything. I checked my spreadsheet and online bank and paypal accounts, and found no record of payments to either vendor. (I have accounts with many vendors, but Electronic-Cigz is one of those that requires AOL, Yahoo, or Google User IDs to register accounts, and I never do that. On those sites I just order as a guest, so unfortunately there are no records of order histories to access later.)
And even if Im too brain-damaged to remember ordering some RY4 from CrystalELiquid, I wouldnt have ordered 30mls, and I sure as hell wouldnt have ordered
two 30ml bottles (at $20 a pop). But there they were, sitting on my desk in their pretty blue glass dropper bottles. One was 16mg, the other 24mg, both 50/50 PG/VG blend, filled with really thick liquid of a pale gold transparency in color, as close to clear as any RY4 Ive seen.
Despite the fact that its a mystery to me how I got them, I figured that a new RY4 deserved a review. So, I loaded up a Boge 2.0 ohm carto, grabbed a freshly-charged eGo clone battery providing 4.2 volts for almost 9 watts of power, and vaped away.
Didnt take but about two tokes for me to realize that while this is a custom-made juice with U.S.-sourced ingredients, it has a definite Chinese pedigree. As Ive written before on this thread, the Chinese are unmatched at producing classic RY4s that are well-made and beautifully blended. Janty, Dekang, Hangsen, Keemer, HealthCabin, and GreenhouseOne RY4s all share a family resemblance. Add to that their American kissing-cousins, Dulcis, Bloog/Volt, Taboo, Elixir, and Riskee---which might be manufactured in China, for all I know. Anytime vendors dont specify American-made, I tend to think that their juices are probably made in Chinese factories).
Well, CrystalELiquid does loudly proclaim U.S. made, but this RY4 is clearly of Chinese lineage. Please understand, Im not suggesting that theyre lying, but rather that CrystalELiquid has concocted an RY4 that has all the wonderful qualities of the best Chinese RY4s. Thats a
good thing, and no small feat. If you like classic RY4, this liquid is just what the doctor ordered.
Overall,
CrystalELiquid RY4 is superbly blended, with lovely balance among the trio of classic RY4 flavorings---tobacco, caramel, and vanilla. It barely inches into Dessert-vape sweetness, and also comes in just under the wire as Caramel-Rich. But not too much of either. No obvious sweetener, and a caramel that is recognizable but not dominant. No nuttiness at all. Like all good synthetic tobaccos, it tricks the brain into thinking tobacco without actually tasting much like tobacco.
The 50/50 PG/VG blend gives fine performance---with ample flavor and copious vapor. Throat hit is smooth but adequate at 16mg (I didn't try the 24mg, which probably hits harder).
All in all, this is a very good RY4. Delicious and classic. I cant quite justify a
Top 10 ranking (since my personal preferences lean more and more toward natural tobacco extracts), but I will definitely make room for
CrystalELiquid RY4 in the
Top 20.
Big List Ranking:
#17
Category Groups:
Dessert (Sweeter), Caramel-Rich, Balanced/Blended
Link:
CrystalELiquid RY4
