specs: The 10ml bottle of Hooligan I purchased from GoodLifeVapor contains medium-amber-colored liquid at 24mg nic concentration in a 50/50 pg/vg base blend. I steeped the juice for 10 days before sampling. Testing was done by dripping into a 1.7 ohm Joye LR306 atty powered by a ProVari set to 3.8 volts, providing 8.5 watts.
GoodLifeVapor is a relatively new juice-only vendor with a limited line of custom, made-to-order juices (twelve of them, to be exact). I ordered three of their juices:
Hooligan, GoodLifes idiosyncratic take on a sweet, tobacco-rich custom RY4;
Monte Cristo, their slightly citrusy pipe blend; and
Capone, a sweetened cigar vape. Good Life included a freebie with my order---a 10ml bottle of a juice called
Sesame Sweetbread, which is not currently offered on their web site. Interestingly, googling Good Life Vapor Sesame Sweetbread produced not a single hit. Ah, a mystery juice! Cool!
When I got ready to write this review, I decided to try each of the four juices one after another, to gain perspective on possible shared characteristics among this vendors retail liquids. All four struck me immediately upon first vape as high-quality, carefully-made eliquids created by a juice-maker with a very sophisticated palate. These are definitely not your grandfathers Oldsmobile, or anything else implying off-the-shelf, ready-made, or middle-of-the-road. In this, they reminded me of my first experience with HighbrowVapor juices.
I need to admit that the juice-makers palate and mine arent naturally alike. We dont share predominantly similar flavor orientations. At first, I found all four juices slightly disorienting rather than comfortably familiar. They made my brain stretch, forcing me to undertake a learning curve that required some effort and time to reach appreciation.
For instance, all four juices are sweet, but in a distinctively unusual way, where the sweetness sort of wraps around the core flavorings (which are more savory than sweet). As a result, the sweetness
carries the flavors rather than
infusing with them. Very unique, and all four juices share this quality of wrap-around sweetness. Anyone who truly doesnt like sweet eliquids can stop reading right now, for these juices are definitely not for them.
Monte Cristo---a rich pipe tobacco blend with subtle fruitiness---called up Gandalf in my associative neural net, although Monte Cristo is simpler and doesnt contain so many different fruit tones. Sesame Sweetbread is another sweet vape where the central sesame element is surprisingly delicious. The contrast of sweet and savory works especially well in Sesame Sweetbread. Capone is the least unusual of the four, a good, basic cigar vape, but still with that sweet envelope. And then theres Hooligan, the protagonist of this review.
Hooligan is an extremely custom RY4 that essentially thumbs its nose at anything resembling a typical RY4 flavor profile. Im not privy to what the basic ingredients are; for all I know, they may be tobacco, caramel, and vanilla. But the end result doesnt
taste like tobacco, caramel, and vanilla. Hooligan has the aura of RY4 rather than any obvious sense of RY4 flavors. Im not certain, but I think I pick up some nuttiness in the mix.
My first toke of Hooligan produced a puzzled reaction of,
What the hell is this? Having vaped it for half an hour now, I still dont know quite what it is, but I like it a lot. At center-stage, Hooligan has a pleasing tobacco flavor with great bite, surrounded by a swirl of other indecipherable flavors, as well as that unique wrap-around sweetness. The very best juices Ive ever had combine paradoxical opposites: They are simple yet complex, providing great flavor impact with sublime subtlety. Hooligan does that.
Oh, jeez, I think Im falling in love again. My grade will reflect that new-found affection, but I feel duty-bound to add the caveat that I wont really be able to accurately assess this custom RY4 until my infatuation fades, which will happen (it always does), although I cant predict how long that might take.
Bottom line? GoodLifeVapor is a new juice vendor definitely worth checking out.
GoodLifeVapor
Hooligan grade:
A-
GoodLifeVapor
Capone grade:
B
GoodLifeVapor
Monte Cristo grade:
B+
GoodLifeVapor
Sesame Shortbread:
B+
Link to purchase:
GoodLifeVapor Hooligan
