Vendor: Velvet Cloud Vapor
Juice:
Blue Beard Tobacco
Ratio: 100% VG 24 mg
Extraction: In-house OEA extracted Tobacco Absolute
Strands: Virginia and Honey Cured Tobacco
Additional Ingredients: Blackberries and Blueberry Essence
Price: 15 mL-$8, 30 mL-$15
Vendor Description: An artisanal mix of Virginia and honey cured tobacco, blackberries, and blueberry essence.
I have been out of the reviewing frame of mind for quite some time, but this juice and vendor are worthy of my impressions.
When I first got the juice it
really reminded me, by aroma mostly, of
Gold Rising, a non-aromatic from Ahlusion. I had forgotten what was in BBT while first vaping it, but upon revisiting the site, I was clued in on why it is that it reminded me of GR: the Honey Cured! The rather mild Virginia and Honey Cured tobacco would generally have less impact in most vendor's more straightforward extracted juices; but this, like Ahlusion, though more so with BBT, has quite the spunky presence.
When I first got the juice, aside from it smelling like GR, it wasn't that remarkable, but it
was intriguing and different. After a five day steep, and changing quite a bit, this juice has started making me smile (some may like it more fresh than steeped because its sweeter when fresh.) Along with its bright, but rather subtle current of blackberry and blueberry essence, what makes this juice so intriguing to me is the
way the tobacco is extracted, and quite frankly, how it tastes! OEA extracted juices are NOT all that special around here, but extracting it
in-house to make a Tobacco Absolute
is very special.
For those that have had traditional TA or TE (think
Perfumer's Apprentice TA/
TE, or vendors like
VV,
M&P or
Moondrop), please do not let this juice frighten you -- it is
not TA like
that! (Though, those other vendors are great in their own right and better suited for some.) BBT does have its markers as TA (no, not perfume), but I have never had a TA reveal itself and perform like this -- Blue Beard Tobacco is more like watching an early 20
th century American Burlesque striptease while common TA eliquid is sometimes like being forced to participate in an S&M show, LOL. Essentially, most TA juices have a tobacco flavor -- if you can call it "flavor?" -- that tastes nondescript, bootlegged or kind of like junk tobacco scraps that have been doused in perfume, and blended with grass and ash. The thing that TA generally
does have going for it, when applied with a delicate hand,
is the dry, ashy taste that, for better or worse, is very connected to our old habits. This juice, Blue Beard Tobacco, also has a dry,
slightly ash-like tobacco taste that's accompanied by an honest, identifiable, and somewhat resolute flavor from the Virginia and Honey Cured tobaccos. The additional ingredients, blackberry and blueberry essence, are by no means the stars of the juice
or vying for center-stage. The additional flavorings are just ornamental, but not in any quantity that would make this juice, IMO, a "fruity" juice.
How this juice vapes will be, as with most juices, highly dependent on what you use to vape it. Being that it is
truly 100% VG, the TH is not strong, but it is there. The vapor at first was a little lacking, but it has settled into a fairly voluptuous cloud producing juice. The juice itself isn't thick per se, but it
is shapely. It is has a quicker flow than
Gold from NLV, but its body does not have that oozy, sappy like consistency so often associated with VG. The color of the juice is like a well steeped green tea and it is perfectly clear (though the plastic bottle may make it look a little cloudy -- no worries, its just the bottle.) There is no dark sludge or oily separation like with some common TA juices and I detected no alcohol.
I look forward to seeing what else VCV can do with tobacco in their lab. Oh, the tobacco
AND nic are extracted (yup, they extract their own nicotine, too) and tested in a lab by the vendor -- no tobacconist or 3rd party extractor here. Aria at VCV answered my email immediately -- a prerequisite before
I can purchase -- and she was forthcoming beyond the point of merely responding with generic, stock "answers" that, all too often, serve as fulfilling some BS courtesy or just to placate overly curious customers. Heads up: if you register for their newsletter before ordering, they will give you $5 off of your first purchase!
p.s. Burley Beard Tobacco is more paired down, and while decent, not all that exciting enough for me to review.
