36 eLiquids from NicoPure Labs (eVo)

So I came into possession of 36 eLiquids from NicoPure Labs (AKA eVo eLiquid) and I've been staring at the bag that it came in for about a month now.  I'm tired of looking at it, so I figure I have two choices...

1. I can just throw it away (which is what was suggested to me)...
2. I can start reviewing it and make a "Living Blog Entry"...

So in the spirit of doing something new and interesting, I'm going to start reviewing the eLiquids and then I'll update the Blog in REAL TIME as I finish each one.  I'll number each of them, so when you're reading the review, you can always come back later and see if I've added any new ones!

Ok so with that out of the way, here's my standard disclaimer....

I'll be reviewing 36 eLiquids from NicoPure Labs (eV0).  Before I begin (and especially if this is your first time reading my reviews) I want you to understand my rating criteria.  Unlike some "website-magazines" that shall remain nameless, I don't require that vendors send me free stuff, so you can be sure that I'll give it to you straight...

Here are my rating criteria for judging eLiquids:

• Taste - Does it taste like what it says it's supposed to taste like?
• Lingering Flavor - Does the flavor have PRESENCE & does it last?
• Vapor Production - Does it make lots of Vapor?
• Throat Hit - Is the throat hit too weak, too strong, or just right?

Testing Notes: One of the things I see all too often, is that "Flavor is subjective".  NO, your individual tastes may be subjective, but flavor is flavor.  I've never had a steak that tasted like chicken.  I've never had an orange that tasted like a banana.  I've never had a cup of coffee that tasted like Hawaiian Punch.  If you ever see me give an eLiquid a bad review, it's because they TASTE BAD and not because I don't like a particular flavor.  I don't care for the flavor of peaches and mangoes, so you won't see me review anything that contains those. Understand? For more information on this topic please read THIS Blog post...

NOTE 1: All of the eLiquids in this review are of INDETERMINATE PG/VG ratios as they don't share that information on any of their promotional material, on any of the bottles, on any of the distributors websites, etc.  I will do my best to try and approximate what I believe they are composed of, but it will be nothing more than a guess.

NOTE 2: The eLiquids do NOT all have the same nicotine content!  There are 6 - 6mg / 10 - 12mg / 10 - 18mg & 10 - 24mg.  I will denote which is which in the individual review.

NOTE 3: I will be reviewing these in whatever order I WANT TO.  There are so many here, that I'm going to have to figure out what I'm in the mood to taste.  There are some that I WILL NOT be reviewing.  I refuse to try anything with peaches or mangoes, so there's at LEAST 2 in the list that I will not be trying at all.  I will denote them as I get to them.

NOTE 4: These eLiquids have been steeping since April 2013!  In other words, THEY'RE READY!  3 entire months of steeping means that these puppies are as steeped as they're ever going to get.

NOTE 5: Unless otherwise mentioned, I'll be using a Kanger ProTank with a 2.5Ω head and my VAMO 2.0 to test these eLiquids.

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1st installment: 7/5/2013:

1. Frost Bite (12mg) - So I decided to start off with something that is neither a tobacco, nor is it a fruit.  My first experience with the eVo line of eLiquids was "Grape Vape" and that didn't end well.

This eLiquid is the standard "gold color" that most eJuices present with.  For something that sounds minty, you'd think they'd want to make it crystal clear, but from what I've been learning, the cheaper the nicotine is, the more yellow it turns your eJuice.  In other words, I'm not expecting too much...

POW!  For those of you wondering, that was me falling down in disbelief.  This eLiquid is not just minty, it's TASTY!  I'm struggling to figure out exactly what this tastes like, but it's escaping me!  It's a very strong mint flavor, but it's not overbearing.  Vapor production is minimal, throat hit is average.  The flavor does linger, but I'm concerned that this bottle is not marked correctly.  I've Vaped on this one about 8 times over the course of about 15 minutes and I've got a serious "buzz" going on right now.  I'm pretty sure that this is at least 24mg.  Had I ordered this I would be extremely concerned, but since this was rescued from the recycling bin, I'll chalk it up to a mass production that got labeled incorrectly.  Again, I'm not giving them a pass on the nicotine issue, I'm just saying that they were clearly producing MASS QUANTITIES of this stuff and PERHAPS it was labeled wrong.  For all I know, they don't measure their nicotine bases correctly.

Since 99% of my reviews get stuck at the FLAVOR stage, we'll call this a REALLY GOOD START!  Let me be clear...  This is NOT a menthol, it's MINT.  It's slightly sweet and it's good.  I don't think it's an all day Vape for me, but that doesn't mean anything.  As far as I'm concerned, as long as it passes my simple requirements - it's good.  I am more than impressed with this eLiquid.  If you like MINTY flavors, this one is really good.  My guess is that this is a 100% PG eLiquid.

2. Berry Blast (18mg) - If you've read any of my previous reviews, you know I love berry flavors.  I'm really excited to try this one.  So excited that I just cleaned everything out and I'm ready to try #2.

So here's the story with this one...  It's marked as an 18mg, but it Vapes like a 50mg!  2 small Vapes and I'm lying down on the couch sweating bullets.  My throat?  On fire...  I just chewed a TUMS to try and coat the lining of my throat a little bit.  By the way, the Tums trick really does work WELL for treating "throat-hit overload".

So after about 5 minutes of letting my throat cool down and letting the nicotine wear off just a bit, I came back over to my VAMO and dropped the voltage to 3.5V and it's now moderately more Vapable.  Of course now I don't taste as much of the berry flavor, but the trade off is that I'm no longer atomizing as much of the nicotine.  It definitely smells better in the bottle than it tastes, but again I'm glad that I didn't pay for this.  I may revisit this one some day at 6mg nicotine.  That's not a recommendation to go out and get it, it's a note that it could be good if it had the right nicotine level.  Vapor production is about average and my guess is that this is a 80% PG / 20% VG mix.

3. Maraschino (6mg) - I discovered the maraschino cherry when I was about 6 years old while having my first ever beverage served at a bar.  It was the crowning jewel of the beverage, which was titled with the very macho and manly name - Shirley Temple.  When I discovered that we had an entire bottle of these stashed away inside of our very own refrigerator, I promptly began eating them.  All of them.  I can still remember how I wished that I hadn't.  As a matter of fact, I don't think I had another for about 5 years, but that's relegated to the history books and doesn't really matter for the sake of this review.

After having my throat nearly singed off, I decided to try one of the 6mg nicotine eLiquids in the bunch.  In the bottle, this smells like the inside of a chocolate covered cherry.  YUM!  The actual smell of the Vapor and the taste of this eLiquid however is awful.  We're talking Almond Delight levels of awfulness....  Now in all fairness, it doesn't say "Maraschino Cherry" on the bottle, it just says "Maraschino".  So to be fair, it could be "Maraschino Liquor" flavored, which I can not comment on, because I've never tried it.  But be warned, this does NOT taste like a Maraschino Cherry, don't even think about it.  Vapor production is excellent, throat hit is more like a 12mg than a 6mg, which is perfect for me.  Vapor production is on par for a 50% / 50% mix, which also would have worked for me had it tasted like these:

As a matter of fact, I just ate one in order to get rid of the foul taste that I had in my mouth.  If you've never had a Queen Anne Dark Chocolate Cordial Cherry, forget about Vaping for a minute and go grab some.  I've been eating them for more than 30 years and they're delicious!  And they always taste exactly the way you expect them to!

2nd Installment: 7/7/2013

4. Pure Pomegranate (18mg) - So today after having a debate about the difference between USA Mix Mint and USA Mix Menthol, I decided to bite the bullet and give another one of the 897 flavors from NicoPure Labs a shot.  I was really excited to try this one as I really like the tangy  & sweet flavor of Pomegranate.  Here's another dud.  Same problems, different flavor.  Their 18mg feels like a 50mg, it doesn't taste even remotely like Pomegranate, there's next to no Vapor production and I don't normally throw things away, but this one may find its way into a landfill.  There's nothing even remotely redeeming about this particular one.  So after 4, we're looking at a 3:1 ratio.  Three Junk eJuices for every good one.  I'm very interested to find out if this ratio holds steady or gets worse.

3nd Installment: 7/9/2013

5. SpearMint (12mg) - So figuring that the only good one that I've tried so far is the "Frost Bite", I decided to jump on over to the "SpearMint".  I figure that maybe they've got their "mint" situation under control and perhaps it's their fruits that need work?

First of all, this one actually FEELS like a 12mg nicotine base, which is a pleasant surprise.  Vapor production is excellent and I believe that this is a 50/50 mix.  Unlike the Frost Bite, this one is crystal clear.  Flavor is questionable though.

In the bottle, the eLiquid smells like a roll of Spearmint Life Savers.  Atomized however, it kind of tastes like toilet cleanser smells.  Kind of.  The funny part, is that I can Vape it comfortably.  If you can get past the cleanser flavor, this one isn't awful.  For the record, some people don't like "Wintergreen" and "Spearmint" flavors.  I do like them.  This one could be improved and to be honest with you, I hope that NicoPure Labs finds this review AND CARES ENOUGH TO FIX THEIR PROBLEMS.

4th Installment: 7/14/2013

6. Piña Colada (24mg) - Having been busy for the past week, I decided to give another eJuice from NicoPure a shot.  I was excited to try this one because it smelled great in the bottle.  Of course I'm going to start sounding like a broken record, because AGAIN the nicotine level is not as advertised.  At 24mg, it's higher than I would ever normally use, but I HAVE used 24mg before.  This is most certainly NOT a 24mg concoction.  This almost feels like PURE 100mg nicotine direct from the nicotine supplier.  If it weren't for an obvious viscosity differential, I would swear it was pure nicotine and flavor, without any PG or VG.  If I had to guess, this has got to be 70-90mg nicotine.  The fire I claimed that I had with the Berry Blast is nothing compared to this one.

I AM WORRIED THAT SOMEONE IS GOING TO BECOME ILL FROM THESE....

As a matter of fact, after only 2 Vapes from this bottle, I have to go and lay down.  I believe that I may become ill myself.  I may need to stop this Blog entry altogether.

5th Installment: 7/19/2013

7. Banana Blitz (18mg) - So last night I was rummaging around the bag that these eLiquids came in looking for the Banana Blitz...

...and my wife came over to me and very nicely asked me to stop using these.  She said to me, "Why are you using these?  Didn't you say that these taste awful and the nicotine is hurting your throat?"  I said yes, some of them are hurting my throat, but I feel compelled to test these, in order to help others stay safe.  She said, "Haven't you done that already?"

Yes, I believe that I have done that.  I'll be thrilled to dispose of these and I'm starting to feel a huge weight lifting off of my chest...  Not because there's so many, but because I really was torturing myself - beyond what I should have.

I've said this before and I'll say it again, "If you're enjoying something that I say is Junk, go ahead, use it all you like.  Anything that keeps you free from those "Cancer Sticks" is a good  thing."  

The only other comment I'd like to make, is that nicotine can be dangerous to you, IF you're getting too much of it.  Forget about how it makes your throat feel, if you consume enough (and enough is probably different for each person), you can pass out -- or worse!!  I know I've almost passed out before.

7-36. CANCELLED

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Posted:
7/5/2013 (11:41 PM) - Original - 1-3
7/7/2013 (8:51 PM) - Updated - 4
7/9/2013 (4:17AM) - Updated - 5
7/14/2013 (3:52 PM) - Updated - 6
7/19/2013 (1:37PM) - CANCELLED