Disclaimer: This E-liquid was provided to me free of charge for the purpose of conducting a review. This fact notwithstanding, I will, as best I'm able, provide an honest, accurate and unbiased assessment of this product.
"The earliest attested mention of a cheesecake is by the Greek physician Aegimus, who wrote a book on the art of making cheesecakes..." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheesecake
For those who don't already know, a cheesecake is a dessert made from soft, fresh cheese (cream cheese, ricotta or quark) mixed with sugar and eggs which is baked into a previously baked crumbled cookie/biscuit base. Flavouring is often added to the cheese mixture; chocolate, strawberry and lemon lending themselves particularly well (in the humble opinion of this reviewer) to the mix. Fresh fruit is often laid on top of the cake/torte to provide decoration and enhanced flavour.
Debate rages hotly over the correct monicker for this particular type of dessert. "The early Greeks considered it a cake. Some modern authors point to the presence of many eggs, the sole source of leavening, as proof that it is a torte. Still others claim that the separate crust, the soft filling, and the absence of flour prove that it is a custard pie." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheesecake
Whatever the case, cheesecake is delicious. It's my favourite cake/torte/"custard" pie.
Highbrow Vapor http://highbrowvapor.com/ in their considerable wisdom have made available the taste of cheesecake torte in the form of an e-liquid. Highbrow Vapor is a family owned and operated business in the United States who craft their e-liquids to order from the highest quality ingredients and take great pride in the authenticity of their flavours. They "use only 100% USP kosher food grade PG/VG and (their) nicotine is 99.9% pure pharmaceutical grade. (Their) juice is produced using aseptic technique by professionals using only ingredients deemed generally safe for human consumption by the FDA." http://highbrowvapor.com/ Their catalogue of liquids comprises forty five distinct flavours divided by the following categories: desserts, drinks, fruits and tobaccos.
Cheesecake Torte (and indeed, each of the liquids in the Highbrow catalogue) is available in 10 ($7.50) and 30ml ($15.00) bottles at nicotine strengths of 0, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36mg and at 100% PG or 100% VG with the option for the customer to specify a PG/VG ratio of their own. The website also offers the option to further tailor the flavour of the liquid to suit the customer's preferences. There's 45 customer reviews with an average of 5/5 stars for this particular flavour, so it's obviously very popular and highly regarded.
The 10ml bottle is a clear, reasonably squeezable plastic with a white, childproof screw-top cap, underneath which is a standard dropper. The label features a sepia toned illustration of a gentleman in Regency (?) era clothing and sporting an extremely tall top hat. Information on the bottle includes the name of the company, the name of the liquid, liquid contents in ml, nicotine strength in mg, PG/VG content (in this case denoted as "mix"), the manufacturing date, a toxicity warning in the form of a skull and crossbones graphic, an advisory that the product "may contain nicotine" and a request to "keep out of the reach of children". The liquid is a clear, saturated Mikado Yellow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikado_yellow and has an aroma approximating that of a freshly baked, sugar coated biscuit/cookie.
I'm dripping Cheesecake Torte (12mg) into my Igo-L on a mechanical mod running on an 18650 battery. As I inhale there's a warm rush of very sweet, somewhat creamy or buttery vapour onto the tip and forward edge of my tongue, which goes on to fill my mouth where I seem able to taste the vapour with not just the tongue, but the insides of my cheeks, the roof of my mouth and my gums. As the vapour passes through my mouth and hits the back of my throat, there's a rapid building of pressure which, at a certain point signals that I need to stop inhaling. Inhalation beyond this point triggers an unpleasant coughing spasm. As I take the drip tip from my mouth and draw in some fresh air, the flavour of baked biscuit/cookie emerges which is amplified and rejoined by a certain creaminess on the outward breath. The aftertaste echoes the flavours previously perceived but to these is added a slightly metallic tang around my teeth and gums. I'm afraid I don't exactly taste cheese at any stage in the vaping process, but the sweet, creamy, buttery quality of the vapour does a decent job of approximating it.
The pressure that builds at the back of the throat does so quickly. I still discern this as being a sensation quite different to throat hit. Throat hit itself is minimal. Vapour production is excellent, with generous, opaque clouds that take a good while to disperse.
Cheesecake Torte is a very tasty vape, with a rich, full bodied flavour. It works beautifully on its own, but I imagine it would work equally as well mixed with other flavours. There's no taint of artificial flavouring or colouring and seems a quality product from start to finish.
Highbrow Vapour obviously want to make their excellent liquids available to as many people as people and so need to keep their prices to a minimum, but I would love to see their liquids in glass bottles with beautifully printed labels and a good old fashioned eye dropper. It deserves it. A premium range perhaps?
