Wednesday 24 July 2013

Eureka by Indigo Vapor

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. Pertinent portions of this review have been quoted from my review of Indigo Vapor's Indigo RY. http://vapour-taster.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/indigo-ry-by-indigo-vapor.html Quoted passages are in italics.

Eureka is Indigo Vapor's newest tobacco e-liquid.
http://www.indigovapor.com/

Warning: this next paragraph contains gratuitous History (of Science). Reader discretion is advised.

"Eureka" comes from the Ancient Greek word εὕρηκα heúrēka, meaning "I have found (it)" and was supposedly exclaimed by the Scholar, Archimedes as he lowered himself into a bath and noticed the level of the water rising. He surmised that the volume of water displaced must be equal in volume to the part of his body submerged and thus, hit upon a means to measure the volume of irregular objects. "Archimedes' insight led to the solution of a problem posed by Hiero of Syracuse, on how to assess the purity of an irregular golden votive crown; he had given his goldsmith the pure gold to be used, and correctly suspected he had been cheated, by the goldsmith removing gold and adding the same weight of silver. Equipment for weighing objects already existed, and now that Archimedes could also measure volume, their ratio would give the object's density, an important indicator of purity." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_(word)

Did Tony of Indigo Vapor cry "Eureka" when he tasted the vapour of his newest creation?

Indigo Vapor is based in Mishawaka, Indiana in the United States and was begun by a gentleman called Tony, who, like most of us, turned to vaping to aid him in his effort to quit cigarettes. His experience with e-cigs was so successful that he formed Indigo Vapor to help others in their efforts to obtain a healthier alternative to smoking. Of course, in certain territories we're not allowed to claim that e-cigarettes are a cessation aid, so the Indigo Vapor website is careful to make the requisite disclaimers. http://www.indigovapor.com/aboutus.asp

Indigo Vapor offer a range of forty-nine liquids divided into the following categories: tobacco, fruit, ice, indulge and reserve. Each liquid is offered in bottle sizes of 15 ($9.49), 30 ($17.95), 60 ($32.95) and 120ml ($61.95) at nicotine strengths of 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24mg. Neither on the website nor on the bottles does the subject of PG/VG ratios ever get mentioned. For further information on their e-liquids, Indigo Vapor published this on their blog: http://indigovaporcraftingourejuice.blogspot.co.uk/

Each liquid is sold in a glass bottle which, to date has always signified (to me) the presence of a quality liquid. I'm encouraged. The bottle has a black, plastic, screw-top cap with an Integrated dropper. On arrival, the cap was sealed in a tamper evident plastic. There are two labels; one on the front and one on the back. The front label includes the following information: the brand/company name, the company's website address, the words "Handcrafted" and "American made" and the motto, "Experience the Indigo Difference". The rear label includes the following information: the name of the liquid, the date of manufacture (hand written) the liquid contents in ml, the nicotine strength in mg (hand written), the company's website address, warnings that "This product contains Nicotine" and "Keep out of the reach of pets and children" and an ingredients list (Propylene Glycol, Glycerin, Nicotine and FEMA/GRAS approved flavorings).

The colour of the liquid is a crystal clear, Mikado Yellow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikado_yellow and has the viscosity of a light cooking oil or syrup. It's very lubricious but after a minute or so of rubbing it between my thumb and forefinger it begins to feel slightly less so. It seems to resist absorption into the skin, but I can feel a slight tingling sensation, which I imagine is the absorbed nicotine after all. On Indicgo Vapor's Eureka page, various customer reviews describe the aroma as being something akin to waffles and/or sweetened popcorn. When I apply my own sense of smell to the liquid, I perceive the aromas of both of these foods, but only to a degree. I keep coming back to a softened citrus-like acidity, but even this falls short of an accurate description of the aroma. In this instance, I have to suggest that the aroma of the liquid is in a class of its own.

I'm vaping Eureka in an Igo-L on a mechanical mod running on a freshly charged 18650 battery. The coil has five wraps of 0.2 Kanthal wire (32 AWG) around three strands of 2mm Silica wick. I don't have a mod or any other type of equipment to check the ohms.

I fire the device and my mouth fills with a dense, sweet vapour. Even on the inhalation, I taste the notes I sensed in smelling the liquid. There's that waffle flavour combined with a sweetened popcorn and a very mild acidity that seems to disappear with sustained vaping. As I finish inhaling the vapour and take a shallow breath of air, as I usually do, I taste for the briefest moment the savoury flavour of a light tobacco. I'm not an expert in tobacco by any means, despite smoking for 24 years, so I couldn't say what type of tobacco it is, other than it's light and sweet and fragrant. As I exhale, the popcorn and waffle-like notes recede into the background, giving the tobacco room to breathe. The aftertaste consists of the tobacco flavour with sweetness moving forward into my conscious awareness again. As the aftertaste lingers, I become aware once more of the popcorn-like flavour, which fades altogether or is reinforced by the next inhalation of vapour.

There's a combination of a light throat hit (18mg) and a gentle mounting of pressure at the back of the throat which I usually experience with e-liquids at the sweeter end of the spectrum. I say "gentle mounting of pressure..." because this is a mildly sweet vape. Vapour production is very good, and as with the previous Indigo Vapour liquids that I've tried, seems to be characteristic of a VG laden liquid. I've noticed that VG heavy liquids produce a vapour that succumbs quickly to the effects of gravity and with Eureka, this is exactly what occurs. It tends to fall onto horizontal surfaces in the room, like the coffee table in front of me, for example, before cascading over the edges.

Eureka is a rich, full bodied and luxurious vape. The flavour is quite unlike anything else I've previously tasted and although it might sound a bit odd on paper (screen), the experience of vaping it is remarkably rewarding. Like all good liquids, the journey of the vapour through my system offers up variations of flavour at different points in the cycle of inhalation, hold, exhalation and aftertaste. This juice will be finding it's way into the Killer in the near future and is very possibly an all-day-vape.