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 are quoted from my review of Crave Gourmet's Green Apple. http://vapour-taster.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/green-apple-by-crave-gourmet-ejuice.html Quoted passages are in italics.
Given my predilection for tobacco flavoured e-liquids, you'll understand that I approach Crave Gourmet EJuice's http://www.craveejuice.com Black Cherry Tobacco with more than a little enthusiasm. Call it flurry, call it ferment; I'm a-looking forward to it. I've tried tobacco juices with peach, tobacco juices with mesquite, with apple and menthol, Graham Crackers, tropical fruit, kettle corn and waffles, butterscotch, maple syrup, chocolate, sun cured, spiced, variations of the RY formula and matured in whiskey and brandy barrels. My all day vapes are tobacco flavours by a particular European company. I'm not an expert on tobacco e-liquids by any means, but I've tried a few. This is the first time I've come across a tobacco juice with Black Cherry.
Crave Gourmet EJuice are based in Vancouver, Canada and offer several ranges of product including Gourmet EJuice, divided into four categories; Crave Pure EJuice, Chef's Premium Brew, Gourmet EJuice and Tobacco EJuice (48 flavours), Flavour Shots (8 flavours) and DIY, divided into three categories (Organic flavours (57 flavours), Tobacco flavours (6 flavours) and Double Strength EJuice (64 flavours). Crave Gourmet's liquids are made entirely with organic ingredients and the Vegetable Glycerin is derived from sweet Potatoes. Not only is there no nicotine content in these juices and extracts, but there's also no Propylene glycol, Acetone, Alcohol, Acetyl Propionyl or Diacetyl.
Black Cherry Tobacco is available as a regular e-liquid (albeit sans nicotine; the sale and supply of nicotine e-liquids in Canada is illegal), a Double Strength solution for mixing with your own base and as an extract for use by the DIY mixers amongst you. The bottle of Black Cherry Tobacco under consideration in this instance is from the Double Strength range. These bottles come in sizes of 30ml ($17.95), 120ml (4oz) ($30.95), 240ml (8oz) ($50.95), 480ml (16oz) ($89.95), 960ml (32oz) ($144.95) and 3.7l (1 gallon) ($299.95). NB. I assume these figures are in Canadian currency. As of the date of the writing of this review one Canadian dollar is equivalent to US$0.96 and GBP£0.59.
The 10ml sample bottle I have in front of me is a semi-opaque, easily squeezed plastic that arrived in a tamper evident plastic film which covered it from top to bottom. The cap, which was also tamper evident (with a plastic ring around the neck of the bottle attached to the cap), is a white plastic, non-childproof screw top. The bottle has an attached dropper insert for easy dripping, which is easily removed if you want to decant the liquid into a larger bottle and add your own nicotine/PG/VG base. The label includes the following information in English and in French: the company name, the name of the liquid, an ingredients list, the company website address and the phrase "Double strength".
The liquid is a limpid, pale Citrine Yellow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrine_(colour) The motion of the liquid in the bottle appears quite aqueous and when I rub a drop of it between the tips of my thumb and forefinger, I find it lightly lubricious. It takes almost three minutes before it's completely absorbed into my skin. The aroma proceeding from the opened bottle, held below my nose is sweet, closely approximating the fragrance given off by a Cadbury's Cherry Ripe chocolate bar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Ripe_(chocolate_bar) Cherry Ripe is an Australian confectionery, so I imagine most of you won't be familiar with it. Imagine cherries, coconut and dark chocolate and you'll have the aroma of Crave Gourmet EJuice's Black Cherry Tobacco.
As per usual, I'm vaping Black Cherry Tobacco in an Igo-L on a Poldiac running on an 18650 battery. There are 5 wraps of 0.2mm (32AWG) Kanthal wire around three strands of 2mm silica wick. The coil is measuring 2.7ohms on the Provari. As this is a double strength flavoured juice, I've diluted it by adding an equal part of PG/VG/Nicotine base, rendering an 18mg nicotine strength liquid.
I take a few primer puffs to progressively heat the coil and as I do so I experience the flavour of a mild, smooth tobacco which is ever so slightly suggestive of banana and Graham Crackers. Please don't misunderstand me as suggesting the presence of these flavours; it's simply a case of the tobacco having a character which inclines towards them. As I draw the vapour into and through my mouth, inhaling, I sense a gentle sweetness along the forward edge of my tongue followed closely by the recognition of the umami note of the tobacco throughout my mouth. There's a very subtle expression of fruit as I finish inhaling vapour and draw in a breath of fresh air before holding it all in my lungs momentarily. When I exhale the tobacco continues to dominate through to the early stages of the aftertaste. The black cherry doesn't fully manifest until a number of minutes later; it's almost an echo without a source. The flavour is authentic; there's no unpleasant artificiality about the flavour at all
Given that I've altered the VG/PG ratio and added nicotine, it would be somewhat meaningless to discuss throat hit or vapour production.
Black Cherry tobacco is a very gentle flavour; the tobacco is mild and pleasant, if not soothing. The bias towards fruit is very subtle and rather than being intrusive in any way, the Cherry flavour begs forgiveness and requests an invitation in the politest terms possible. Once again, we have a juice in Black Cherry Tobacco that introduces flavour at different locations in the mouth and at different stages in the inhalation/exhalation/aftertaste cycle. I've subsequently filled the Killer/Big Boaby tank with this juice and I'm pleased to say that the character of the juice remains true (I do however need to let the atomiser stand for a minute or two between puffs due to the high VG content). I loves me a good tobacco and this, my friends, is good.
NB. For those of you in the Australasian and South-East Asian regions who'd like to purchase Crave Gourmet EJuice products, I'd suggest you look at Crave Gourmet resellers, Ecig Life, http://www.electroniccigarettelife.com.au based in Melbourne, Australia.
