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 Halo's Belgian Cocolate. http://vapour-taster.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/belgian-cocoa-by-halo.html Quoted passages are in italics.
Tribeca or TriBeCa (an acronym of "Triangle below Canal Street) is a neighbourhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It was originally a residential area but was transformed into a commercial and light industrial centre. In the 1960's, artists, attracted by the large and inexpensive spaces previously used for commercial purposes, moved in and the area became a hotbed of creativity. The moneyed classes who typically have no taste but desperately want to be seen to be hip, cool and cultured, moved in and drove up the property values. Retailers followed, to cater to the moneyed classes and the artists who could no longer afford to live there, moved away. TriBeCa is also the home of the TriBeCa Film Festival. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribeca
Tribeca by Halo http://www.halocigs.com/ is a combination of tobacco, caramel and vanilla flavours and as such could technically be classified as a variation of the RY4 formula.
Halo are based in the United States and use all American ingredients in their e-liquids. They maintain rigorous standards in quality control and ensure consistency of flavour and nicotine content from bottle to bottle. "Attention to detail in taste and “throat hit” are the top factors which drive Halo smoke juice." (e-liquid) http://www.halocigs.com/why-halo/american-made-smoke-juice.html
Halo offer a range of twenty two juices, divided into the following categories: premium, tobacco, menthol and gourmet. Each juice is available in bottle sizes of 7 ($5.99) and 30ml ($19.99) with nicotine strengths of 0 ("No Nicotine"), 6 ("Low Nicotine"), 12 ("Medium Nicotine"), 18 ("High Nicotine") and 24mg ("XHigh Nicotine").
The 30ml bottle I have in front of me is a dark blue glass . The white plastic screw-top cap has a dropper attached and is childproof. The clear glass body of the dropper is labelled at intervals along its length with .25ml increments to a total of 1ml. Upon arrival, the cap was sealed in a tamper-evident plastic film. There's two labels on the bottle; front and back. The front label includes the following information: the company name, the phrases "American Made" and "Premium E-Liquid". The rear label includes the following information: the name of the liquid, liquid contents in ml, nicotine strength in mg, a lot code, a best used by date, an ingredients list, cautionary notes that the liquid contains nicotine, should be kept out of the reach of children and pets and that it should not be drunk, the phrase "Made in the USA" and a bar code.
The colour of the liquid appears to my eye closest to a pure yellow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_(color) Like each of the Halo liquids I've written about, the liquid is quite aqueous and initially very lubricious. A drop of the liquid, rubbed between my forefinger and thumb appears to resist absorption into the skin but does so nevertheless, after a minute or two. (This is probably entirely useless information, but I like to be thorough and assess as many aspects of the liquid under consideration as possible. I like to think it helps you, the reader, build a more complete picture in your mind of what I'm assessing.) The aroma of the liquid is strong with the top notes of caramel and a subtler vanilla and a smooth middle, foundation note of tobacco.
The Halo website describes Tribeca thus, "Tribeca E-liquid is a new ultra-smooth tobacco e-liquid with fantastic flavor all its own. Tribeca E-liquid has definitive tobacco undertones with a semi-sweet top note that is reminiscent of RY4 e-liquid and other treasured tobacco e-liquid blends with slight hints of vanilla and caramel. Tribeca E-liquid delivers a solid throat hit and excellent vapor production." There are 127 customer reviews with an average rating of 5 out of a maximum of 5 stars. http://www.halocigs.com/tribeca-eliquid.html
I'm vaping Tribeca in an Igo-L on a mechanical mod running on a freshly charged 18650 battery. There's four wraps of 0.2 Kanthal wire (32 AWG) around three strands of 2mm Silica wick but I don't have the means to check the ohms of the coil, so I'm flying in the dark. So to speak.
As I first fire the device and draw the vapour into my mouth, a sensation of strong sweetness registers throughout my mouth. I proceed to inhale the mouthful of vapour and continue inhaling as I continue firing the device. At one point the flavour of caramel leaps to conscious awareness. When I finish inhaling vapour and follow through with a short inhalation of fresh air, which eases the vapour into my lungs, the sweetness subsides while the caramel remains and the flavour of tobacco comes to the fore. As I exhale, the tobacco is predominant with the caramel and the subtlest hint of vanilla showing through. The aftertaste is a pleasant, yet still potent combination of this triad of flavours, with a subtle metallic edge around my teeth and gums. My salivary glands are activated and I find my mouth watering. This doesn't often happen to me as a result of vaping, so when it does I'm pleasantly surprised and more than a little intrigued about this somewhat odd physiological reaction.
If I inhale directly into my lungs, the initial sweetness is less potent, but the flavour of caramel is more pronounced during the exhalation. If I take short, shallow draws on the device, without inhaling, the sweetness of the vapour is even more pronounced and the flavour of tobacco during the exhalation is stronger.
As Halo suggests, this is indeed a smooth vape, but it also has a throat hit that provokes in me the need to use language like "kicks like a mule". Vapour production is excellent, with generous volumes of vapour pouring into the room, building successive layers of mist that hang in the air around me.
Having vaped this liquid for a short while, it's no surprise to me that this e-liquid is held in such high regard and is so popular. The flavour, a variation of the RY4 formula, is potent, delivers a significant throat hit and doesn't skimp on vapour production. I've joined the ranks of Tribeca fans. This juice will be finding its way into my Kayfun Lite.
