the grumpy vaper
Postman
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2014
- Messages
- 352
Liberty Flights had some interesting ideas last year when they launched The Temperance Range (reviewed here), a unique range of flavours dedicated to alcohol-free cordials that became fashionable in the 1800s as a response to rampant alcoholism.
As with all interesting ideas, sadly not all of them worked. The Lemon & Ginger was one of the worst e-liquids I've ever tried. It was not only harsh in my mouth, but down my throat too. While Sour Cherry & Hibiscus was much better, it also had a similar harsh quality to it. I put the lion's share of this unpleasant attribute down to the e-liquids having a high PG content. It's not often that I review high ratio PG e-liquids as firstly, I have a bit of an intolerance towards it and it causes mouth ulcers and secondly, most of the juices I receive are 50VG/50PG mixes, or heavier in VG content.
I think many of us vapers have gravitated towards VG heavy liquids, not just because they create denser, more luxuriant cloud formations, but also because VG is a lot easier on the mouth and throat. Yes, PG is a good flavour carrier, however, I've tried enough high flavour, high VG e-liquids now to know one and the other are not mutually exclusive.
Liberty Flights is being left behind here slightly and it's always a danger when a company stands still and remains steadfast in it's unwillingness to change. Following a good look round the Liberty Flights website, I found that of the six e-liquids reviewed today, none of them are available to order in a VG heavy blend - they are all 55PG/35VG and 10% de-ionized water and that represents a problem, not just for me, but for many of those out there who have a PG intolerance or that want to produce heavier vapour.
Either way, Liberty Flights need to pay attention to this, or some of it's potential future customers will simply go elsewhere - no matter how good the e-liquids taste.
Onto the review itself then - six new e-liquids from Liberty Flights, who sent across the following juices at a nicotine strength of 12mg.
Let's fill up the tank, stoke the dripper and vape on regardless...
French Vanilla:
I've had a lot of custards over time - some excellent, some tasting of virtually nothing at all. I've also had a lot of custards that proclaim themselves as being, "the most vanilla tasting custard that you've ever had!" Most of the time the flavour of vanilla is subtle to say the least. French Vanilla from Liberty Flights gives you what you want. It's a full-on rich vanilla flavour, creamy and very, very good. It's like a crème anglaise on steroids - heavy with black flecks of vanilla seed - just how it should taste. With just the right level of sweetness, French Vanilla is a great flavoured e-liquid, BUT (and I won't mention this for each juice as it'll become repetitive and very dull), the high PG mix gives me a hit like my throat is being grated by a madman with a mandolin. It's a real shame as this has potential to be one of the greats in it's class. The vapour production is at the lower end, more wispy than foggy.
Green Tea Mango & Lychee:
The mixed mango and lychee are the real dominant flavours in this. I've tried it in a couple of drippers and a Kanger Subtank and the green tea is virtually undetectable. The combination of mango and lychee is a winning one though, with neither exotic fruit being too assertive over the other. A good refreshing, crisp e-liquid then which will be a decent partner to a nice cold glass of Pinot Grigio as we head into better weather.
Wonderberry:
A mixed berry e-liquid here and one in which the dominant flavour is blackcurrant. If it was called 'Ribena' it wouldn't be far off the mark. Gooseberry gives a little sourness on the exhale and an overall pleasant tangy quality to the whole thing. Looking at the description cranberries and goji berries also feature in Wonderberry, but I can't really pick out these two in the juice. It's another light, refreshing e-liquid though and a decent palate cleanser. Not bad at all.
Winter Nip:
This is based on a 19th century boiled sweet I've never heard of - I can understand why it's an historic relic. Winter Nip is an incredibly strong menthol e-liquid, with an ice cooling effect on top of that. There are other herbal, spicy tones going on in there too, but to be honest this ripped my face off so much I couldn't carry on with it for too long - it's just a bit too much. Weigh in the heavy PG to that (I said I wouldn't mention it again - oh hell) and you have a fairly unpleasant e-liquid all round. I guess if you have a bad cold or flu - or at a push, severe vapers fatigue - then Winter Nip might be up your street.
Super Highway:
This is Liberty Flights newest addition to their XO Tobacco range and right now it has a tough time competing with some of the more interesting tobacco fusions out there on the market - B-Juice say a big HELLO to Super Highway with their never less than fascinating and quite wonderful tobacco/tea range. While Super Highway may be ideal for the newbie to e-cigs and vaping for a while, I'm sure very soon they'll be looking for alternatives to straight tobacco flavoured e-liquids - it's just the way of things. That said, Super Highway is an inoffensive juice and manages to hit the nutty, woody dry and sweeter end of tobacco flavours quite well. There's nothing challenging about it, nothing that will make you sit up and pay any particular attention to it, but it's not a bad effort at a cigalike e-liquid.
Spiced Chocolate Orange:
French Vanilla and (Terry's) Spiced Chocolate Orange are my favourite e-liquid in today's Liberty Flights review. The milk chocolate in this is fairly mild and adds a decent creamy, sweet edge to the very clean, very zesty orange. It's almost like Liberty Flights have wrung out every last drop of the oil from the orange zest to make this e-liquid - it's a very honest, direct, clean flavour indeed. the spicing is very a very subtle backnote on the exhale - maybe a hint of cinnamon, but it adds another warming feeling to a damn good juice. It's good to end on a high and Spiced Chocolate Orange does very well all round. I'd love to finish off the bottle, but...
Final thoughts, pics and scores here >>>>
As with all interesting ideas, sadly not all of them worked. The Lemon & Ginger was one of the worst e-liquids I've ever tried. It was not only harsh in my mouth, but down my throat too. While Sour Cherry & Hibiscus was much better, it also had a similar harsh quality to it. I put the lion's share of this unpleasant attribute down to the e-liquids having a high PG content. It's not often that I review high ratio PG e-liquids as firstly, I have a bit of an intolerance towards it and it causes mouth ulcers and secondly, most of the juices I receive are 50VG/50PG mixes, or heavier in VG content.
I think many of us vapers have gravitated towards VG heavy liquids, not just because they create denser, more luxuriant cloud formations, but also because VG is a lot easier on the mouth and throat. Yes, PG is a good flavour carrier, however, I've tried enough high flavour, high VG e-liquids now to know one and the other are not mutually exclusive.
Liberty Flights is being left behind here slightly and it's always a danger when a company stands still and remains steadfast in it's unwillingness to change. Following a good look round the Liberty Flights website, I found that of the six e-liquids reviewed today, none of them are available to order in a VG heavy blend - they are all 55PG/35VG and 10% de-ionized water and that represents a problem, not just for me, but for many of those out there who have a PG intolerance or that want to produce heavier vapour.
Either way, Liberty Flights need to pay attention to this, or some of it's potential future customers will simply go elsewhere - no matter how good the e-liquids taste.
Onto the review itself then - six new e-liquids from Liberty Flights, who sent across the following juices at a nicotine strength of 12mg.
Let's fill up the tank, stoke the dripper and vape on regardless...
French Vanilla:
I've had a lot of custards over time - some excellent, some tasting of virtually nothing at all. I've also had a lot of custards that proclaim themselves as being, "the most vanilla tasting custard that you've ever had!" Most of the time the flavour of vanilla is subtle to say the least. French Vanilla from Liberty Flights gives you what you want. It's a full-on rich vanilla flavour, creamy and very, very good. It's like a crème anglaise on steroids - heavy with black flecks of vanilla seed - just how it should taste. With just the right level of sweetness, French Vanilla is a great flavoured e-liquid, BUT (and I won't mention this for each juice as it'll become repetitive and very dull), the high PG mix gives me a hit like my throat is being grated by a madman with a mandolin. It's a real shame as this has potential to be one of the greats in it's class. The vapour production is at the lower end, more wispy than foggy.
Green Tea Mango & Lychee:
The mixed mango and lychee are the real dominant flavours in this. I've tried it in a couple of drippers and a Kanger Subtank and the green tea is virtually undetectable. The combination of mango and lychee is a winning one though, with neither exotic fruit being too assertive over the other. A good refreshing, crisp e-liquid then which will be a decent partner to a nice cold glass of Pinot Grigio as we head into better weather.
Wonderberry:
A mixed berry e-liquid here and one in which the dominant flavour is blackcurrant. If it was called 'Ribena' it wouldn't be far off the mark. Gooseberry gives a little sourness on the exhale and an overall pleasant tangy quality to the whole thing. Looking at the description cranberries and goji berries also feature in Wonderberry, but I can't really pick out these two in the juice. It's another light, refreshing e-liquid though and a decent palate cleanser. Not bad at all.
Winter Nip:
This is based on a 19th century boiled sweet I've never heard of - I can understand why it's an historic relic. Winter Nip is an incredibly strong menthol e-liquid, with an ice cooling effect on top of that. There are other herbal, spicy tones going on in there too, but to be honest this ripped my face off so much I couldn't carry on with it for too long - it's just a bit too much. Weigh in the heavy PG to that (I said I wouldn't mention it again - oh hell) and you have a fairly unpleasant e-liquid all round. I guess if you have a bad cold or flu - or at a push, severe vapers fatigue - then Winter Nip might be up your street.
Super Highway:
This is Liberty Flights newest addition to their XO Tobacco range and right now it has a tough time competing with some of the more interesting tobacco fusions out there on the market - B-Juice say a big HELLO to Super Highway with their never less than fascinating and quite wonderful tobacco/tea range. While Super Highway may be ideal for the newbie to e-cigs and vaping for a while, I'm sure very soon they'll be looking for alternatives to straight tobacco flavoured e-liquids - it's just the way of things. That said, Super Highway is an inoffensive juice and manages to hit the nutty, woody dry and sweeter end of tobacco flavours quite well. There's nothing challenging about it, nothing that will make you sit up and pay any particular attention to it, but it's not a bad effort at a cigalike e-liquid.
Spiced Chocolate Orange:
French Vanilla and (Terry's) Spiced Chocolate Orange are my favourite e-liquid in today's Liberty Flights review. The milk chocolate in this is fairly mild and adds a decent creamy, sweet edge to the very clean, very zesty orange. It's almost like Liberty Flights have wrung out every last drop of the oil from the orange zest to make this e-liquid - it's a very honest, direct, clean flavour indeed. the spicing is very a very subtle backnote on the exhale - maybe a hint of cinnamon, but it adds another warming feeling to a damn good juice. It's good to end on a high and Spiced Chocolate Orange does very well all round. I'd love to finish off the bottle, but...
Final thoughts, pics and scores here >>>>
