Here’s a review of three juices from my favorite e-liquid company, Ahlusion. This time around, I cover a trio of juices that will appeal to vapers with a sweet tooth and to tobacco lovers. Gold Member is a relatively new addition to Ahlusion’s lineup, giving the company a salted-caramel offering. Vecchio Blend is a delicious vanilla tobacco. Last, it Gold Rising, which is a curious juice with an unusual quality that some vapers will love and some vapers will hate.
Gold Member: Out of the mailbox, this salted caramel e-liquid was just okay for me. When fresh, it has a “toasty” quality that I didn’t care for. It spoiled the overall balance of the juice, but with some steeping…man oh man, this became another Ahlusion juice that I love. The toasty quality fell into the background after about a month of steeping, allowing me to enjoy a rich caramel that’s wonderfully complemented by saltiness. Salted caramel desserts were the rage in Los Angeles in 2011-2012 and this juice allows me to enjoy that flavor without the calories. I especially enjoyed this juice using a sub-ohm setup in an Aqua atomizer; the dual coils made Gold Member a delicious hot dessert treat.
On a side note, while I became a big fan of this juice after a month of steeping, I’m still weirded out by having the salted caramel taste in my mouth without the salty sensation on my tongue. It confuses my simple brain.
Juice Specs: 6mg nicotine, 50/50 PG/VG
Vecchio Blend: This non-aromatic tobacco e-liquid takes a light tobacco (and I mean light by Ahlusion’s standards) and mixes it with a lovely vanilla bean flavor. I enjoyed this juice fresh, but absolutely adored it after a month of steeping. When fresh, the vanilla is a bit more pronounced. After some steeping, the blend was perfect for me. The fantastic and authentic vanilla bean flavor is pleasantly sweet without dominating the light and authentic tobacco. One of my favorite qualities of several Ahlusion juices is how the flavors blend together perfectly. Vecchio Blend (after steeping) is another great example of this.
Out of the three juices in this review, Vecchio Blend was my favorite. I quickly went through my 30ml review bottle and have ordered a 60ml bottle since then. This is a fantastic vanilla tobacco e-liquid and I highly recommend it.
Juice Specs: 6mg nicotine, 50/50 PG/VG
Gold Rising: Curious is the word that best describes this honey-tobacco juice. The description lists it as Ahlusion’s take on the original RY4. I’ve had some of the original RY4 out of the creator’s freezer and this juice doesn’t taste anything like that. Some have speculated that this is, perhaps, a take on the original Ruyan 4, since it has some qualities similar to Chinese tobacco e-liquids. Just be warned that this doesn’t taste like a typical Asian or Western RY4 juice.
What it does taste like is a solid honey tobacco. The sweetness of the honey and bite of the tobacco come together nicely. Also in the mix is a pungent quality that’s very much a love or hate thing. People that enjoy this juice will dig the funkiness of the flavor, while people that hate it will be thinking about urine. (Actually, I know a guy that enjoys this juice and still equates it with urine. Hi Jerms!)
Personally, I liked this juice but didn’t love it. Most of the time I enjoyed it enough, but there were times when it made me think, “This is…strange.” For a honey tobacco, I greatly preferred Ahlusion’s Honey Cured over Gold Member. Since Honey Cured is an aromatic, the tobacco is much stronger and for me the honey-tobacco blend is tastier.
Juice Specs: 6mg nicotine, 50/50 PG/VG
Steeping and Review Notes (Updated December 29, 2013)
On the advice of Wlad from Ahlusion, I’ve been trying a new steeping method as of December 27, 2012. When the e-liquids arrive, I leave them uncapped for five minutes. Previously, I left them uncapped for about two days. After the liquids are given a few minutes to oxidize, the caps are put back on.
RPad.TV e-liquid reviews focus on the flavor of the e-liquids, since throat hit and vapor production can be altered by the PG/VG ratio and nicotine level selected. Each juice is vaped over a period of days in a bottom-coil silica atomizer (The Russian and Aqua), various rebuildable dripping atomizers, and a clearomizer.
