Decadent Vapours Rhubarb
ConcreteRiver
Disclaimer: I didn't pay for this, shoutout to Decadent Vapours for sending this to me.
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 12 wrap 24g 3.5mm SS316 @.33 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: Decadent Vapours Rhubarb, 5% and 10%, 60/40 VG/PG base, Steeped 32 days.
Flavor Description: Baked rhubarb base, with just enough raw rhubarb to keep you on your toes.
Warm, sticky rhubarb base. Accurate-ish to a baked, sweetened rhubarb filling for a pie. Slightly brighter and tarter then you'd expect, but that pectinish stickiness keeps in the baked category. Fairly deep and robust rhubarb flavor.
There are some things stopping that base from just working as a baked rhubarb though. There is a muskier floral sharpness to this. That musk isn't really overwhelming, but it tends to show up in mixes. There is also still a bit of raw rhubarb type astringency here. Not nearly as tart and astringent as INW Rhubarb, but it's in there and sort of works against that deeper base. Lastly, I get just a touch of earthiness here but it doesn't seem particularly out of line for rhubarb.
It's not saying much, but this is definitely sweeter than straight rhubarb would be. I'd call it fairly sweet overall, somewhere between pie filling and candy sweet. Seems to carry the more distinctive parts of the rhubarb fairly well.
While not a dead-on ringer for a baked rhubarb, it's quite a bit closer than INW rhubarb. Where INW is extremely tart and leans a bit green, this is substantially darker feels a bit stickier and deeper.
Off-Flavors: Lightly musky. Slightly astringent and vaguely earthy. It's mostly peeled rhubarb.
Throat Hit: Light to moderate. This can get a bit sharp but nothing overwhelmingly harsh.
Percentage testing: At 5%, this has a relatively full rhubarb flavor but feels a bit sharp. Most of the livelier tart, musky, and astringent parts are there in full effect, but that heavier, sweeter base hasn't quite filled in.
At 10%, the base here is definitely fuller and the flavor has quite a bit more sweetness balancing out some .of those more aggressive notes. A little bit jammy and sticky, but still a bit short of baked rhubarb solo.
Decadent Vapours has their usual 20% recommendation here, but that feels like overkill. Just based on these tests, I'd be mixing with this as an accent around 4% and a primary flavor in a mix closer to 8-10%.
Uses & Pairings: Well, if you manage to get your hands on this maybe mix up this recipe because it has a picture of "A Star is Born" era Barbara Streisand.
Beyond that, this does feel like it's going to be a bit easier to make work in bakery and custard applications standing in for a baked rhubarb. You could try to "cook" it a bit more with some FA Liquid Amber or TPA Kentucky Bourbon. But yeah, this is a good jumping off point for a baked rhubarb type application with or without berry companionship.
Not too dark or cooked to work in fruit mixes either. Should pair well with the usual suspects like strawberry, raspberry, and apple.
Second Opinions: So unfortunately this is another one of DV's bulk or wholesale only flavors currently. Having tried thier "Bluebarb" one shot and their "Rhubarb Cuddle" I'm fairly sure it's all the same base rhubarb.