Flavour Art Monsoon
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.14 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: FA Monsoon, 1 and 2.5%, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 7 days.
Flavor Description: Flavourart's description of this flavor is pretty lofty... "Be blown away with dark spicy Tobacco...Imagine the Monsoon wind racing over the ocean to the rain forest, twisting and turning through groves of fruit trees, slowing to absorb the sweet freshness before laying itself gently across a field of Vanilla, relaxing and savouring nature's gifts. Such was the inspiration behind our new flavour, Monsoon, a polyhedral celebration of gentle, floral fruits set on a cushion of soft sweetness." Okay.
The fruit in here seems to be the star. I get mostly orange, cherry, and some darker sweeter base that feels a lot like a fig or maybe even a date flavor. The orange is on the sweeter, less zest heavy side. Almost a candied orange as opposed to a candy orange flavor, if that makes any sense. The cherry isn't necessarily medicinal, but it has a weird kind of phenolic just vaguely playdough off note. There is a darker, sweeter fruit edge to this that feels fairly cooked. I'm not 100% on whether it's a discrete flavor or just an effect from a modifier, but it makes the entire thing taste a bit darker and richer than you'd think orange and cherry would taste. This doesn't really taste like it has much tobacco in there. You can almost feel it in the mouthfeel, but I can't taste any kind of tobacco leave or ashy notes here. It's sort of like TPA RY4 Double in that way, the "tobacco" is more of a warm dryness. The overall effect is a lot like the fruits out of a fruitcake: heavy, syrupy, and with a darker kind of sweetness. The second opinions talk about a cake note on the back end but I'm not really getting that. If it is in there, it feels like it's being drowned out by all that fruit going on. I do get some light vanilla on the exhale, but it feels very much like an accent to that fruit. It's sweet for a flavourart flavor, and seems like a good fit as a solo flavor if the profile is intriguing to you. I also think it could stand a good hit of a dark, aggressive tobacco. I'd mix this around 3%.
Inhale is mostly fruit. Deeper, sweeter orange without much of a zest note. Some dark cherry sweetness building through the inhale. Sweet for flavourart, with a moderate density. Some dry, slightly warm throat hit. Exhale starts of with a bit of space where it feels like the tobacco should go. No real tobacco taste, but it feels like a tobacco throat hit. Could just be the placebo effect from the description, but it seems to fit. Fruit comes in shortly after that. Exhale is a lot heavier on the cherry than the inhale. Cherry note is darker and sweet, almost like a brandied cherry. Phenolic top notes off the cherry. Sweet, mellow orange flavor in there as well. Entire fruit note has a really appealing dark sweetness to it. There is just a hint of vanilla on the back end. Very light, and a little bit fluffy. Exhale finishes clean.
Off-flavors: I'm pretty sure that phenolic note is coming off the cherry here. Feels a bit like an oversaturated marzipan flavor. Not too aggressive or off-putting, but noticeable.
Throat Hit: Moderate. It feels like there should be a darker tobacco based on the throat hit.
Uses & Pairings: Probably best approached a solo flavor. There is a whole lot going on here, and it seems to have a bit more body and sweetness than some of the other complex FA flavors.
If you want to chance it, I feel like this could a heavier hand with whatever light tobacco note may or may not be here. I'd go for a dark pipe tobacco like INW Black for pipe.
You could also play with adding some cake to this flavor and accentuating whatever cake finish other reviewers are picking up.
Notes: Concentration testing, this is actually surprisingly linear for something this complex. At .5% this feels light and unsaturated. Nothing wrong with it, but I feel like it needs more concentration. 1% is largely the same. A less complicated orange-ish cherry flavor without much of that syrupy sweetness or nuance. At 1.5%, the cherry is really starting to show through and I'm getting a hint of that almond-y phenolic note. Mouthfeel is also getting that tobacco vibe. 2% is pretty well balanced, but still just a bit less sweet than I'd like. Phenolic note is a touch stronger, but not overwhelming and the mouthfeel is getting more interesting. At 3% I'm getting most of what I want out of this flavor. The mouthfeel is interesting, fruit is heavy, dark, and sweet, and that vanilla on the backend is a little clearer. That weird note of the cherry is getting to be a bit much though. At 4% that cherry off-note is getting gross.
Second Opinions:
Here is the ELR Page. The web page where HIC's flavor notes were hosted appears to be gone from this world... but thankfully they live on through ELR. "This is a bit stronger than most FA flavors, so try 2 - 2.5% first. Around 3% produces afragrant vapor trail, like fruity incense, so start low. Right after mixing you’ll taste mostly sugary-sweet, bright fruits, a tutti-frutty mix of cherries, candied orange peel, perhaps papaya, and others that come and go. By a day or two after mixing, a background flavorof vanilla cake (like white wedding cake) gains strength, and the fruits mellow. Monsoon is among FA’s sweetest flavors, excellent standalone - complex, sweet, and unique. It really needs nothing added to taste complete. Monsoon is prominent in recipes - even under 1%; be sure to try it standalone a while before mixing with it." Random side note, HIC's notes are still available via an optional donation and download. Felt weird excerpting from something that theoretically had a price tag on it... but that doesn't mean you shouldn't grab a copy. Available here.
And here's a reddit post about what the hell is going on with this.
Shoutout to /u/ID10-T for suggesting this for review.