Liquid Barn White Chocolate Peppermint
ConcreteRiver
Disclaimer: I didn't pay for these, they were sent to me by Liquid Barn. Shout out to Liquid Barn
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.14 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: Liquid Barn White Chocolate Peppermint, 6 and 12% @ 1g/ml, 60/40 VG/PG base, Steeped 30 days.
Flavor Description: Peppermint bark coffee syrup. Most of the flavor is there but I'm having some texture and balance issues solo.
This leads with peppermint. Fit for the profile, but it's a sweeter peppermint base, pretty much on point for a candy cane or starlight mint. Doesn't quite seem to have the body of something like CAP Peppermint or FW Candy Cane, but the same kind of peppermint. Mentholation here is relatively high for a candy peppermint, but the sweetness keeps pretty tight to profile.
White chocolate accent here, especially at lower percentages before it really gets through that cooling. Feels a bit crumbly and waxy instead of creamy and smooth, sort of hershey's grade white chocolate. Solid, warm white chocolate base but the middle of the flavor feels a bit thin against the cooling. A hint of an oreo type of cookie in here as well, feels like maybe just a bit of actual cocoa snuck in somehow. Maybe a bit thinner and less rich than FW White Chocolate, but it has 0 of that weird pepper thing I usually get from TPA White Chocolate.
Relatively sweet flavor overall, but it works well with the profile. A little sticky, with a bit of sugar lips. No real coil or wick gore, seems to vape fairly clean. The biggest thing pulling it away from a peppermint bark for me is the lack of texture right in the middle of the flavor. Heavier white chocolate base, and all sorts of peppermint in the top notes... but it just feels a bit thin. I'm not sure if it's just that relatively heavy cooling thinning it out, or the way the flavor was built, but it feels like it could use some help in filling it out.
Off-flavors: Nothing off in terms of actual flavor. Missing some texture for how aggressive these flavors come across.
Throat Hit: I'm actually getting a bit of throat hit from this. It's not so much a classic sting beyond the bite from the peppermint, but it's a bit hard for me to really inhale deeply without some coughing.
Percentage testing: 6% is peppermint heavy. I'm getting a candy cane type peppermint up front with a bit of heavier white chocolate on the exhale. Mentholation feels a bit sharp. Sweet, but not cloying. Not a whole lot of body.
12% is even heavier on the peppermint, but more of that white chocolate shows up underneath. Peppermint is aggressively cool and feels a bit sharper than a candy cane flavor. White chocolate is heavy and a bit waxy. Still feels a bit thin in the middle.
Liquid Barn suggests 12% for this, but that seems a bit much. 6% feels like it misses out with some of the white chocolate, but 12% is too cool and a bit harsh. The second opinions call out 8% as the point where the white chocolate shows up, and that seems like a safe bet for a solo or primary flavor in a mix. This should work well as an accent flavor around 3-4%, especially with creams or chocolates in the mix to pick up some of that white chocolate.
Uses & Pairings: Fairly solid as a solo flavor.
Outside of that, you're not really going to get away from the white chocolate or peppermint here, so you'll need a profile that will handle both.
Looking at the available ATF recipes, you see Jr. Mints, Thin Mints, Peppermint Bark, Cookies, Ice Cream, and some coffee recipes. Seems about right. This is mostly going to be working with chocolates, vanillas, bakeries, more mints, creams, and coffees. Either the white chocolate or the peppermint is likely to clash in other profiles.
Second Opinions:
Here's the ELR Page. Users "Lulzor" and "Chachi Vapes" both have a copy, so no idea where it came from, but they write: "This is a brilliant flavor, although its uses are a bit limited. Very accurate and very tasty as a single flavor mix. The white chocolate part starts to materialize above 8%. 5% is too weak, 8% is too weak. 12% may also be too weak for your tastes. try 10-15%. in a mix it should be overpowered. mix around 6-8% depending on where it sits in your recipe. the white chocolate comes through well but is heavily masked by the peppermint. The white chocolate reminds me of a ghirardelli candy rather than that thick bark you'd get around holidays. the peppermint is very starlight candy-like and very much on the front end.It's creamy but not particularly thick."
This made the youtube rounds. Video reviews from JFM and J Leone.