The Flavor Apprentice Dark Rum
ConcreteRiver
Setup: Recoil w/ flavor barrel, Dual 15 wrap 26g 3mm Nifethal 70 coils @.15 ohms. 60w power, 450F temp limit. Full Cotton Wicks.
Testing: TPA Dark Rum @ 2%, 4% and 8%, 60/40 VG/PG, Steeped 5 days.
Flavor Description: Sour bubblegum, largely similar to INW Jamaican Rum. Either this tastes nothing like rum, or it just isn't translating the way I'm using it. The similarity to the INW concentrate makes me think there is something I'm missing here, but it doesn't really taste like rum to me. I get mostly a generic bubblegum kind of fruitiness and some sour, almost apple cider vinegar kind of musty funk at the back end. Seems to be a warming sensation on the back end of the exhale, but it doesn't really taste like rum or feel strictly like an alcohol sensation. I could kind of see the the molasses-ish taste of a blackstrap rum, but it's really subtle compared everything going on here. If this flavor works for you, it seems pretty weak and will take somewhere pushing 8-10% to really come through.
Inhale has something that tastes a whole like juicy fruit gum up front with a tart acidity. Decently sweet, but not that just seems to pushing it further towards gum. Moderate density, but just weird. Exhale has something that maybe a molasses/brown sugar kind of sweetness to it but there is that really distracting mixed fruit kind of vibe, especially up in the top notes. Tart overall, and in the back half of the exhale I get a good amount of warmness combined with a weird apple cider vinegar kind of funk like after you take a shot of the stuff (Just me? I had a hippy friend who swore by the stuff) and you just exhale that weird tart slightly fermented note. Not really harsh, but sort off putting. Sweetness level is okay in general, but doesn't real pull it into a rum.
Off-flavors: Uh, most of it. There's a weird fruitiness that I don't really associate with rum. Doesn't really taste like any kind of rum, but I missing the spice or woody notes that I associate with dark rum.
Throat Hit: Not really? Warm exhale, just a bit odd overall but not really harsh.
Uses & Pairings: Nah. Not really. It's such a weird mish-mash of flavors that nothing is coming to mind.
Notes: Concentration testing, this is weak. If you want to gaze headlong into the madness, you'll have to crank up the flavor. I initially mixed testers at 2 and 4% and they were damn near useless. Seems to be fairly linear, but there isn't much flavor at 4% and below. Cranking it up to 6% still not all that much flavor. 8% is starting to pick up a bit. It's still a bit thin and sour overall. I don't really taste any rum here, or anything I'd actually want in rum, but what flavor is there is starting to show up. 10% is just more sour but it's getting a little dryer. 12% just tastes more like apple cider vinegar gum. It's even starting to dry out a bit. I don't know, don't use this. But if you're determined to, maybe start at 8% and work up.
Second Opinions: