, Apr 27. 2020, 00:05
Starting out a 15 flavor run, at the listed percentages below. All mixed @ 3mg, 70/30, 2 week steep, and tested on a SteamCrave RDTA v.1, dual single wire 24 ga. Kanthal coils. Ohmed @ 0.38 ohms, and tested at 65 watts. Coils burned, and fresh cotton before all tests.
forum.e-liquid-recipes.com/t/vape-train-australia-vta-tasting-notes/208321?u=sessiondrummer
**Avocado Cream (VTA) 3% (5-3-20)** -- FIRST one out of the gate, let's see what we've got. I can safely say, I've NEVER vaped anything Avocado, so this is a first. Mixed, steeped, vaped, I honestly got little to no Avo, and maybe that's a good thing, but what I DID get was an unholy deliciously sweet cream, almost HS Ice Cream, but not quite, and with some White Chocolate thrown in ?? This one is a very heavy cream, which sits on the lower side of the sweetness scale, and I can't help but keep getting an almost Hangen's Ice Cream, with White Chocolate notes from it. Can't really find the avocada in here, but the damned good sweet, creaminess of it, just doesn't seem to make me miss it. I can see COUNTLESS uses for this one, especially for creameries, custards, anything where you want to impart some rich, sweet cream, but without other heavy notes. Continued vaping throughout the tank, had me guessing if it wasn't a creamy ice cream of sorts. Not super sweet, so this one's a guesser. NOW, the hard part. About 101% I try to rate flavors to their namesake, and this one really didn't give me any avocado, BUT, was DAMNED good. Hmmmmm. Let me vape on this .....
OK, the only way I can get this one done, will be TWO ratings. As a Avocado Cream, I'd have to go low @ **2/10**, for the clear lack OF Avocado, BUT, I can't just leave it there, as it is TOO damned good to not have this on your must have list, for a sweet, creamy, almost Ice Creamy flavor, which I would rate @ **9.5/10**. There you have it, TWO firsts, in one flavor review.
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**Banana Custard (VTA) 4% (5-3-20)** -- Have used this one in multiple recipes, but hadn't had the time to solo it. I think I went into this expecting a banana cream, even had a typo in it's name here originally (i.e. Banana Cream), and after tasting it thought, "Wait, what ......". OK, not a banana cream here, as the custard reveals itself with a little more bite than a simple cream. The banana is hard to identify as candied or natural, but it works well in this mix. Feels like a 60% custard, 40% banana to me. Because of the BC mix, it's hard to also directly identify/compare this custard to others, but it has some egg, rich, and low on the sweetness scale. The custard presents almost as half pudding, half custard, and that works well with the banana. Overall, solid banana custard, with no off-notes at the testing weight. Can't find any flaws with this one, and seems great at **8.5/10**.
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Biscuit Base (VTA) 4% (5-5-20) -- Typically I would never solo vape a biscuit flavor, but I've done so a few times thus far, for the love of SFT. I mean, who vapes just a biscuit ?? With that said, this one presented, almost as a combination of Jungle Flavors Biscuit, and INW Biscuit. INW's is my real go to, for a strict biscuit, but I learned to appreciate different approaches to biscuits after trying JF's version. I say it presented as a combo of these two, as it had aspects of each. It didn't present an overtly obvious butter profile, but it felt like it was in there none the less. Nice bakery, with a slight amount of sweetness, similar to JF's. It also had some elements of the drier, flakiness of INW's in for good measure. Not to belabor the point, but INW's is more of an American Bisquik biscuit, and JF's was more of an English version, which leaned more towards a cookie. VTA's, is an interesting one, as it straddles both INW and JF's. How you will use it will vary on what YOU perceive a "biscuit" to be. At 4% it felt relaxed, and not overpowering at all, with nothing off putting. I'm not sure vaping solo biscuits could be considered exciting, but vaping through the tankful proved a non-issue. This will be very useful in basing, and boosting bakeries, cookies, pies, etc., so you can get a lot of use out of this one. As unexciting as biscuits are, this one, was fairly unique, and good. I feel good leaving it at **9.1/10**, as I can't find any takeoffs.
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**Cherry Liqueur (VTA) 3% (5-6-20)** -- Oh Cherry, what a tortured past we have together. I'm always scared to try a new Cherry as many are just terrible. Medicinal, floral, you name it. Luckily for me, VTA's Cherry Liqueur had NONE of those off-putting issues. In a previous MFG test, the Cherry had some bad notes on the finish, I reduced it to half, and the problem abated, so you CAN go too high. In this case, 3% proved to be, palatable. It tasted like a red cherry, slightly tart, with an almost alcohol finish, but very subtly so. Now (isn't there always a now LOL ?), it presented not as a full, in your face Cherry, but actually rather laid back. It DID have the characteristics of a cherry, but at times, it almost seemed as if only peripherally. It's had to explain, but like a full blown cherry, with the middle hollowed out. If you vape it, you'll understand. Hinting all around as a cherry, but never a full on cherry. When vaping it, it's like you are almost expecting MORE of a big cherry in the middle of the vape, but you get solid hints, at the beginning, then the end, but it never really gets the FULL effect. Now, what does this mean ? Well, it's in no way offensive, so it's VERY usable, and can be manipulated to further PULL more cherry, which I would recommend. Maybe I'll re-test it higher to see if it presents a "fuller" profile, but I suspect, it is what it is, until you hit the ceiling. It smells a little tarter than it vapes, but there is just enough tart in the vape. It's a very good, "safe" cherry, to start to play around with, without the risk of puke, cough syrup, etc. Sweetness was low to mid, and although I cannot think of a direct comparison, I could see this pairing well with Flavor West's Cherry Crush. As it sits, inoffensive, but not completely inspring at **6.8/10**.
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**Creamy Custard (VTA) 4% (5-10-20)** -- Having just tested VTA's Banana Custard, I immediately could tell this was very similar to their BC. Almost identical, with maybe a smidge less banana. So for the purpose of this flavor review, it's not that this CC is bad, it's not bad, it's just really more of a Banana Custard, reviewed above. As a Banana Custard, it would receive the same rating as above of 8.5/10, but as a NEW Creamy Custard, would have to down vote to **2/10**. For an indepth review of this, reference VTA's Banana Custard.
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**Creme Brulee (VTA) 3% (5-10-20)** -- The first thought I had when vaping this was, "Wow, this one is unique". Now, that is always a good sign (most times, hehe), and it was in this case. I did not get any rich custard from this one, which is expected in CB's. I did get a very interesting vanilla cream of sorts, with some caramel, and something else, which was almost impossible to identify, which I believe was the burnt sugar element. Continued vaping never revealed any real custard notes, but the caramel and vanilla were soo good together, I'm not sure if I missed it. Sweetness was fairly low, and overall at this testing weight, it was fairly light, yet still satisfying, so you could go higher. I was so intrigued by the mystery (burnt sugar) note, I started searching around, and found one reviewer that swore it was a very light Anise. I think he's right. If you're looking for a heavy/rich custard based CB, this may not be for you, but if you could use a lighter, creamy vanilla, with an excellent caramel thrown in, with some interesting burnt sugar notes, you will like this one. As an "interesting" flavor, I'd rate it @ **9.8/10**, but as a Creme Brulee, I'd have to mark it down for the missing rich custard @ **7.2/10**. I would still recommend this one, even with the light/missing heavier custard notes.
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**Croissant (VTA) 4% (5-11-20)** -- This is another one that I've mixed with quite a bit, and hadn't done a SFT on, until now. Let's just cut to the chase, this one was GREAT. Review over !!!! Kidding. Alright, starting off, I never really got the buttah ovaload that some people seem to get from this one, BUT, it's still in there. Perhaps the delicious bakery elements with their slight sweetness pared it down a bit. Needless to say, this tastes JUST like a buttery croissant. I teetered between testing at 3-4% and settled on 4% as it appeared to not be the strongest of flavors. Flaky might be an overstated aspect of this one, but you can almost taste it none the less. A buttery, flaky croissant really IS, what this one is. It leaned somewhat higher on the sweetness scale, but still mid level or lower, and while not pushing the sweet ceiling, maybe it could be a smidge lower, but THAT, is about the only takeoff I can find with this one. The bakery clearly favors croissants, so it wont have as broad of a usage as compared to a more generalized bakery. Either way this one should be a MUST have from VTA if you are even remotely interested in a croissant. **9.8/10** with very minor takeoffs for slightly higher than expected sweetness.
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**Chocolate Mousse (VTA) 3% (5-11-20)** -- At first when smelling this in the bottle, I thought, "Ehhhh, smells similar to TPA Double Chocolate Clear". Well vaping it, revealed a WHOLE lot more going on here. Smelling it in the tank, I almost get the same kind of notes that I get from Flavorah Marshmallow, which is a darker, almost malty profile. Now, enter the chocolate, which is almost a mixture of a darker chocolate with maybe some creamy pudding in there as well. It's hard to completely explain but those are the main notes. It actually surprised me as to how good it actually was. Perhaps some lighter/airy aspects that you would expect from a mousee, but subtly so. The Chocolate which heads towards bitter, isn't actually bitter, but leans towards it, and although darker, does have some mid/lighter choco notes in there as well, so this is shaping up to be more complex that it appeared initially. Chocolates very often suffer from just plain bad tasting, to dry, and/or overly dark which leads to burning and scorched coils. This one exhibited NONE of those characteristics at all. It was actually fairly rich and full with low sweetness @ 3%. I can see a lot of uses for this one, because of it's dark, mid, and lighter notes, with no bitterness or dryness. I got absolutely NO off-notes, nothing chemical, or any "band-aid" in this one. I'm surprised it hasn't received more attention. Summarizing it up as a fairly complex chocolate, with dark, mid, and high notes, with some pudding elements thrown in, that just really works. Def. going to drain the tank on this one. Solidly a **9.75/10**.
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**Coffee Liqueur (VTA) 4% (5-12-20)** -- After JUST testing VTA's Chocolate Mousee, I can tell, it IS in this one. It might be an exact split 50/50 of something very much like their CM, and a coffee. The coffee profile is somewhat bold, but not overly dark or bitter. Def. not an espresso, and I think as a coffee/chocolate pairing it works really well here. Sweetness is low, which is always good, and just enough to keep things rolling. Neither the coffee nor the chocolate steals the show, which should allow for wider usage. With no off-notes, this one could actually be vaped solo, as it's got just enough to keep you interested. Another winner from VTA, and with no faults except maybe a little missing "punch" from the coffee, it feels good at **9/10**.
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**Fizzy Sherbet (VTA) 3% (5-13-20)** -- Sherbet, Sherbert, Sherbet Powder ?? !!!! It really depends where you live, as to which of the proceeding you know. In the US I've heard more commonly Sherbert, but in the UK I learned they have Sherbet Powder. With that said, this one is a smart, almost sparkly, fresh, punchy vape. I immediately was reminded of an almost Sprite like, high end punch I got from a Vape Kitchen Pineapple vape. I wonder if this is it ?? !!! This one almost has a sprite (soda) like bright punch that carries throughout the entire vape. It does lean above mid sweet, but as expected. It's very hard to tell if there is any fruit profiles in here, but it def. leans towards a lemon lime-ish with perhaps some pineapple maybe ?? It's hard to tell. Now as far as the fizz, it's more fizzy-like, and it does impart an almost tingle at times. I've used this one countless times and (lazy) never got around to singling it. Now that I have, I'm even MORE impressed. For a fizzy (tingly) bright, lemon-lime (maybe a pinch of bright pineapple), that leans forward on the sweetness, this really excels. I have had great success with my Pineapple Soft Serve with this one, and I can see it being a real go to, for a lot of mixers, and mixes. No off notes, no deductions I can think of, even with it's higher than normal sweetness. Punchy, bright, it just works. **10/10**.
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**Glazed Strawberries (VTA) 4% (5-16-20)** -- Here is another one I've used countless times, but never solo'd. First impressions, were an almost sparkling Strawberry. Not as full as many other SB's, but had a bright top end, and did actually (almost) portray a "glazed"-edness. At 4% it was actually somewhat subdued, and could be used much higher. Although billed as a "glazed" it wasn't sickly sweet, like I had anticipated. No lip smacking sweetness in this one. The SB leaned towards ripe, but had a lot of fresh in it too. Because it seemed to excel at the bright top end, don't think it will be the main note often, but supporting absolutely (that's how I've used it). Nothing off-putting, mid sweet, punch top end SB. Marking down a few for reduced presence at this testing weight. Good mixer @ **7/10**.
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Golden Syrup (VTA) 4% (5-16-20) – This one proved to be quite the interesting one, and a somewhat hard one to describe. It starts out as a mid-dark syrup, and ends with almost a touch of butter. It has qualities of a maple syrup, BUT, without the maple. It’s got some qualities of honey, BUT, without the honey. Confused ?? Good, me too. I guess the simplest description would be maple syrup minus the maple, but it still seems more than that. Full bodied, with NO florals, and the finish sure seems like a touch of butter, but it’s low enough to almost stay off the radar entirely. I was actually very surprised that it was only mid level sweetness. Because it’s fairly neutral, i.e. not honey or maple, and it’s surprisingly lower sweetness levels you will get a lot of mileage out of this one, adapting it to your needs. Full bodied keeps coming to mind, while vaping it, and that def. keeps it in the mid to mid-dark bodied category. All in, this one was a surprise, and having never vaped a syrup before, I’m glad I did. Lot’s of uses for this one. VTA did a great job capturing a “syrup” but with any honey, or maple notes, yet still true to it’s namesake. Karo maybe ?? Kind of … Lots of uses for this one, and leaving it at 9.4/10.
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**Honeycomb (VTA) 4% (11-8-20)** -- Testing another random VTA flavor, as I started to see it being used more and more, and my beloved love FOR the Cereals, I couldn't resist. I've had kind of an outright FEAR of honeys after an incident with FA Honey, wherein I think I might have mixed it a LITTLE too high, hehe, and I swore off honeys. Overcoming my fears, I loaded this into the tank, and, ....... it was pretty good. NO off-putting florals, no ceiling bashing over-usage, and, a fairly decent, yet laid back honey. Mixed in there were some buttery notes, some caramel, and some cereal. Because it was somewhat laid back, I might have to re-test higher, but at 4%, it presented itself well, and did favor Honeycomb ceral. Not exactly, but in the ballpark. The light honey leaned natural, and the light caramel-ish notes paired well, with the cereal notes smoothing out the tail end of the vape. Because it fared somewhat light to my tastes, it might be overpowered in mixes easier, than not, unless used in a supporting roll, or at a higher rate. If YOU have been scared off of honey-ish vapes, congratulations, you can get BACK into them, with this one. Below mid-level sweetness kept it non-fatiguing, and lighter, but it DID have a certain "sticky" quality about it, which is interesting, because of the lower level of sweetness. With nothing off-putting or floral, about the only take-off would be the laid back nature of it. Felt really good and tasty @ **8.1/10**.
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**Lemon Meringue Tart (VTA) 5% (5-17-20)** -- We can start this one off by saying this SHOULD be a must have from the VTA line. Your personal mileage may vary depending on your tastes, but this presents as a new, and unique take on a LMP/LMT. Being a longtime CAP LMP user, this one was a breath of fresh air. It's not that CAP's isn't good, as it is, and it's my go to, BUT, this one shakes things up a bit. The lemon in this one is perfect, sweet, tart, pronounced, but not overbearing. The meringue, while lower in the mix, works well here, and perhaps the crust is much different than CAP's. I've seen this paired many times (as I have done as well) WF's Flapper Pie, and they work perfectly together. This one might not be as "generic" as CAP's, but that's what makes it unique. Maybe some buttery undertones in there, sweetness mid level, and as a single flavor, it honestly doesn't need a lot of fixing right out of the bottle. Now, you can always tweak to your needs, but as a solo, pretty damned good. On a short 2 week steep, the lemon longevity cannot be determined, but @ 5%, this was a great LMP/LMT vape. I can't 100% define the tart vs. pie issue, I will have to further test in some of my Looper mixes to see how it compares/contrasts to CAP's. All in, damned nice offering from VTA, that doesn't really need much help. **9.9/10**.
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**Milk Fresh (VTA) 2.5% (5-17-20)** -- I think I just found ANOTHER must have from VTA, and that would be Milk, ...... Fresh Milk !!!! To start with, this is an excellent Milk, and it's ONLY closest cousin might be FA's Milk (which is no longer sold in the US). They are similar would be a fair statement. What makes this unique from most of the other Milks is it's very neutral profile. NO sour notes, cheesy notes, etc., just a great dairy milk. Although I love TPA's Dairy/Milk it is not as neutral as this one, and VTA's is FAR more present than OOO's Milk Creamy Undertones (gasp !!!). Yes, that's right, I think this is better than OOO's. @lukeloop warned me testing this @ 2.5% might be pushing the ceiling, and although it was VERY full at this level, it didn't appear broken. Clearly, you could mix it lower, and still get a lot of Milk Bang. Low sweetness was great, because the focus stayed on the Milk. Even smelling this in the tank, still had me guessing how they did it. For a fresh, clean Milk with NO off-notes, cheesy-ness, sour or BA notes, THIS IS the one you want. I can't go less than **10/10.**
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**Milkshake Base (VTA) 2% (6-6-20)** -- Starting these back up again, with the Milkshake Base !!! Having tried a few MS bases (or variants) and been somewhat disappointed by one thing or another, I am always hopeful that the NEXT one, will be better. This one IS quite a bit better than what I expected, and at 2%, gave up some really good Milkshake nuances. Mouthfeel was thick and creamy, with sweetness higher on the scale, maybe mid level plus one, but not overbearing. It didn't present as overly "malted", and was fairly neutral with no choco, or nilla notes, which will really let you push/pull this to your shake liking. At 2% didn't appear to be hitting the ceiling, and the overwhelming singular takeaway from this was creamy mouthfeel !!!! Not a problem, when you're working up milkshakes. During testing, I was almost overcome by a desire to toss in my fav SB base, just to see, BUT, that will come later. As a single, this didn't present any off notes, no in your face BA, and just a really good creamy, milkshake without anything extra. Clearly far more than a simple Milk, or Cream, so VTA did this justice. Feels great @ **9.4/10**.
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**Pineapple Juice (VTA) 3% (6-7-20)** -- Pineapple juice, vs. Pineapple ?? Let's see what's what. Smelled great out of the bottle, and vaped somewhat as it smelled, but not entirely. This did present as a Pineapple of sorts, but it was surprisingly NOT juicy ? What ?? How can that be ?? @3% it seemed high enough, but this one really lacked any "punch" you'd expect from a PA juice. Another reviewer called it "dull", and that's an about perfect way to describe it. Somewhat darker than expected, with low to mid sweetness, but just didn't have the "zing" it needed to stand out. Nothing off-putting or chemical, just an average pineapple-ish flavor. Very 2 dimensional. Def. use to add to a base, but NOT the star of any Pineapple shows here. **6/10**.
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**Raspberry Jam (VTA) 4% (11-14-21)** -- This raspberry quickly turned into a mystery of sorts, as to exactly WHAT, it was. Was def. getting a red raspberry from it, but it's almost like there was some light peach and/or apple notes in there. The "other" notes were low, but still present, so it left the raspberry kind of wandering around a bit. As far as the "jammy" accents, they presented as about a 50/50 split between jammy, and candied. Sweetness was about mid level, and there were some tart notes on the high end and finish, that let it exit with a sparkle. At 4% it worked really well, and I had briefly considered adding a dash of INW Malina just to see if it could be pushed FULLY into the RB camp, but I held out. All in it was a good RB Jam, just not a great one. Could VERY easily be pushed into that, with minimal effort. Minor takedowns for a somewhat vague RB, and the candied jammy notes. Felt good at **7.5/10**.
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**Sour Lemon (VTA) 4% (6-7-20)** -- Lemon, lemon, lemon, who doesn't need a good lemon ?? Having never tested an official "sour" lemon, was all set to pucker up on this one. BUT, it never happened. :frowning: This one @ 4% was surprisingly lack luster. It wasn't terrible, and there was lemon in there, with some mid level sweetness, but the sour was almost too low to detect. Kinda odd for a sour lemon, BUT, as it was, not terrible, not stellar, and laid back at 4%. The lemon was candied, and almost like a sour lemon candy, but missing the sour. With all the lemons on the market it can be hard to stand out, and this one, doesn't. Middling candied lemon with little to no sour. Good for mixer fodder. **6/10**.
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**Sugar Cane (VTA) 4% (11-14-21)** -- After talking to @Psycho_316 and the success he had in his, [Cherry Cola](
e-liquid-recipes.com/recipe/4125739/SessionDrummers%20Sobucky%20Cherry%20Cola%20My%20Way), I knew I had to solo this one. He stated it really enhanced the "fizz" in the Cola, and who doesn't love an actual fizz. I decided to test this one @ 4% as it smelled very light, and testing it, continued that trend. My first impressions were that of a very natural sugar cane, with slight caramelized notes, but with NO burnt, or bitterness. Possibly a very light hint of vanilla, but just barely. Having spent some time on the Cherry Cola myself, I can absolutely see how this flavor would boost and enhance it. I intentionally ran this one high, so your usage will vary depending on your needs, and I had nothing off-putting at this level, and even at that, it was still relaxed, smooth, and with just a smidge of caramelly, darker sugar undertones. For it's namesake I would have to push it high at **9.1/10**.
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**Sugarloaf Pineapple (VTA) 4% (6-9-20)** -- Having just tested VTA's Pineapple Juice, and having had a "so-so" reaction to it, AND, having used this one many times, was anxious to really solo it. My previous experience in mixes, mirror my SFT here. This one is a Pineapple Powerhouse. No other way to put it. It actually pushed my beloved INW Pineapple off it's perch as my number one. This "sugarloaf" pineapple should be re-named "sugarLOAD" pineapple. It's sweet, bright, punchy, and damned delicious. It leans on the sweet side, but not too sweet. Sugarloaf pineapple is a white pineapple, that I've never eaten, but I sure would LIKE to now. Very natural, multi-dimensional, and interesting to vape. Nothing artificial tasting to my tastes, and wherein VTA's Pineapple Juice presented to me as somewhat dull and/or lifeless, this one was the exact opposite. BPD (Bright, Punchy, Delicious), just is really all you need to know on this one. Typically I would think even as good as this is, it will probably be mixed with INW Pineapple, or maybe CAP Golden Pineapple just to round things out, but I've used it as the only Pineapple [and it worked out GREAT.](
e-liquid-recipes.com/recipe/3526342/%F0%9F%8D%A6%20Soft%20Servin%27%20Up%20Pineapple%20%F0%9F%8D%8D). So it's not required, but an option. This one leaned heavier in the mid and high notes, with less lower/darker notes, and it does it well. Hands down a GREAT flavor, and IMO, should be on your VTA Must Have List. **10/10**, zero hesitation.
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Vanilla Cream (VTA) 5% (5-31-20) – This one proved to be a very good flavor, but hard to fully explain. Not overly complex, but still delicious at 5%. The repeat feeling I got from this throughout the test, was a Vanilla Butter Cream, WITHOUT the butter. Like maybe an icing, but without the butter, and that gets you in the ballpark. The Vanilla was forward as expected, and the cream rounded it out. It wasn’t overly creamy, but the smooth finish and mouthfeel impart creaminess. Although full at this percentage, it still came across as somewhat subdued. Sweetness was actually lower than mid level which was surprising. Hard to say exactly, but the vanilla did lean towards a bean as opposed to any of the spicer ones. There was an almost dryness to this, but it wasn’t enough to throw off the mix. No faults with this one, and for a somewhat laid back vanilla cream, this one works. 7/10.