Old School (Royal Blend)

Name and Format: Old School (Royal Blend) – Concentrated flavour 15 ml – received by the manufacturer

Batch: 19LG2911

Nico: 3 mg/ml

Declared Base: 48 PG / 48 VG / 4 H2O

Expiry date: 07/2022

Devices: Yihi SX Mini MX Class 75W TC + Cthulhu Mulan MTL RDTA single coil 1.10 ohm (Kanthal A1 28AWG 0.32mm) with Cotton Bacon Prime.

The first review of December marks the entrance of a historic Italian brand within the prestigious collection of products tested by our team; I refer to the company Royal Blend from Varese, which has been operating for several years on the e-liquids market, manufacturing a wide range of products able to satisfy the most disparate tastes of our vapers.

I am particularly happy to start talking about Royal Blend on the occasion of the recent release of its first tobacco extracted aroma, Old School, created in collaboration with the youtuber Alessandro Vise “Il mio angolo del svapo” channel.

From the manufacturer’s website I read the following regarding the official description of Old School aroma:

Solo le migliori foglie di tabacco vengono utilizzate per l’estrazione di questo aroma. Qualche goccia di miele contrasta l’amaro del tabacco donando all’utente la sensazione di svapare una vera sigaretta…
Only the best tobacco leaves are used for the extraction of this aroma. A few drops of honey contrasts the bitterness of tobacco, giving the user the feeling of vaping a real cigarette…

Before focusing on the test of Old School, some necessary information on its packaging. The aroma is marketed in 15 ml shot series format, to which must be added a 45 ml base (at the discretion of the consumer the use of nicotine) to obtain a finished product of 60 ml.

On the product label with a pleasant vintage-western style, there are the composition information, the mixing info, as well as the batch number, the expiry date and the manufacturer’s information.

SMELL TEST

At the opening of the bottle for the usual smell test, an intense honey perfume is released with a certain force inside my nostrils, masking any kind of tobacco smell. Honey notes are so sweet and at the same time very penetrating, a typical perception with this type of flavoring. Honey in vaping is infact a “boring” and covering ingredient, it takes with a certain ease the upper hand inside all the mixes in which it is present. It is not easy to manage it adequately and even in this smell test, it seems that with its sugar content it does not want to leave too much escape to the tobacco component. We therefore hope that the tobacco perceptions can redeem themselves during the vape test.

For today’s vape test, I will rely on the latest creation from Cthulhu, the Mulan MTL RDTA, which, due to its characteristics, I am sure will be able to give me a pure MTL vape experience, returning a medium dry aroma and avoiding rounding off and excessively sweeten in the tobacco blend, already enriched with a sweet element.

VAPE TEST

On vape Old School is much more balanced than in the smell test, and this is what matters most after all. The choice of an atomizer like the Mulan it’s right, as in my opinion, this aroma needs a device that dampens as much as possible the invasive notes of honey, to let the delicate tobacco blend emerge more easily. I carried out other tests on other atomisers more suitable for flavored tobaccos, and as I expected, I noticed a loss of balance of the aroma, obviously unbalanced towards the honey ingredient.

During inhalation it is the tobacco component to go on stage first (even if for a few moments), and it does so by showing the clear and clean tones typical of tobaccos defined light and bright.

The manufacturer does not reveal in any way the tobaccos used to compose the tobacco blend, but the evidence of straw and dry hay reminds me of the use of some varieties of Burley and Virginia probably slightly mixed with some good South American cigar.

The effect is pleasantly bitter, and carries out analogical reminiscences so dear to ex-smokers. I am not in the presence of a strong tobacco blend, but it would also be a mistake to label it as a bland and anonymous mix. On this tabaccoso bed the true protagonist of Old School, the honey is laid in the central phases of the vape, which gives amplitude and roundness to the bouquet, not without slightly overshadowing the vivacity of the tobacco nuances perceived in inspiration.

Old School’s honey appears rather structured, penetrating and sweet and presents aromatic nuances typical of a good acacia honey, probably dirtied by a minimum quantity of chestnut honey. It is precisely in this central phase of the puff that I realize how Old School can be considered to all intents and purposes an honey e-juice flavored with tobacco hints, and this feature is more accentuated if you chooses to vape it on systems that emphasize the sweet component and sugary of an e-liquid.

Despite being the dominant ingredient, honey never gets the upper hand inside the mix, and to the tobacco blend must be recognized precisely the merit of being able to dilute the intrusiveness of the yellow nectar especially in the tail of the vape, when tobacco resurfaces on palate with the straw-like and hay scents appreciated in the earliest moments of the puff.

At the end of the puff, the tobacco nuances reappear clearly, presenting slight points of acidity that merge with the residual sweetness of the honey and are also affirmed in the good and pleasant post-vaper aromatic persistence, leaving the palate pleasantly clean and ready for a new puff.

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Suggested dilution: 25%

Steeping time: ready to vape, suggested 4/5 days