e-Liquid Review: Dark Side range from Complex Eliquid
Welcome to the Dark Side! The dark side series by Complex Eliquid that is!
Today I’ll be running over the other side of their “Light Side” series at some flavour profiles that are very much on the opposite side of the spectrum.
If you haven’t heard of them, “Complex Eliquid” are making a bit of noise at the moment, after bringing out some tasty flavours from their “Kahuna” range as well as several other unique e-liquid lines.
They are New South Wales based, and are touted as very passionate vapers, with a focus on quality, their aim, to make very vape an excellent experience.
Today, I’ll be reviewing the “Dark Side” range from Complex Eliquid.
(This eliquid was supplied by the vendor for review.)
CORRUPTION – BLACKBERRY ICE CREAM E-LIQUID
From the website:
Baal was either considered Satan’s main assistant or directly compared to him. Baal is a Duke with sixty-six legions of demons under his command and their primary objective is “Corruption.” Corruptions blend of Dark ripe Blackberries smashed together with a rich buttermilk Ice cream and a cooling hint is solely intent on the corruption of your senses, corruption of your diet, allowing you to release yourself to the intentions of your inner demon.
Initial Thoughts:
Tasting this flavour on the finger first is hugely different than vaping it. There is a slight chemical taste, as well as a very very sweet blackberry with a touch of blackcurrant coming through also. The creams or ice cream comes across as a thinner variant, not quite as thick as you’d expect and definitely not depictive of ice cream at all.
The menthol cooling is pretty noticeable, this is what I attribute the lack of full profile of the rest of the flavours on.
Initial thoughts vaping it are quite different. There’s quite a sharp blackberry, which is also very sweet, that reminds me of those old school slightly tough and chewy, purple blackberry jelly candies. Following up from that, a lovely thick vanilla bean ice cream that fills up the texture of the vape with it’s silky smooth feel, along with a very contrasting menthol or cooling attempting to imitate the chill from the ice cream.
Inhale & Exhale:
On the inhale I notice subtle cream backnotes, but its all about the blackberry here. A rich fruity berry wash of flavour hits you front and centre. It’s quite a full flavour, which only gets stronger as the inhale continues.
Toward the top, a sharpness creeps in gradually, slowly introducing you to that classic berry tartness, a little sweet, and with a touch of bitterness toward the tail end of it.
As you exhale, you’ll notice the sharper, and tart notes begin to fade, as the berry is joined by a nice thick and creamy ice cream. It’s totally a fragrant vanilla, with almost a frothy milky feel, sticky and rounded.
The blackberry folds into this ice cream with ease, creating a sweeter more dynamic and full flavoured berry. Continuing on, you’ll notice a little chill come through, a little menthol and a little cooling create an unusual effect here. Its not quite a realistic ice cream with the menthol, more a manufactured feel, but I can’t help but enjoy it all the same.
This all blending together takes some getting used to, but it flows through the exhale effortlessly, leaving you with quite a creamy, sweet aftertaste.
Final Thoughts:
This is quite an interesting flavour. It’s one that some will love and some will hate, this is mainly due to the unusual feel that the cooling agent gives off against the thicker, ice cream flavours.
Creams always seem to be like that, not quite meshing with menthol, and it all comes down to the individual mix as to whether it works or not.
Despite this contrast, I’ve enjoyed this one, it’s dark and sweet blackberry notes are strong enough against the ice cream to create quite the dynamic profile. The thick, creamy and silky smooth ice cream, works quite well here keeping the vape nice and thick and robust, while the menthol adds that little twist to the whole thing.
I nice little flavour to vape! Great work guys!
Colour: Clear
Coil & Wick Damage: Light damage over time due to the use of sweeteners, but nothing too drastic. You should get good mileage from this one.
Steeping: No steep necessary.
Score: 7/10
DESTRUCTION – LEMON CAKE E-LIQUID
From the website:
Archaeologists have identified Anubis’ sacred animal as an Egyptian canid, the African golden wolf. On capturing large prey, the African wolf makes no attempt to kill it; instead it rips open the belly, eats the entrails, as a pure depiction of “Destruction” in that only the best part is necessary. This rich lemon cake, with hints of custard and cream will have you ready to chase down vape shop owners and demand more “Destruction”.
Initial Thoughts:
As soon as I put this on the tongue, sharp and tart, yet sweet and toned lemon notes take over, with a duller, rounder, thick sponge cake pulling up in the background to fill the flavour out.
The lemon is quite realistic, a lot less sour than you’d expect with a much sweeter profile, but it’s definitely not a candy lemon.
The cake seems to be more of a sponge cake with a more bready feel, a little heavier with a distinct sponge sweetness and a doughy note.
Inhale & Exhale:
On the inhale this flavour is already quite a mouthful. The heavy cake notes, as light as they are at this stage are already filling up the background, as the lighter and brighter lemon pushes forward. It’s a middle of the range lemon with slight syrupy notes and at times, I find that it takes on a bit of a stone fruit feel. (apricot mainly) As the inhale continues, the lemon gets warmer and warmer, less citrus, taking on a more syrupy texture, as you reach the top where it’s at the strongest point.
Over to the exhale, the once brighter lemon begins to fall back a little, not so much in strength and intensity, but in profile. It becomes much more of a warmer syrupy, almost jam like flavour than a fresh fruit, which suits this flavour perfectly, especially with the cake profile following up behind.
The cake appears gradually, beginning right back at the inhale, and working it’s way forward, while getting to a point just behind the lemon without overtaking it, acting more as a dense and full background note. It’s spongy but heavy, with a distinct bready/biscuit feel, just a little sweeter. It creates a nice contrast to the lemon, all the while blending with it almost perfectly to create a lovely smooth combination right through to the end of the exhale.
Final Thoughts:
I’ve enjoyed this one very much. As heavy as it is, it doesn’t overbear the tastebuds, in fact, you’ll be vaping it more and more, so that you can pick apart that nice full background cake note. Also to note is the lemon, while it’s not a citrus sharp, sour lemon, rather a warmer stewed lemon, its been added to a level that brightens the whole flavour, without going overboard. I like this very much, because it blends well with the cake, creating more of a lemon infused cake profile than if the fruit were on top.
A nice smooth dessert vape that you’ll be able to enjoy all day!
Colour: Honey tint
Coil & Wick Damage: Minimal damage, wicks and coils will gunk and darken, but this doesn’t happen immediately, and you will get a good few days vaping without seeing any degradation.
Steeping: Steeping might help this one settle a little, but it’s great straight away too!
Score: 7/10
DESIRE – HAZELNUT ICE CREAM E-LIQUID
From the website:
Succubus is a demon in female form that appears in dreams in the form of a woman in order to seduce men and overwhelm them with “Desire”.
This Hazelnut Ice cream with hints of chocolate and rich caramel will have you daydreaming of every new drop.
Initial Thoughts:
I can tell just by finger test that this flavour is similar to the other 2 in the range. Creamy but with a menthol or cooling undertone. That unusual blend of thick vanilla cream, contrasting with the menthol. On the finger test, there is also a noticeable plastic taste from this one, which could be from where I wiped my finger on the nozzle, curiously I wouldn’t have thought that Id get a plastic flavour from that though.
I’m not noticing any hazelnut at this point, but that may just come into it’s own when this is vaped.
Inhale & Exhale:
On the inhale, I get an instant cream, it’s obviously not at it’s full intensity here, but it is already quite powerful. Caramel and Custard tones back it up providing a rich backdrop, that increase in flavour as you inhale.
At the top of the inhale, these creamy notes are at the top of their flavour range, and peak at this point with quite a Caramel feel to them, and a slightly dryer creaminess. It’s here you’re likely to pick up on that elusive hazelnut, with it’s slightly woody, but deeper nutty profile.
As you exhale, you’ll be treated to the Vanilla Ice cream notes flooding in across your palate, washing over the cream, caramel and hazelnut. It’s here also that you’ll catch your first glimpse of the menthol/cooling sensation, as the ice cream develops slowly rising in flavour.
The cooling escalates on the exhale, along with the ice cream to create an almost authentic chilled ice cream flavour, it’s a little forced I feel, and doesn’t quite fit to what was intended, but does resemble a cold creamy ice cream in a way.
Final Thoughts:
This flavour was my least favourite of the three. While I did get hazelnut notes at times, it was mostly absent, with a more caramel/custard/ice cream profile to it. It is smooth, thick and creamy with a rounded out feel, so the creams and base notes are quite well thought out, but the hazelnut is just far too light.
Hovering over that fact is also the contrasting cream and menthol, just like the other flavours in this series. With the others, this seemed a lot less noticeable, but with this base, that cream/menthol really does become quite overbearing. It could be that there is no sweeter fruit to counter the contrast, and this is a much richer type of flavour.
Having said all of that, I have enjoyed this one. It wasn’t my perfect profile, but most of it is very well thought out and blended evenly. The thicker creamy base notes are dynamic with a complexity to them, it’s also a very flavourful mix, you won’t be starving your taste-buds that’s for sure!
Colour: Honey tint
Coil & Wick Damage: Minimal damage to wicks and coils
Steeping: This might benefit from a short steep due to the cream.
Score: 7/10
Final thoughts
This series is an interesting contrast to the last. Where ‘Light Side’ was predominently fruits, and beverage type flavours, ‘Dark Side’ sticks to it’s theme of vanilla ice cream backnotes with menthol.
The combination of cream with menthol, makes these flavours quite polarising (some will love them some will hate them). Considering the unique feel that cream and menthol creates in an eliquid, this might not be everyone’s cup of tea.
Having said that, I’ve found them all very interesting, and gradually gotten used to that profile over the time that I’ve been vaping them. I found that the menthol was less noticeable over time and that contrast of cold and cream, began to blend a lot easier.
Despite the contrast, there are some wonderful flavour combinations here, of note, the blackberry and ice cream create a very nice profile, as does the lemon cake.
Where to Buy:
You can pick up this range directly from the Complex Eliquid online store or through one of their many stockists!
Presentation:
Excellent presentation here. Each 60ml bottle comes in it’s accompanying box with similar design and artwork.
I received clear 60ml Chubby Gorilla Styled bottles, with transparent child-proof and tamper-proof caps. Each bottle has a needle tip dispenser that you can easily remove in order to add your nicotine.
Unfortunately the removable tip and resulting hole is quite small, so only a blunt tip syringe dispenser will work, for risking juice spilling, but it is there none-the-less. Removing the entire cap is quite difficult, so be prepared for a battle! I ended up removing the dispenser tip and shoving needle nosed pliers into the gap in order to lever the cap off.
The labels are fancy, there’s been a little bit of money thrown at these. They’re matt black labels with white/grey text, gold foiled accents and UV clear overprint.
All of the information you’ll need is on there (quite difficult to read) from the Series Name front and centre, as well as flavour name, zero nicotine, bottle size, PG/VG ratio, flavour profile, flavour description, warning icons, and the Complex Eliquid logo.
Test rigs:
Original Haku Cruiser running a single 0.17 framed staple coil on a mech mod.
Augvape Intake RTA with a 0.2ohm Stainless coil running @ approx 50-80 watts.
Bonza RDA with x2 Framed Stapled coils (0.2 ohm-ish)
Rating overview
