eLiquid Review 515: Nut Brittle RY4 by Frank & Atticus
If you haven’t been paying attention, I’m reviewing Frank & Atticus’s range of eliquids this week.
This company is relatively new, even though the creators have been vaping a while, but they’re beginning to pick up steam and become known for their great alternative dessert creations.
If you’re looking for full flavoured, well thought out desserts and appreciate flavours that are not your average run of the mill mixes, I highly recommend this range.
Today, I’ll be reviewing “Nut Brittle RY4” from Frank & Atticus.
(This eliquid was supplied by the vendor for review.)
Flavour Description
[From the website]
Nuts/Sweet Toffee/Vanilla/Caramel/Tobacco
The Review
Blending a tobacco with a dessert can be difficult, often, tobaccos don’t really cut it in vape form, as the concentrates available just don’t hit the mark.
Blending a RY4 with it’s caramel/vanilla notes is a great choice here, as RY4 is typically a smooth sweet tobacco, with Vanilla and caramel notes.
For the main part, the tobacco, caramel and vanilla work really well in this mix. They are rich and sweet creating a nice thickness as you vape.
I do have a little bit of an issue with this flavour however. I am noticing a very strong astringent honey note. I’m not certain if it is a black honey or a straight honey or if it is simply part of the tobacco, but it is pushing out quite a noticeable organic and grassy feel, and a distinct aroma as well.
“Nut Brittle RY4” is a rich and sweet caramel/vanilla tobacco, with a nutty background and a noticeable organic/grassy feel.
Individual Notes
The base tobacco here is not bad, not bad at all, it’s a sweet smokey tobacco, light on most fronts, and blends neatly into the background only really appearing when you’re paying attention or hunting for it.
Caramel is quite a prominent player in this mix, it’s sweet, dark and well, caramel. It has a thick syrupy feel, and thickens and richens this flavour quite a lot.
The nuttiness in this one is very much a hazelnut as opposed to a peanut, it’s missing that distinct peanut rounded note, and is more of a background nuance, I’m guessing, so that it doesn’t overpower the rest of the profile. (Nutty flavours really can destroy recipes when blended too strongly)
Honey. While I’m convinced this is honey, it may well not be. Although it does have all of the hallmarks of a black honey tobacco, with it’s sweet almost syrupy feel, and it’s overly grassy aroma.
Inhale & Exhale
On the inhale, as I expected, sweet caramel comes on strong right from the start. It’s obviously not at its highest intensity but it is very noticeable straight away. Thick and almost syrupy with a toasted feel, its your typical caramel. As I move along the inhale, I also notice the honey, its sweet and thick, with that grassy, vegetal note that I mentioned earlier. That grassy note seems to be more in the aroma than the taste, as it’s fairly potent on the inhale, not so much the exhale.
It will take you a while to notice it, as you have to grow accustomed to the honey, but there is also a dry, ashy tobacco in the background as you take a big inhale. It’s hiding in plain site, behind the caramel and the honey, so you’ll need to really wet your wicks and take a deep pull on your RDA to get to it.
As you come to the top of the inhale, you’re treated to the rounded nutty note. A little toasted just like the caramel, it blends right in and makes itself at home, really gelling with the caramel, and becoming one tasty flavour.
Over to the exhale, I notice that the honey note is now background bound, and not front and centre, which is a relief, and the caramel and nut now take the stage. Together they create a warm and inviting rich flavour that continues throughout the rest of the vape.
While that nut brittle combination acts as the main flavour through the exhale, the dry tobacco lingers in the background, with it’s ashy feel adding a little smokiness to the caramel and nut, pulling this flavour into it’s intended profile.
Final thoughts
Frank & Atticus have done a great job on the nut brittle side of things. The caramel comes through nicely, with a rich and syrupy feel to it, and the nut is just at that right consistency to appear through the caramel, but not overtake it.
I have one issue with this, and that is the Black Honey nuance. It doesn’t really reflect a dessert and overbears most of the other notes making them fall back in behind that grassy honey aroma. If I were to change anything here it would be this. Dropping the honey, or black honey, and instead using a custard or cream to bridge between the tobacco and caramel, would work much better and keep any of those astringent vegetal notes at bay.
I did notice that my taste-buds or sense of smell, gets used to this grassyness after some time. If you’re vaping away on this, you’ll likely become accustomed to the note, and be able to appreciate the other flavours for what they are, however you ‘will’ notice it in the beginning and it may be off-putting like it was for me.
If you’re willing to try something different, definitely give this one a go. It’s a good mix, with some tasty caramel and nutty flavours in there.
Where to Buy:
The Frank & Atticus range of eliquids can be found at many online Australian vape shops, and is stocked at several popular physical stores.
Colour:
Light honey
Aroma:
Nut / Tobacco
Coil and wick damage:
Minimal damage to wicks and coils, this is a pretty clean juice for a tobacco.
PG/VG Ratio:
70VG/30PG RTV
Texture:
Rich and full textured with a dry tobacco
Steeping:
This one will definitely benefit from a steep due to the tobacco.
Presentation:
Frank & Atticus’s presentation is very nice. I received 60ml Chubby gorilla bottles, tinted grey with black caps. There is a tamper proof seal, and child-proof lid atop the bottle. A nice narrow needle tip dispenser helps get the eliquid where it needs to go.
The labels are very clean and professional, a little classy, with the easy to read black and white, with coloured accents marking the flavour profile.
The usual information can be found on the labels, bottle size, VG/PG ratio, ingredients, warnings, and various icons representing no sale to minors, KESAB and social media accounts.
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.
Rating overview
