Super huge thanks out again, to @wllmc for shipping these out. Going to be mixing shortly, and after a week + steep going to get into them. :slight_smile:
Want to get YOURS, stop over to @Bull_City_Flavors and pick up the pack !!
**Apple, Pinata Type (SSA) 1% 2-12-22** -- First one on deck for Series 4 !!!!!! Having eaten a ton of Golden Delicious apples, I wasn't sure how the Pinata was different. A little research revealed they were [bred from 3 different heirlooms](https://www.stemilt.com/stem-blog/meet-pinata-the-apple-with-a-tropical-twist/). Mist times billed as a Golden Delicious with a tropical twist, seemed to be pretty close. Overall it did present as a GD apple, and the finish DID seem to have something that almost had a tropical twist. Sometimes I almost got a pineapple note, other times not, but the finish was what was unique. Sobucky did a great job with this one, as it tasted very natural, accurate, and with nothing out of place. At 1% (like most other SSA's I've tested), it was very full, crisp, and delicious. About mid level sweet, with JUST enough tartness to be convincing. If you've already got Sobucky's Golden Apple, should you get this one ? Maybe. Overall it shared many aspects, BUT, the handoff at the end, could be JUST what it takes to add another one to your collection. Apple lovers rejoice, as this one's a keeper. Tropically placed @ **9.2/10**.
**Bakewell (SSA) 1% 2-12-22** -- I have NEVER had a Bakewell Tart, but I can ASSURE YOU, now I MUST have one. Wow, this thing was a UNIQUE powerhouse experience. Now if you were a n00b like me perhaps you should check out a Bakewell Tart recipe to fully comprehend this one. My absolute FIRST reaction was, "I've got to add this to some Cherry, and some Custard" !!!!! Now although I didn't get an overwhelming sense of a lot of bakery in this one, it was just soo good, I didn't even miss it. If it's in there, it's lower in the mix. It was above mid level sweet, and it didn't need to apologize for it hehe. Very marzipan-ish, with a clear sweetened almond-ish undertone, that was somehow creamy, and almost custard-like, ALL at the same time. Loving my cherries, and marzipans, this one still stood out as very unique. The on-rush, or initial flavor assault is really something to experience, and even at the low rate of 1%, it was impressive. It was so skillfully layered, it was hard to pick out individual components. As a whole, it was an impressive experience. If you like Cherries, Marzipan, and Almonds, and aren't afraid of tarts, this one SHOULD be in your basket already. Plenty of uses for this one, in bakeries, tarts (duh), cherry/mazipans, and much more leave this one open for business. You could easily smidge up the bakery if needed. Handsomely done by Sobucky, and easily a **9.9/10**.
**Banana Cream (SSA) 1% 2-12-22** -- Currently my two goto BC's are TPA DX BC, and LA BC. That means any Banana Cream will have a hard road to travel for me. Right from the start I knew this was VERY different from my current BC's, and uniquely (I know), so. It leaned more towards a slight green and fresh banana, which is my preference, as opposed to an over-ripened mushy one. More natural than not, and not runty, so candied runters will have to look elsewhere. The interesting, almost strange thing was that once, it almost tasted like there was a light TEA flavor. Almost a very light black tea, or white tea, but just a HINT of it. The cream was there, but fairly light, but still part of the overall profile. About mid level sweet, and a somewhat light flavor at the 1% testing weight. Because it was a lighter flavor, I don't think increasing the strength would push it much. Perhaps the slight wisp of a light tea, and lighter cream, might just leave you wanting it, even IF you've got BC's already. Unassuming, but still present, and actually a fresh take on a Banana Cream. Your mileage will vary depending on whether or not you need a rich BC or not, but I think the "tea" notes I kept getting, made it worth the trip. As a pure Banana Cream, I will have to leave it at a **8.4/10**, otherwise I'd rate it higher, for the unique almost "tea" quality to it.
**Banana, Real Ripe Type (SSA) 1% 2-13-22** -- Having just tested SSA's Banana Cream, clearly this is the same Banana but without the light cream. Like the BC it was a more relaxed flavor, and had the same fresh, with a smidge of green, as opposed to a more ripe/over-ripe, mushy banana. As noted above, I do prefer this type. I'm unsure if it's relaxed-ness would allow it to carry the full banana freight or not. As this tester continued, I did get some of the "tea" note on the finish, which again, did work, and add to the fresh/ripe-ness of it. It's possible that stepping up a 0.5% increase MIGHT enhance it a bit. Very natural and true tasting with no off-putting notes, and just below mid level sweet. For a fresh, ripe, accurate banana with a smidge of green-ness, and a hint of almost tea on the finish, this one gets it done. Solidly placing it at **9/10** with only minor take-offs for relaxed-ness.
**Cheesecake on Graham (SSA) 1% 2-13-22** -- This one should be it's own One-Shot. Review over LOL. Ok, well, it was very impressive for a single flavor. The cheesecake profile was super creamy and smooth with JUST enough cheese, but not too much to make itself known. Then about mid way through the delicious graham overtook the cheesecake, and it had an almost caramel overtone to it. What a one-two punch. There was something darker to the graham which pushed it OUT of the ordinary, perhaps some of SSA's Caramel Biscuit might be in here ?? Hard to say, but darker, and almost grainy-er than most grahams. About mid level sweet and all of the main notes, cheesecake, graham, and caramel worked flawlessly together, and pulled very nicely to the end. At 1% is was great, and I couldn't see the need for more. Nothing out of place, and onto the second tester to see if I could find anything to nit pick and I couldn't. For a damn fine, almost one-shot-ish experience, this one really did it right. Soo much so that it's my first **10/10** in this series. Nicely done.
**Clotted Cream (SSA) 1% 2-13-22** -- OK you UK'ers, where WAS Clotted Cream originally made ?? Devon, Cornwall, Yokrshire ?? Apparently there's a bit of contention. Regardless, Clotted Cream is probably the RICHEST cream out there, and you UK'ers probably know it well, but us US'ers, may have never had it. I've had a similar cream in cream puffs before, so maybe that will help. At 1% this one was quite full, fairly rich, and had a unique creamy taste. I couldn't place it exactly, but it reminded me of cream filled puffs filling. About mid level sweet, and def. had a vanilla note. Not a custard, but a really good thick cream, with good mouthfeel. An obvious immediate desire was to mix it up with a biscuit and some jam, and I think after this tester, I"m going to do JUST that. Just like the previous flavor, I struggled to find something, ANYTHING that I could nit pick, and I couldn't. I can see this flavor, getting a LOT of usage, including quite a few puddings. Really hard to knock this one down. **9.9/10**.
**Honeycomb, Crumble Type (SSA) 1% 2-14-22** -- I'll admit it, when I first got these new flavors, this is the one I wanted to hop into, BUT, I had to follow my process. What IS Honeycomb ?? Most times it's simply Sugar, Golden Syrup, and Baking Soda, some recipes calling for Butter. I had assumed it would be a mix of a honeycomb and a crumble topping, but it wasn't. At 1% it was a semi-relaxed flavor, and, it, was, GOOD !!!! Now in breaking from the traditional food recipe, I did get some great honey notes, some buttery notes, and some light bakery. I could also swear I did get some Golden Syrup. All in, that makes a GREAT Honeycomb. I'm not sure what the "crumble type" was, but this was quite convincing, and the darker, almost caramelized sugar punch at the end, really DROVE home the realism, and accuracy. Actually the more I got into the tester, the more I became convinced the Golden Syrup note was in there, and that's fine by me. 1 to 2 ticks above mid level sweet, I found it quite addictive, and the more I tested, the more I WANTED to test. Addictive is right @Rocky02852. Watch out, i'll get you !!! Handily another great one from Sobucky, that was accurate, and tasty. **9.8/10**.
**Lemon, Sour Type (SSA) 1% 2-17-21** -- Sorry about the delay guys, got wrapped up in the Mega Dump over at Reddit. Moving on WITH the Lemon Sour. For reference, my (as you know), favorite is MF Lemon, for it's extremely realistic presentation. This one from Sobucky presented less as a natural, and more of a candied Lemon. There WERE more than a few natural notes swirling around in there, but the lion's share went to artificial/candied. Now, at about just above mid-level sweet, and with a smart amount of tart, it was QUITE a good Lemon. It reminded me of FE Lemon with some natural notes thrown in if that helps.
Fading, fading, How about fading ?? I can't answer that, hehe, but once we start mixing we'll get to the bottom of that. What was interesting about this one, was it DID straddle both the real and candied, so that should open UP it's uses, and your Lemon needs will dictate what you need, and if this one fits the bill or not. Somewhat complex for a Lemon for the aforementioned natural/candied notes, and at 1% it was very full, and actually good, with no harsh, or off-notes to be found. As a natural Lemon I would rate it lower, but as a (candied) Sour Lemon, **8.4/10** seems fair.**Lemon Wafer, Cream Type (SSA) 1% (2-19-22)** -- Had to get through two testers, to better decide on this flavor. Wafer, creamy, lemon, check. All present, and tasted pretty damned good together, AND at the low weight of 1%. Sweetness was at about mid-level, and it was plenty strong, with no off notes at this weight. An obvious comparison would be to ....
**Lemon Cream Wafer (Chemnovatic) 7% (7-2-20)**
– I’m quite sure with all the hub-bub about rumors that Dinner Lady Lemon Tart used this flavor, and the ensuing Out Of Stock situation at many vendors will leave EVERYONE wanting to know the answer. Good news for you, is I have NO CLUE !!! I’ve never vaped DL LT, so I can’t help you. What I can help with is this flavor, and how it vapes. Having just tested Chemno’s Lemon, it’s fairly probable that those compounds ARE in here as well. As a solo vape, this one is very, VERY good. Now, I’m not sure if it truly projects a Lemon Cream Wafer (cookie), but WOW, it IS very good. @ 7%, this could EASILY be considered a One Shot. It’s got plenty of lemon punch that carries through the entire vape, but at the half way point, the cookie starts to peek out, and ride all the way to the end of the vape, finishing perfectly with the lemon. My very FIRST reaction was, “Wow, super great lemon, with a cookie, and some custard notes”. Now when I say custard elements, you’re NOT getting the VC slam like from CAP VC, but it feels like it’s IN there, just hiding, peeking out from time to time. Very interesting. The cookie/bakery stays relatively linear throughout the vape as does the lemon. Sweetness might be a pinch above medium, and doesn’t come across as fatiguing. There was also a certain “thickness” that seemed to be in there, that could RESEMBLE maybe some Meringue or Marshmallow, but not high enough to identify, but the “thickness” could not be denied. Overall, this was a great, full, somewhat complex flavor, and I will run this tank dry. I think it’s soo good, that it will go on my must have list for this testing run. To my tastes, the lemon/custard elements set this apart from all of your regular suspects, i.e. CAP Lemon Meringue Pie, VT Lemon Meringue Tart, and WF Flapper Pie. For a really good (basically a One Shot) Lemon Cookie Tart (my words), you cannot go wrong with this. Vape it as is, tweak it a little bit, it’s just a win/win all the way around. Is this the SECRET ingredient in Dinner Lady’s Lemon Tart ?? Time will tell. For the purposes of this test, handily a **10/10** .
.... which really took everyone by storm. Now, there were similarities, but also differences. This one had a very nice creamy aspect that kind of road underneath the Lemon, with some wafer/bakery. I actually got a little more of the wafer when smelling it, than when testing it. Still there was enough present to make it believable. The creamy elements weren't exactly custard, but more (not exactly) pudding-like, and worked in this flavor. Despite first thinking Sobucky just tossed in the previously tested Lemon Sour, it almost had more of a natural overall aspect to it, but with some slight candied notes. Overall, this might fall behind Chemno's as far as a pure solo One-Shot, but not by much. Just sweet, and tart enough to punch through the creamy notes, but not too much. I could see this one also being used quite a bit, and for numerous bases, for anything Lemon Tart, or LMP-ish. Hard to fault this one, and with only minor take-offs for a slightly receded wafer, but very minor. Not bad, not bad at all. It felt nicely placed @ **9.10**.
**Peach, Sweet Type (SSA) 1% (2-30-22)** -- Wow, how did Sobucky pack soo much Peach flavor, in just 1% ?? They did. At times this just simply reminded me of juicy peach slices in a can of syrup, so "sweet" might not be a bad descriptor. The funny thing was, it wasn't SWEET, sweet, and felt about mid-level sweet. I was doing a direct comparison to one of my MTL ADV, which is heavy on TPA's Juicy Peach, which was an interesting A/B comparison. This one, although not billed AS a Juicy Peach, had plenty of juicy-ness, but it also had the entire BODY of the yellow peach, which is what TPA's was missing. I'm sure you could go somewhat higher, but if you try this at 1%, you may not want to. Maybe canned peaches in syrup is misleading you to think it was overly sweet, it wasn't. Maybe with the syrup drained out, would be better. Very natural, not candied, or jammed, but surely you could push it those ways if needed. Jams, peaches-n-cream, cobbler, I can see this one getting a LOT of use on your rack. I'm not a huge fruit fruiter, but I could find about ZERO faults with this one. Yellow, juicy, sweet, natural, and what else could you need ? Easily a **10/10**.
**Raspberry, Blue Type (SSA) 1% (2-22-22)** -- Does anybody REALLY know exactly WHAT a Blue Raspberry is ?? Hehe, probably not, BUT, there's QUITE a history around it, and it actually involves Red No. 2, and Blue No. 1. But, it gets deeper, and it's allegedly based on the Rubus leucodermis. Yes, that's the facts Jack. OK, with all of that "stuff" outta the way, I've never really had a Blue Raspberry, that's actually tasted LIKE a Raspberry, but more often a berry medley, with an almost cotton candy finish. This one was no different. Now I'm no closer to fully identifying exactly WHICH berries were in the medley than before, but suffice it to say, this one was good. Somewhat sweet, and tart, and a tastful, dark(er) berry medley. It did indeed have that almost "kissed by cotton candy" note in there, and the finish really drove it home for me. It was actually quite good, full and present at 1%, and again that speaks to the stronger nature of most of these Sobucky flavors. Even if you TOO cannot fully define a Blue Raspberry, let's just say this one HAS it, IS it, and you'll ENJOY it. Nothing off-putting, and convincingly "blue" (but no, it's not really blue, it's clear). Come get your BLUE on, and let Sobucky take you there. Easily placed @ **9.1/10**.
**Rhubarb (SSA) 1% 2-25-22** -- After even BRIEFLY testing this one, I felt compelled to start this review off with no fluff and stuff, no hyperbole, and get RIGHT to it. This IS, the most accurate Rhubarb, I have ever tried. Is it perfect ?? No, BUT it's pretty damned close. As a flavor tester, many times you have to test flavors, that no one in their right MIND would test. Some are out of this world delicious, others are outright terrible, but sometimes, JUST sometimes, you get to some REALLY accurate ones. This IS one of them. I've had more than a few, and some just smell/taste like cat p!$$. Great news is, this one DOESN'T lol. HYPER accurate would be pretty close here. What many Rhu's do, is they seem to center around most of the bright, high end notes, and the body suffers. This one seemed to FULLY encompass the entire main body notes that most, if not all others, miss. Wow, because after being rather let down by some, this one really showed HOW it was done. A tick above mid level sweet, and just really tasted like you were eating a sweetened, fresh rhubarb pie with no crust. Sobucky didn't stop there, as they also threw in some of the sparkling, almost Kiwi like high end, bright notes to not only drive home the realism, but round it out. If I had a nailed down super "pie crust" stone, (I don't yet), I'd toss this one into is ASAP. Wow, Sobucky did the Rhu right here folks, and if you are in need for maybe one of the best, most accurate Rhubarbs, you should pick this one up. Nothing off-putting, and very good at 1%, with MAYBE a little headroom left, with possiblly 0.25-.0.50 (estimating) increase possible. Clean, accurate, fresh, and punchy, with PLENTY of body, I couldn't find fault with this one. **10/10**.
**Strawberry, Sweet Fresh Type (SSA) 1% 2-27-22** -- Well, just so you know these reviews are legit (as if !!!!!!), not EVERY one can be a winner, winner, chicken dinner. If they were, wouldn't trust me, hehe. This one, MIGHT not be one of the winners, BUT, I encourage YOU guys to try it and tell us what you think. Overall, it presented as an almost "Pink Candy" type. Now it can always be POSSIBLE, that increasing this flavor might help it break out. Because of all of the Sobucky's I've tested, and at this low weight, I'm going to suggest not, BUT, I may re-test it @ 2.0% later. This review will be at the 1% testing weight. This wasn't an off-putting flavor, but presented as more of a blurry pink flavor if that helps. Could surely be used as a filler/baser, but as a solo'd SB player, it didn't push everything you needed. About mid level sweet, and it wasn't a bad flavor, but just didn't really deliver the honest, fresh, punchy strawberry. If I re-test @ 2.0%, I will ammend this review. Felt fair to place this @ **5.5/10**.
**Watermelon, Taffy Type (SSA) 1% 2-27-22** -- OK people, LAST ONE on deck in this series. Can we go out with a BANG ?? Taffy ? Candy ? Taffy Candy ?? Let's just see. Diving into this last one, it did present as very watermelon-y, and the type kind of varied between an ALMOST taffy, into more of a candied WM. I think it was more candied, as there was a tartness to it, that you typically get from candied, and not so much from Taffy-d. It wasn't a FULL on candied, but if you're looking for a pure taffy, this ain't the one. Now, it was actually quite good, and plenty strong at 1%. It straddled the real vs. artificial pretty nicely, and was a tick or two above mid level sweet. Nothing off-putting, and it was convincing at this testing weight. What was interesting was the tartness is what kept it interesting, AND, at the same time, kind of pushed it OUT of the taffy lane. "Yeah, but Taffy IS Candy". I know, hehe, I know. The artificial vs. natural notes were also interesting, as it lead with the artificial, but definitely finished much more natural, but with a nice sweet, tarty punch on the way out. You might even be able to pump it up to 1.25-1.50% without blowing your face off. As opposed to a two dimensional, more boring watermelon which would quickly become mundane, this one really did keep your interest, and I personally blame the sweet and tart finish. Nicely done, BUT, not a super "taffy". I'll mark it down for not a lot of real taffy-ness, but still leave it high, as it could almost be used solo. Felt pretty good at a solid **9/10**.
