Well, Part V was getting pretty long, so starting up a NEW Part VI of the Flavor Jungle (fka Jungle Flavors) Ultimates and One Shots here. Thanks out to @Lynda_Marie (and others) for the heads up that these were available.
As always (LOL), tested on the OG SteamCrave RDTA Aromamizer running dual 24ga. Kanthal vertical coils, fresh, or dry burned with Koh Gen Do cotton. Testing at the listed percentages, in a 70v/30p/3mg base @ 65 watts. Thinking I want to go at least 1.5 weeks due to the Custard and VIC.
Single Flavors:
Ultimate Cheesecake Graham Crust (Flavor Jungle) 3% (7-12-25) – This was the first of the two new Ultimates on deck. It was interesting mostly because it smelled one way, and tasted/tested another. It smelled like a great graham cracker crust, but with some creamy, slightly acidic/funky (in a good way for realism) cheesecake. Testing it however, the cheesecake notes somewhat vanished, or at least the funky cheesecake (yes, in a good way) notes did. What was left, was a pretty convincing graham cracker crust, with no cinnamon, and a creamy overtone. I’d nail the split down at about 75% graham crust, 25% creamy-ness. The crust notes were pretty spot on, and almost had hints of a light cookie in there. The creamy-ness was rather more of a creamy carrier that the crust rode on, as it was always present, but lower in the mix.
At 3% it wasn’t what I would call strong, and you could probably easily go up to 4% with no issues. Strength wise, I’d put it at about a 6.5-7.0/10, and there were no offensive notes to be found. Ever so slight, very light coconut notes, but very light, and barely detectable. Sweetness was fairly low, and well below mid-level. I think the creamy notes helped eliminate any dry notes on the finish, because it was actually NOT dry on the finish. All in, a good graham crust, with very light hints of a creamy cheesecake in the mix. I decided to leave it at a solid 8.75/10.
Ultimate Cookie Dough (Flavor Jungle) 3%
Ultimate Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (Flavor Jungle) 5% (3-22-25) – First NEW Ultimate on deck. This one smelled very good in the bottle while steeping. Testing it however, yielded some different results. First the good(s), The vanilla notes were very good, somewhat darker, and rich, with a pretty good creamy-ness, and mouthfeel. It never fully took shape as an ice cream. It was hard to fully explain why, but it never did. Vanilla, creamery, but just never really tasted like a full ice cream. It had a nice weighty-ness to it, which, along with the mouthfeel and creamyness meant that it was IN the ballpark, but would need some help to get there. At 5% it was nicely rich, and full, and sweetness was actually two ticks below mid level. There were some dark notes underneath the vanilla and cream elements that was hard to identify. Maybe a very light caramel/butterscotch, but not sure, and light in the mix, but stil present.
Although this would not be the main driver in a VBIC, it could def. work IN one. Great dark(er) vanilla, mouthfeel, and creamery elements, just not all the way TO an Ice Cream. It felt fairly placed at a 7.5/10.
One Shots:
Hot Glazed Donut (Flavor Jungle) (One Shot) 8%
Lemon Butter Cookie (Flavor Jungle) (One Shot) 10% (7-13-25) – I decided to split up the Ultimates and One Shots and alternate between them. At 10% as prescribed by Flavor Jungle, this one was really good, right out of the gate. Smelling it in the bottle is smelled spot on with a buttery vanilla cookie, accented by a bright lemon. Testing it, revealed the same profiles. The butter/sugar cookie was very good, an accurate, but had a little less buttery-ness as compared to smelling it, but it was still there. The cookie had some nice weight to it, and some nice grains/grainy-ness that helped authenticate it. The lemon profile sat just below the cookie in the mix, but stayed present from beginning to end. To my tastes, it was almost like two lemon profiles, one in the cookie/base, and one riding on top with brighter highlights. At times I almost got notes that reminded me of CAP LMP, so that might be in here.
Sweetness was about a tick above mid-level, so it leaned to sweet, but not completely “commercial” level sweetness. At the suggested 10% it tasted plenty strong, and no overt off-notes, except for a slightly dry finish. Marking down only for the somewhat lacking (tasting) buttery-ness, and slight dry finish. It isn’t the most complex one-shot, but it was still good. It felt pretty solid at a 8.9/10.
Mad Bunny (Flavor Jungle) (One Shot) 10% (3-23-25) – With ALL of the Strawberries and Cream mixes out there, do we really need one more ?? Read on faithful followers. When mixing this one up, it really smelled good, and testing it, proved to be MORE of the same. Yes, Mad Bunny is Flavor Jungle’s newest Strawberries and Cream One Shot. One of my biggest initial (and still standing) take-away’s was how perfectly the cream and SB’s were paired. In a word, PERFECT. The SB’s presented as a very rich, and dense combination of SB’s, which centered around a candied, and jammed. There were brief hints of a juicy nautral swirling around, but more so in the background. The cream while not eintirely “velvety smooth” as it was billed, WAS very smooth and creamy. Because it was so expertly paired with the SB profiles, it was hard to fully identify, but the sweet and creamy carrier just never quit.
At the prescribed 10% mixing weight it was very full without being overpowered, and sweetness was 2-3 ticks above mid level. While fairly sweet, it wasn’t cloyingly sweet, and it actually worked to open up some of the “jammie”-ness of the SB’s. With that said, this One Shot might not be for the sweet advsere. I had no issues polishing off three testers of it, and the complexity and punch of the SB’s kept me coming back for more. No complaints, off-notes, or issues to be had throughout my tests. Bright, punchy, complex, and riding on a smooth, sweetened creamery carrier is what you got with this one. Knocking it down just a tick for the sweetness level and finalized it at a high 9.4/10.
Killer Custard (Flavor Jungle) (One Shot) 9% (3-23-25) – I could tell something was "different’ with this one, as soon as I started the test. Whether or not it’s good, MAY be up to you. To me, this one seemed to be a “mashup”, and it’s not what I think of regarding Custards. There was a decent vanilla custard profile buried in the mix, but there were fairly heavy “bakery” elements in play here, and they seemed to just muddle it up a bit. Smelling it, I could smell VC, graham, almost even light choco notes ?? At one point, I almost asked, “Did they try and mashup a S’mores and a VC” ?? Funny thing was, it smelled better than it tasted LOL. Now it wasn’t terrible, but the VC that was in there, didn’t have a rich mouthfeel or taste, and the “bakery” elements, just really blurred it up quite a bit.
At the listed 9% rate it was very full, and sweetness was just below mid-level. Off-notes will be up to YOU GUYS lol, because it really never took focus for me, and stayed fairly blurry. I will say, it wasn’t terrible, but it was NOT anything I would describe as Custard-y. This would probably be best used as a mixer, and could be used in plenty of bakeries, but just not as a custard note. I’m circling the wagons, and leaving this one kicked down a bit, and finally settled on a 5.0/10.