A special thanks out to @fiddy, as he had stated numerous times about obtaining the MF Blackberry Vanilla Cobbler, and Summer Peach, REQUIRED a phone call to MF.
As always the flavors are tested at the listed percentage, running dual vertical Kanthal 24 ga. coils, KGD cotton. Fresh coils, dry burned with fresh cotton before each test @ 65 watts. Sampled in a 70v/30p/3mg carrier. All steeped 2.5 weeks.
Blackberry Vanilla Cobbler (Premium) (MF) 1% (10-21-23) – The last time I reviewed Medicine Flower flavors, things were simpler, now we’ve got multiple versions to sort through. This is also the first “blend” form MF that I have tested. The FIRST thoughts I had on this one was, “This is good”, and “This is going to be hard to explain”. The Blackberry and Vanilla were VERY well paired wherein you got some hints of each, but they never fully revealed themselves. The “Cobbler” was the ?? in this one. I did get an almost pie filling like undertone that I THINK was the cobbler, but no real crusty crust. The BB had some great punch and pop, and the Vanilla (what I could peek at around the other two profiles) was not bright, but more mid bodied. I didn’t detect any spice in it, and it was really good at hiding amongst the other two. I did taste layered, but it also tasted blended if that makes sense. Basically the sum of the three profiles, making an almost “combined” profile. Not entirely, but you get the point. Very, very tasty, and hard to put down. I had blown through the third tester before I realized I hadn’t written a word. At 1% it was damned fine, full and tasty, with sweetness just below mid-level. No off-notes, and it just REALLY kept you loading up another tank before you knew it. The only take-off would be the missing crust, as I expect that, with any cobbler. Minor take-offs for that, and nothing else. All in a very good blending of a mid bodied vanilla, punchy blackberry, with some (almost) pie-filling like undertones. Really hard to knock this one, and leaving it at a still, very high 9.1/10.
Dark Vanilla (Silver) (MF) 1% (10-22-23) – This one WAS a keeper. Having tested Medicine Flower’s OG Vanilla a few years ago, and liking it, but not being completely stunned by it, DID leave me wanting to try this one out. This one presented as a VERY clean, and natural tasting Vanilla, which leaned towards a Madagascar, which was indeed a bit darker, BUT, without any real spicy notes. I’ve heard that a few of the “Silver Line” are hella strong, I wasn’t sure about the 1.0% testing weight, but it proved to be a good starting point for this flavor. Strong, but without being overbearing, and because the flavor overall seemed to be slightly relaxed, all was well at this testing point.
Dark(er), rich, and complex really were the key take-aways with this one. As seems to always be the case with good flavors, I blew through all 3 testers before I knew it. The “Darkness” was hard to quantify, BUT, with the absence of some of the higher, brighter notes, it fell into that category easily. Depending on your needs, you could easily brighten, or spicy it up with other Vanillas if you needed to, but as a solo, it was very, VERY hard to nit-pick. No off-notes, and sweetness was about a tick above mid-level. A very good, almost hyper accurate Vanilla, that presented to me just like a Madagascar (aka Bourbon). As the third tester ran dry, sadly I had to rinse it out, for the next one, AND, decided to leave this clean one high at 9.5/10. Not overly bold, or in your face, but too good to not like this one.
Summer Peach (MF) 0.25%/0.50%/1% (10-23-23) – The word of the day with this flavor is ST-ST-STRONG !!! Yes, I had to reduce this THREE times. I’ll go into the side effects of running this too high next. 1% was too much, cut in half to 0.5%, and still too much. Landed on 0.25% for the main duration of the test. I actually got TWO main profiles with this flavor. One was a juicy, succulent yellow peach, and the other was the “summer” profile, hehe. Now, what I noticed was, when I first started testing (too high), the “summer”-ness was overbearing. It was an almost odd profile, what was almost like a dry-er apricot, with a hard to explain off-note. It almost taked like a hinto of Baby Powder. YES, you read that right. Used TOO high, the “summer” was VERY overbearing. As I reduced, the peach profile stayed fairly static, but the “summer” started to reduce, and became more of an accent TO the peach, as opposed to running over it. Now, as long as you start LOW, and I mean in the 0.25-.0.40% range, you may never experience the overblown “summer” that I did.
Now, as a flavor, it was OK, but not stellar. I wasn’t 100% sold on the “summer”-ness of it, and I started to perceive it as more of a dry apricot addon to an otherwise juicy yellow peach. At the much lower 0.25%-0.35% range it was usable, and would work well in a lot of mixes, BUT, as the main Peach driver, I’m not 100% sure. VERY full, at even sub-sub 1.0% range, with a few ticks below mid-level sweetness, AND, with some off-notes. Dry-ish apricot would be the best way to describe it, and when used too HIGH, it had some baby powder to it. I can’t fault MF for a very strong flavor, that’s on me, BUT, once I dialed it down, I almost would have preferred just a regular “Peach” without the “summer”. In closing for this 3 flavor series, I think this one felt fair @ 7.2/10.