Succulent Watermelon (CAP) 4% / 6% (1-12-24) – I love great adjectives in flavor names, BUT, it does almost beg for MORE scrutiny.
succulent /sŭk′yə-lənt/
adjective
- Full of juice or sap; juicy.
- Having thick, fleshy, water-storing leaves or stems.
- Highly interesting or enjoyable; delectable.
Alright, I can go with the “full of juice, … juicy” on this one. At both 4% and 6% (it was improved at 6%), it did present as a fairly juicy, tasty Watermelon. It leaned heavily towards a candied WM, with some VERY interesting sweetness, that was almost like sugar crystals, along with some tartness. Now saying this was simply a candied WM, with some Sweet and Tart would be an oversimplification, but still kind of accurate. It tasted like a 75/25 ratio with 75% candied, and 25% natural WM, washed over by a nice candy sweetness, and a hint of tart on the finish. At both weights it was still surprisingly light, but didn’t taste “thin”. Your natural vs. candied tastes/needs will weigh heavily on whether you love this one or not. Personally I was kind of 50/50 on it, and felt like it was 80% of the way there, and with SOME improvement when moving from 4-6%, I’m unsure if cranking it higher would yield any more saturation or not. Tasty, juicy, and fairly candied were my take-aways, and with no off-notes to nit-pick, I would only mark down for the candy-ness, BUT, that’s MY personal preference/taste, and yours may be different. Nicely done, and somewhat lighter, it did hold my interest for 3 testers, which is never bad. If you want a sweetened, and tart-ened WM, this one will do it. It felt good at a 8.0/10. Your “succulence” mileage may vary…
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From the review, it seems that it veered more towards the noun than the adjective.
Wild Raspberry (CAP) 4% / 6% (1-14-24) – All cards on the table, every time I test a “Wild Raspberry” I am always comparing it directly to the king, MF Wild Raspberry. So ANY WR has a big hill to climb. This one seemed to have a few Raspberries present, and it did have a “dirty” slant to it. Now I’m sure most times you hear “dirty”, it is probably a con, but with this one, it was a pro. Dirty, meaning it wasn’t a clear profiled RB, but went in a few directions. Not muddy, muddied, or muddled, but far more complex. The thing I liked the most was it wasn’t like any other RB I had, and that is always promising. It had some hints of a red RB, but also some darker berry elements, and with some slight wine notes, and a good tart finish. It had a few minor aspects of a blue raspberry as well, but only minor, and they added to the mystery and complexity. Even though it was a medley, it still stayed fairly on track for a RB, and sweetness was a few ticks below mid-level, and the sour/tart was nicely balanced without being overbearing. It leaned more towards a natural, with some light candied elements thrown in as well. Very easy to enjoy, and very hard to explain. At 4% (repeating), it felt like it needed more, and 6% seemed to do the trick. All in, it was a good showing from CAP with a medley of Raspberries, along with some darker berry notes, and a pinch of tart. Although different than CAP’s Shisha RB, I’m rating this one even with it, and leaving it at a solid 9.0/10.
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Tropical Mango (CAP) 4% / 6% (1-15-24) – Finishing out this NEW Release Series by Capella with this one. I have to admit when I read “Tropical” I was intrigued. You’ll have to read on to see if this one is a trainwreck, or a superhero. 3 testers later, I’m STILL not 100% sure if this one works/worked or not. Starting off it WAS a mashup/medley, so if you’re looking for a Mango mango, this ain’t it. It was pretty hard to nail down EXACTLY what was going on with this one, as Capella did a great job of balancing notes with this one. I finally settled on a three-way mashup of a Mango, Pineapple, and Coconut. Coconuts can be an “oily” or “suntanny” bunch, so like most others, it was lower in the mix with this one, and the Mango and Pineapple were fairly even, riding over the Coconut. They WERE indeed mashed up pretty damned good, which helped conceal some of the finer details I could normally pick up. At times it worked pretty good, others, not so much, but an interesting design none the less. Sweetness was just below mid-level, and no real off-notes, except an occasional sour that did wax and wane, and didn’t stay constant. Like most of the other new Cap’s 4% was good, but 6% was better. Mostly natural with no real candied-ness, and the bits and pieces I got OF the individual fruits did taste fairly accurate. I will admit, it DID have a “tropical” vibe to it, BUT, the Mango wasn’t really the star, so, that may or may not make it one for you. All in, it seemed that it didn’t work for me, more than it did work, so I decided to leave it a little lower, at a 6.75/10. Not a bad tropical medley, just never really took off for me.
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