Vanilla Cream Cookie Filling (Sterling Cloud) 2.5% (9-2-24) – I think this one might have been the one that brought Sterling Cloud flavors onto my radar. @STR8V8PING had mentioned it recently, and I saw @Lynda_Marie tested it as well. This one put the Yum, in the Yummy. Very tasty, and it did have a lot of elements of an Oreo, or Hydrox cookie filling. It tasted like that was paired with an almost Vanilla Frosting. Now together, these two profiles simply worked. The creamy elements were very well done, and were not dairy creams, but exactly like the artificial cream cookie filling. At 2.5% it was spot on delicious, and sweetness was a few ticks above mid-level, which was accurate, and surprisingly non-fatiguing. No off-notes, complaints, or wants with this one. Simply put, it was an oreo cooking filling paired with a delicious vanilla frosting. It wasn’t billed as a frosting, and the overall profile was soo good, it didn’t feel right to mark down much for that. I finally decided on a 9.5/10.
Vanilla Custard (Sterling Cloud) 2.5% (9-2-24) – LAST one on deck in this series. Right out of the gate, I could tell this one was VERY similar to the just tested Vanilla Cream Cookie Filling. This was more of a light pudding custard, as opposed to a heavier, denser, eggy custard, so that may decide if this is right for your needs already. My personal tastes have started to lean more towards some egg in my custards, but not overly eggy, so keep that in mind regarding my ratings. Continuing what @STR8V8PING commented, it does appear as if Vanillas are indeed one of Sterling Cloud’s strong suits. The vanilla was rich and front and center, and leaned towards a Madagascar. Along with that were some delicious pudding notes, but not a full on pudding. Mouthfeel was above average, but not what I would call heavy, or dense.
At 2.5% it was damned good, and full, with no need to increase the strength. There was a very interesting almost vanilla icing note on the finish. Even without any heavy egg notes, I could see this one getting a LOT of use. No off-notes, complaints, or issues after 3 testers, and it was hard to put down. Sweetness was about a tick above mid-level, which tasted good for this flavor. In summary, it was a very good Vanilla Custard, sans any eggy-ness, paired with a great Vanilla Pudding, that finished with a light and wispy Vanilla Icing. Yeah, it was good, and that about summed it up. Scoring proved to be tricky, as I really have grown fond of having SOME egg/eggy-ness in my custards, and this one had none, yet, it was damned delicious, and hard to put down. I’ll leave it at this, if you crave eggy custards, it would be a 6.5/10, but if you preferred less eggy, and more pudding like custards, it would be much higher at a 9.7/10. Pick YOUR preference, and reference that score. Even being sans eggy-ness, I’m going to be using this one a lot.