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.
Eggnog (Sterling Cloud) 2.5/3.5% (12-15-24) – Picked this one up later, and technically it was Apex, but will leave it as Sterling Cloud for simplicity. Out of the gate, you could tell this one was an eggnog. A light cream element, some vanilla, and some spices, which seemed to be a light cinnamon and nutmeg. At my initial testing weight of 2.5% it felt a little thin and lacking the creamy mouthfeel so I bumped it to 3.5%, and it improved, but only slightly. It was almost as if you could taste the cream, more than feel it, i.e. mouthfeel. Still tasty, but still kind of thin overall. It was similar to LorAnn’s, and it had an almost cream cheese-ey-ness to it. At times, I could have sworn I was picking up a light butterscotch note, but it wasn’t always present.
There was an undertone mixed in with the vanilla, which implied some eggy-ness, but it wasn’t overt or in your face. I thnk this one would pair up nicely with another eggnog, and would benefit from a little more eggy-ness, and creamy mouthfeel. In the ballpark, and would just need a little help. At 3.5% it was tasty, but felt a little thin, and underpowered, and sweetness was 2-3 ticks below mid-level. No off-notes or complaints not already listed, and still rated it fairly high as it was fairly accurate at an 8.4/10.
Thanks out to @D.Sims from ELR, and gifting me some MORE of the Sterling Cloud (APEX) flavors, I’ll be adding MORE to this series.
Unless I get WHACKED by the character limit, I will update the OG post with these reviews. If I do, I’ll update the SECOND post up top.
Bavarian Cream (Sterling Cloud) 3.5% (1-5-25) – FIRST ONE in this series ON DECK, thanks out to the generosity of @D.Sims. Wow, as far as this one, I love it when I try a new flavor, and no direct comparisons come to mind. That’s what happened with this one, AND, in a good way. To start, it was one of the “cleaner” BC’s I’ve tried, without most of the darker, sometimes burnt notes that I’ve gotten from some BC’s. I think my first two thoughts were, “Very clean, and creamy smooth”. Very fresh, and accurate vanilla, with some egg yolk, sweetener, and cream is what this one was. Now I said egg yolks, but it wasn’t overly “eggy”, which may sound like a contradiction, but sure enough, I got some yolks, but without the overly heavy handed eggy-ness. The creamy smooth-ness was very front and center, and it didn’t taste like a pure cream, but maybe more of a milk/cream combo, which again, is accurate for an authentic BC. Sweetness was just below mid-level, and there were no off-notes to complain about. Strength wise, it was very full at 3.5%, and being a slightly lighter flavor, felt like about an 8/10 on the strength scale.
As stated before, Sterling Cloud seems to REALLY know their Vanillas, and this was evident here with the Vanilla Bean like start, followed by the present but not overbearing egg yolks, and they rode on a super smooth milk/cream carrier. Very good, and even harder to put down. About my only want, would have been a little more saturation, but only a little, so marking down ever so slightly for that, and leaving this FIRST ONE in this series very high at a 9.8/10.
Birthday Cake (Sterling Flavors) 3.5% (1-5-25) – This one was an interesting one to test. In the bottle it smelled very close to a Cake Batter, and some of that continued when testing. It wasn’t a white cake like I’d expected, but there were some cake elements in there. I also got some good almost brown sugar, and at times, almost a molasses note, which was light. VERY interesting cake for sure. The flavor was actually very good, but not sure if it was a Birthday Cake. It had a good mouthfeel, a very smooth (creamy assuming) aspect to it. Sweetness was about mid-level, and the off-notes on this one will be hard(er) to quantify. For my tastes, brown sugar, cake batter, and sometimes molasses are not what I typically would think of in a BDay Cake. All of the notes worked together surprisingly, and it was more of a darker (not chocolate) cake, with brown sugar and cake batter mixed in. At 3.5% it was plenty strong, and it actually did taste good, but just didn’t sell me on the BDay Cake. Marking it down soley for that, and leaving it at a 6.7/10. Still worth picking up, but as more of a cake/bakery base/mixer as opposed to the main driver.
Lemon Lime Seven Type (Sterling Cloud) 3.5% (1-6-25) – With a name like this one’s, there was no confusing what Sterling billed it as. And they were right LOL. Yes, It was very close to a Sprite, 7up pairing. Simply put, that was it, just missing the fizz that is. The lemon lime aspects were nicely paired up, and tasted very natrual, with some almost citrus oil (tasting) that lingered after the vape. Mixed in with that was more of a soda like sweetened carrier that the LL rode on. For a seemingly simple flavor, it was fairly complex, in so much that it wandered around a bit, and at time I got more of one profile, then another after that. Sweetness was just about mid level, and it worked with this soda-ish-like flavor. At 3.5% it was very good, and no real off-notes, but at times, I did taste something close to a golden syrup on the finish, but I’m not going to count that as an off-note, because it worked.
What was interesting, and why I compared it to a Sprite/7up combo (beyond the naming LOL), was 7up has more of a bite to it, and Sprite has a smoother, sweeter note, and it really tasted like Sterling got both aspect/nuances in there. It you are in need for a fresh, zippy lemon lime soda-like flavor, this one will do it for you. Rating it very high at a 9.5/10.
Sugar Cookie (Sterling Cloud) 3.5% (1-9-25) – I spent some EXTRA time with this one, as it had some mystery to it. When I first started testing it, and it was breaking in, it took on an almost Maple Cookie-like profile. Being a NOT huge fan of Maple, that was a point of contention for me, hehe, BUT, after it broke in fully (as some flavors do), it settled into more of a traditional Sugar Cookie, BUT, sometimes still with Maple accents. Below the somtimes there Maple, there was a nice sugar cookie with some nice vanilla accents (Sterling Cloud’s forte). I didn’t get a lot of grains from it, and overall it was very smooth. At 3.5% it was very full, and I didn’t get any off-notes with the exception of the “sometimes maple”. Sweetness was just below mid-level. All in, it was a good sugar cookie, sans any grains, and it would probably work better paired up with CAP’s Sugar Cookie, for a fuller SC experience. Not bad, but just needed some help. It felt good at 8.0/10.
Vanilla Custard (Natural) (Sterling Cloud) 3.5% (1-10-25) – Having tested the not natural VC not too long ago, and now testing this one, I can say they were almost identical.
Sterling Cloud Natural/Artificial VC Review
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.
It was still very similar to Sterling’s Vanilla Cream Cookie Filling, and had little to no egg notes, and was more pudding like, with the vanilla cookie cream cookie filling accent. Without directly comparing this one, and the artificial/natural one side by side, I think this one actually had a little LESS saturation and impact. Not much, but still noticible. I also did test this one 1% higher from 2.5% to 3.5%, so not a direct A/B comparison. No off-notes, and again, basically identical to their other VC, but with just a bit less saturation. Just like the other VC, I’ll double rate this one for you guys, and leave it at a 9/10 for you “puddling” custards vapers, and 6/10 for the eggy custard-ers out there. Just a little lower than the previously tested one.
Vanilla Ice Cream (Sterling Cloud) 3.5% (1-15-25) – The main take away with this flavor was clean, clean, CLEAN. As a warning, I WILL be double rating this one, so be advised. Why ?? It was such a clean VIC, and appeared to be completely devoid of the sometimes typical DAAP buttery creamy-ness, and bad (LOL) elements, your tastes, and mileage will vary. At this point, it has become very obvious that SC knows how to do Vanillas, and this one was no different. The V here presented as a Madagascar mixed with a Vanilla bean, and it was SUPER clean. It leaned very natural with only hints of artificial-ness. The Ice Cream portion was also very clean, and although lacking the “baddies”, and buttery rich-ness, it still portrayed a very accurate Ice Cream. There was SOME mouthfeel, but only some. Clean, accurate, and even with the Vanilla, was light enough that you could easily swing it with fruits, caramels, etc. It wasn’t completely neutral, but would be easy to push/pull.
At 3.5% it was a moderately strong flavor, and I’d rate it at aout a 6.5/10 on the strength scale. It tasted good at this weight, but was still somewhat lighter. Sweetness was actually a little below mid-level, which was a surprise. No off-notes, BA, or any other offensive-ness, including Black Pepper. All in, a very impressive, accurate, somewhat lighter VIC without being overly buttery or heavy. As promised, I’ll DUAL rate this one. For a buttery rich, heavy VIC I would rate it lower at a 6.0/10, but for a cleaner, non-butter, not quite as rich VIC, I would rate it very high at a 9.25/10. Your tastes and/or DAAP needs will dictate which way you go on this one. Even sans the buttery heavy-ness, this one was good.
Vanilla Milk
Whipped Cream
Bavarian Cream (Sterling Cloud) 3.5% (1-5-25) – FIRST ONE in this series ON DECK, thanks out to the generosity of @D.Sims. Wow, as far as this one, I love it when I try a new flavor, and no direct comparisons come to mind. That’s what happened with this one, AND, in a good way. To start, it was one of the “cleaner” BC’s I’ve tried, without most of the darker, sometimes burnt notes that I’ve gotten from some BC’s. I think my first two thoughts were, “Very clean, and creamy smooth”. Very fresh, and accurate vanilla, with some egg yolk, sweetener, and cream is what this one was. Now I said egg yolks, but it wasn’t overly “eggy”, which may sound like a contradiction, but sure enough, I got some yolks, but without the overly heavy handed eggy-ness. The creamy smooth-ness was very front and center, and it didn’t taste like a pure cream, but maybe more of a milk/cream combo, which again, is accurate for an authentic BC. Sweetness was just below mid-level, and there were no off-notes to complain about. Strength wise, it was very full at 3.5%, and being a slightly lighter flavor, felt like about an 8/10 on the strength scale.
As stated before, Sterling Cloud seems to REALLY know their Vanillas, and this was evident here with the Vanilla Bean like start, followed by the present but not overbearing egg yolks, and they rode on a super smooth milk/cream carrier. Very good, and even harder to put down. About my only want, would have been a little more saturation, but only a little, so marking down ever so slightly for that, and leaving this FIRST ONE in this series very high at a 9.8/10.
Birthday Cake (Sterling Flavors) 3.5% (1-5-25) – This one was an interesting one to test. In the bottle it smelled very close to a Cake Batter, and some of that continued when testing. It wasn’t a white cake like I’d expected, but there were some cake elements in there. I also got some good almost brown sugar, and at times, almost a molasses note, which was light. VERY interesting cake for sure. The flavor was actually very good, but not sure if it was a Birthday Cake. It had a good mouthfeel, a very smooth (creamy assuming) aspect to it. Sweetness was about mid-level, and the off-notes on this one will be hard(er) to quantify. For my tastes, brown sugar, cake batter, and sometimes molasses are not what I typically would think of in a BDay Cake. All of the notes worked together surprisingly, and it was more of a darker (not chocolate) cake, with brown sugar and cake batter mixed in. At 3.5% it was plenty strong, and it actually did taste good, but just didn’t sell me on the BDay Cake. Marking it down soley for that, and leaving it at a 6.7/10. Still worth picking up, but as more of a cake/bakery base/mixer as opposed to the main driver.
Lemon Lime Seven Type (Sterling Cloud) 3.5% (1-6-25) – With a name like this one’s, there was no confusing what Sterling billed it as. And they were right LOL. Yes, It was very close to a Sprite, 7up pairing. Simply put, that was it, just missing the fizz that is. The lemon lime aspects were nicely paired up, and tasted very natrual, with some almost citrus oil (tasting) that lingered after the vape. Mixed in with that was more of a soda like sweetened carrier that the LL rode on. For a seemingly simple flavor, it was fairly complex, in so much that it wandered around a bit, and at time I got more of one profile, then another after that. Sweetness was just about mid level, and it worked with this soda-ish-like flavor. At 3.5% it was very good, and no real off-notes, but at times, I did taste something close to a golden syrup on the finish, but I’m not going to count that as an off-note, because it worked.
What was interesting, and why I compared it to a Sprite/7up combo (beyond the naming LOL), was 7up has more of a bite to it, and Sprite has a smoother, sweeter note, and it really tasted like Sterling got both aspect/nuances in there. It you are in need for a fresh, zippy lemon lime soda-like flavor, this one will do it for you. Rating it very high at a 9.5/10.
Sugar Cookie (Sterling Cloud) 3.5% (1-9-25) – I spent some EXTRA time with this one, as it had some mystery to it. When I first started testing it, and it was breaking in, it took on an almost Maple Cookie-like profile. Being a NOT huge fan of Maple, that was a point of contention for me, hehe, BUT, after it broke in fully (as some flavors do), it settled into more of a traditional Sugar Cookie, BUT, sometimes still with Maple accents. Below the somtimes there Maple, there was a nice sugar cookie with some nice vanilla accents (Sterling Cloud’s forte). I didn’t get a lot of grains from it, and overall it was very smooth. At 3.5% it was very full, and I didn’t get any off-notes with the exception of the “sometimes maple”. Sweetness was just below mid-level. All in, it was a good sugar cookie, sans any grains, and it would probably work better paired up with CAP’s Sugar Cookie, for a fuller SC experience. Not bad, but just needed some help. It felt good at 8.0/10.
Vanilla Custard (Natural) (Sterling Cloud) 3.5% (1-10-25) – Having tested the not natural VC not too long ago, and now testing this one, I can say they were almost identical.
Sterling Cloud Natural/Artificial VC Review
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.
It was still very similar to Sterling’s Vanilla Cream Cookie Filling, and had little to no egg notes, and was more pudding like, with the vanilla cookie cream cookie filling accent. Without directly comparing this one, and the artificial/natural one side by side, I think this one actually had a little LESS saturation and impact. Not much, but still noticible. I also did test this one 1% higher from 2.5% to 3.5%, so not a direct A/B comparison. No off-notes, and again, basically identical to their other VC, but with just a bit less saturation. Just like the other VC, I’ll double rate this one for you guys, and leave it at a 9/10 for you “puddling” custards vapers, and 6/10 for the eggy custard-ers out there. Just a little lower than the previously tested one.
Vanilla Ice Cream (Sterling Cloud) 3.5% (1-15-25) – The main take away with this flavor was clean, clean, CLEAN. As a warning, I WILL be double rating this one, so be advised. Why ?? It was such a clean VIC, and appeared to be completely devoid of the sometimes typical DAAP buttery creamy-ness, and bad (LOL) elements, your tastes, and mileage will vary. At this point, it has become very obvious that SC knows how to do Vanillas, and this one was no different. The V here presented as a Madagascar mixed with a Vanilla bean, and it was SUPER clean. It leaned very natural with only hints of artificial-ness. The Ice Cream portion was also very clean, and although lacking the “baddies”, and buttery rich-ness, it still portrayed a very accurate Ice Cream. There was SOME mouthfeel, but only some. Clean, accurate, and even with the Vanilla, was light enough that you could easily swing it with fruits, caramels, etc. It wasn’t completely neutral, but would be easy to push/pull.
At 3.5% it was a moderately strong flavor, and I’d rate it at aout a 6.5/10 on the strength scale. It tasted good at this weight, but was still somewhat lighter. Sweetness was actually a little below mid-level, which was a surprise. No off-notes, BA, or any other offensive-ness, including Black Pepper. All in, a very impressive, accurate, somewhat lighter VIC without being overly buttery or heavy. As promised, I’ll DUAL rate this one. For a buttery rich, heavy VIC I would rate it lower at a 6.0/10, but for a cleaner, non-butter, not quite as rich VIC, I would rate it very high at a 9.25/10. Your tastes and/or DAAP needs will dictate which way you go on this one. Even sans the buttery heavy-ness, this one was good.
Vanilla Milk (Sterling Cloud) 3.5% (1-18-25) – Getting down to the LAST two in this series, with the Vanilla Milk. This one presenter exactly as it was named with a great Vanilla Bean, riding on top of a convincing Milk carrier. No creams or creameries here, but actually a very good milk. I didn’t get any condensed, or powdered notes here, and the milk was JUST creamy enough to mimic a good whole milk. The Vanilla while presenting as much more of a clean Vanilla Bean, did have just a HINT of spicy-ness on the finish, that kept this one interesting.
At 3.5% it was somewhat full, and felt like a somewhat more relaxed flavor, and I’d rate it about a 5.5-6.0/10 on the strength scale. At times I did wish I had just a bit more saturation, but even as it stood, you could solo it. Sweetness was a few ticks below mid level, and I didn’t get any off-notes, or even any complaints, with the exception of just wanting a little more LOL. If used with the right flavors it could pull the main note, but with louder/stronger flavors it could be overrun. All in, a simple, yet tasty two noter from Sterling, that was exactly what it said it was. Marking down, only for some lack of saturation/presence. 9.1/10.