Apollo eCigs Signature Series

Apollo eCigs Signature Series – A Spinfuel eLiquid Team Review

Apollo eCigs and Spinfuel eMagazine go back a long way. In fact, we reviewed many products from Apollo, from cig-a-like starter kits and disposables to their larger 18650-battery ‘tube’ vaporizers and clearomizers. After more than a 3-year absence from our pages Apollo returns for their first-ever eliquid review by Spinfuel’s eLiquid Review Team.

Signature Series

In the past Apollo has worked with eliquid companies to create certain eliquids to be sold under the Apollo eCigs brand. In the very early days Apollo outsourced their e liquid demands to China, later to brands in the US. With the release of the new Signature Series Apollo eCigs finally brings it in-house, and hired master flavorist and Chemist Chris Gaskill to work with an Apollo team to create a new line of eliquids, the aforementioned Signature Series. (Watch the video at the end of this review for more about Chris and the Signature Series)

The Signature Series consists of five complex, layered flavors in a standard 50:50 PG:VG ratio. Despite this usually unfriendly ratio for dripping we conducted this review using our standard dripping procedures.

Had I believed that the Signature Series wouldn’t get a fair shake by dripping them I would have had the team switch out to tanks. As it happens, the Signature Series did very well as a drip e juice, evidenced by Apollo scoring two Spinfuel Choice Awards with an amazing candy flavor and a flavor that Elvis himself would have sung about back in the day.

ELIQUIDS

ONE – The unmistakable flavor of apple cinnamon cereal in creamy milk, with _a hint of nut.
TWO – The flavor recognized around the world as the little fudge striped cookies gobbed in caramel and toasted coconut.
THREE – That signature West Coast red licorice candy flavor.
FOUR – The delicious peanut butter and banana combo so loved by The King.
FIVE – A sweet candy blueberry paired with a creamy sour yogurt.

Review Protocols

If this is your first Spinfuel eLiquid Team Review we suggest you take a look at the protocols we’ve set up for reviews conducted by our team. How long we vape each brand, in what manner we vape them, and what we look for. We also discuss what it takes for an eliquid to earn a coveted Spinfuel Choice Award. In addition, in order to understand the scores and our comments about each one, knowing the intricacies of our methods will give you a greater understanding of the process. PROTOCOLS

About The Signature Series

Apollo eCigs Signature Series is available in 15ml plastic bottles. At the time this review is published no other size was available. The price for the 15mL bottles is $7.95, or $0.53 per mL.

Like all the other products sold by Apollo eCigs, the MSRP price is displayed first, then the actual selling price is shown underneath. New customers will assume the product is on sale, but return customers have learned that this selling practice is just a marketing scheme. This practice is not exactly something Spinfuel endorses, but Apollo eCigs is not alone in this practice.

The nicotine levels available are: 0mg, 6mg, 12mg, or 18mg.

Apollo eCigs has chosen a minimalist approach to naming the five flavors; they are numerically named from one to five.

Packaging

The Signature Series are bottled in plastic with child resistant caps and shrink-wrapped. Some members of the team had issues with the caps and leaking once the caps were opened.

The labels are simple, with black and red as the dominant colors. The logo, company name, nicotine strength, and the flavor name (in this case, one, two, three, etc.) are printed the front of the label. The flavor description, warning, and ingredients are printed on the side. The only thing missing that will become necessary soon enough is a batch number and ‘born on’ date. Why Apollo chose to leave off these two important bits of information is a question we cannot answer.

The Juice

We have five e liquids to cover in this review, one of which has just been released to the public. As usual, I will provide my impressions for the each of the eliquids first and the team will follow. Keep in mind that ‘taste is subjective’ and is ‘in the mouth of the beholder’. Our purpose is to give you our impressions, to inform you of what we taste, to evaluate how the eliquid vapes, and how it satisfies. Your mileage may vary.

Each member of the team has different palates, which makes our ‘team reviews’ more diversified then any other review in the community. As you become acquainted with each member you’ll soon learn which palate(s) you identify with, and which ones you don’t. Over time your purchasing decisions will become less ‘hit and miss’ and more informed by getting to know the members that enjoy the same flavor profiles that you do. This is the very essence of a Spinfuel eLiquid Team Review.

Shall we begin?

One

“The unmistakable flavor of apple cinnamon cereal in creamy milk, with a hint of nut.”

Dori: 3.5 stars. I’m not a huge fan of ONE, but it’s not a total disappointment either. Louis and I agree that the throat hit is from the strength of the cinnamon used in the vape. I think if this was toned down a bit, and maybe some cream was added-this blend would be on point. YES, I missed the creamy milk flavoring on this one too! On the inhale, the cinnamon hits me first so I get the harshness right off the bat. Prior to the exhale, I can taste the apple flavoring as well and it all blends into the exhale which is a decent apple cinnamon taste. I didn’t notice any hint of nut flavor at all. When I bumped it down to 30 watts, I enjoyed it even more. I’m using my Mad Modder OKL with a Popeye RDA and .3-ohm coil build for these reviews. I enjoyed this best around 30-40 watts.

Alicia: 1 star. Well, My taste buds are the “odd man out” on this one compared to the rest of our team. “One” is not at all what I was hoping for. It unfortunately doesn’t taste like the flavor profile at all. Mainly, all I can taste on the inhale and exhale is what I would call burnt cinnamon. I wasn’t able to taste any apple and there was definitely no creamy milk. I suppose the burnt part could be some of the nuts coming through but it’s a burnt taste nonetheless. This was also pretty harsh, which the 50/50 blend and higher nicotine level could be causing some of that, but I think the flavoring plays a bigger part. With that being said, this definitely isn’t one that I would vape or recommend to anyone. There are so many apple cinnamon cereals available that it really has to be done right to be good.

Scott: 3.75 stars. I’m not sure if Apollo was trying for Apple Jacks cereal or what, but I agree with Dori that this ejuice was a little harsh. It could have used a little less cinnamon and a little more milk or cream flavoring. The inhale gave me a really strong cinnamon hit in the throat. On the exhale, there was a slight touch of milk flavoring, but not enough in my opinion. Having said that, this wasn’t an ejuice that I couldn’t vape at all. I used an IPV3 with a troll RDA built to 0.50 ohms.

Dana: 4 stars. One has a mild, fresh apple cinnamon taste. It’s not quite sweet enough for me and I don’t taste any milk as the profile states, but it is still a decent, decadent vape. The cinnamon is not overpowering like a lot of liquids are, so I disagree with the rest of the team. It’s not like the other cereal liquids out there, so I would definitely recommend giving this one a try. I vaped all of these eliquids on my Doge RDA at .3 ohms on a regulated SMOK Pro M80 Plus mod. This flavor was set at 40 watts. I did try playing with the wattage to bring out more of the flavors, but it tasted best at 40 for me.

Louis: 2 stars. I’m usually a big cereal vape fan.. As I start to inhale this ejuice, I get a slightly sweet cereal taste with hints of apple cinnamon. That part wasn’t too bad, except when I start to exhale, my mouth starts to dry up with an abundance of cinnamon harshness. With that being said, as I continued to vape it, the cinnamon bite did settle down a little, but was still present. As I try to think of what this ejuice is missing, it hits me. They forgot to pour the milk in the bowl! At least I couldn’t taste any. I would have given it a better rating if the cinnamon was less harsh, and if there was some milk in that bowl. It made me feel like I dirtied a bowl for no reason, when I could have just had it out of the box…….


Two

“The flavor recognized around the world as the little fudge striped cookies gobbed in caramel and toasted coconut.”

Dori: 4 stars. I wish this had one extra boost of flavoring, but again it’s a pretty decent blend of caramel and coconut. The flavoring is good, but I think that the inhale is just a tad harsh. Once I get past the initial harshness, the caramel and coconut blend is delicious throughout the rest of the vape. I think the sweetness in this one is pretty spot on. I really like TWO best around 50 watts.

Alicia: 4.25 stars. So, I’ll say I love Samoa’s. They are by far my favorite and I’m lucky enough to have my daughter be a girl scout so that I can order enough boxes to last me a year, ha-ha. But, what I haven’t found yet is a vape that matches the cookie perfectly. Two, unfortunately hasn’t matched either, but even though it doesn’t match, it’s still a good vape. This is more of just a caramel and coconut flavor, but I like those two together so this is good for me. The inhale gives me a light and sweet coconut with just a hint of caramel. I agree with Dori that the inhale is a little harsh but it’s not harsh enough to make it a turn off for me. The exhale is when the caramel comes out more but the coconut is still there mixing in with the caramel. I like this better at a lower heat level. When it was too hot, I couldn’t taste the caramel as much. I kept this around 40 watts on my HexOhm v2.1 with a .23 dual build on my Flawless Production RDA. Now, if you’re looking for a Samoa vape, this wouldn’t be it. But, if you’re like me and like coconut and caramel, then this would be one to try. I docked the rating just a little due to it not exactly being what the flavor profile called for, but I still had to give it a decent rating just for the fact that it is still a good vape.

Scott: 4 stars. I was a little worried about this one because I’m not a big fan of coconut. If you like the Girl Scout Samoa cookies, than I disagree with Alicia and think this might be up your alley. This one I also had to disagree with Dori because I didn’t get a harsh inhale. I got a smooth, chocolate and coconut flavoring on the inhale. It wasn’t a real overpowering coconut on the inhale and on the exhale, you get a mixture of sweetness from the caramel with the coconut. It could have used a little more cookie flavoring, but all in all I thought it was pretty good. This one I could vape the rest of with no problem.
Dana: 3.5 stars. I was very disappointed with Two. I was hoping it would taste just like my favorite chocolate, caramel, and coconut cookie. However, it fell way short all around. I could barely taste a touch of chocolate, and the caramel tasted dark and burnt. The coconut was there but just too light in my opinion. I played with the wattage trying to bring out more of the flavors, but the higher the wattage, the more burnt it tasted. The flavor was best at 35 watts for me.

Louis: 3.75 stars. Coconut is not one of my favorite things to eat, but I do enjoy those kind of cookies from time to time. As I start the inhale, I notice the caramel with a mellow chocolate taste. Then there is the exhale where the taste of coconut starts to show up, but this particular coconut has the caramel taste from the inhale drizzled over it. I don’t taste anything that sticks out as a cookie base, which kind of disappointed me. I did find this to be a smoother juice, especially when the coconut comes in more on the exhale.

Three – A Spinfuel Choice Award Winner

“ This signature West Coast red licorice candy flavor.”

Dori: 5 stars. If you are a fan of twizzlers, you will want to try THREE. I’m not a big fan myself of the red licorice taste or treat, but this flavor is done really well. This one isn’t as harsh as eLiquids One and Two, but not quite as smooth as Four It’s still smooth and the flavor is carried out well throughout the inhale and exhale. I like Three best at about 40 watts.
Alicia: 5 stars. I’m impressed with how close this is to red licorice. Although, I do have to say that this reminds me a little more of the “off brand” licorice, but who’s that picky?!?! It’s still licorice and it’s still good! The inhale is the sweet red chewy candy in all of its goodness. The exhale starts with matching the inhale and then mellowing out just a little. It leaves a decent aftertaste that still tastes like licorice. I didn’t get any harshness from this one. There is a nice throat hit for me because it’s 6mg nicotine, but it doesn’t ruin the flavor. Candy flavors aren’t my favorite to vape, but I can see me choosing this as a change up every now and then.
Scott: 5 stars. If you like Red Vine licorice, THREE nails it. This ejuice offers an amazing flavor of red licorice. Like Dori, I did notice a slight throat hit on the inhale. The exhale had a smooth flavor that lasted all the way throughout the exhale, making this a very enjoyable vape. This is one that I would have no problem adding to my collection.

Dana: 5 stars. Three takes me back to my childhood. I remember going to the corner store and buying red licorice candy whips with my friends. The flavor jump-started my taste buds, as it tastes exactly like the candy. It is not too sweet and has a perfect red licorice taste. I would definitely add this to my daily rotation. The flavor was best at 40 watts.

Louis: 5 stars. If you’ve been looking for a red licorice vape, this might be it. They perfected the sweet candy flavor. It reminded me of old-fashioned licorice actually. On the inhale, I got the very sweet strawberry candy flavor which stayed true all the way through the exhale where I could also taste the candy waxy taste that you really get when eating licorice. To me, this ejuice compared more to red vines then twizzlers. I also noticed that this ejuice had a nice throat hit. Over all, I really thought this ejuice was an enjoyable experience and had the taste I had hoped for when I think of a good red licorice.



Four – A Spinfuel Choice Award Winner

“The delicious peanut butter and banana combo so loved by The King.”

Dori: 5 stars. Number FOUR is a nice combination of peanut butter and banana. On the inhale, I taste a bit of the peanut butter before the banana swirls in and dominates the blend. The exhale is nice and smooth and reminds me of a creamy banana. The flavors are good here and though I would like more peanut butter in the mix, I still think it’s definitely worth those of you who like this blend giving it a shot. I have tried a few eliquids that have this combination and this is one of the better ones I have tried. There is a mild throat hit at 6mg and a decent vapor production. I enjoyed this best around 40 watts.

Alicia: 5 stars. Peanut Butter & Banana… let me tell you, Elvis is my kinda guy! Peanut Butter is one of my all-time vapes. But, it’s hard to find a good one and seems to be one of those flavors that can easily go wrong. And then add banana, which is another flavor that can, again, easily go wrong. Four has caught my attention, in a good way. Normally, banana seems to be the flavor that stands out when mixing it with peanut butter, but I like to be able to taste more of the peanut butter. Four has the 2 balanced out pretty well to enjoy the best of both worlds. The inhale starts off with a smooth and creamy peanut butter. Thankfully, it’s a good peanut butter! Like the other team members have said, it is a tad on the light side but it’s still there and still noticeable. As you let the inhale linger, hints of banana start to peak through. On the exhale, the banana comes out nice and flavorful at the beginning and then is followed by more of the smooth and creamy peanut butter. It leaves a pleasant and semi-sweet aftertaste that actually makes me want more. I agree with some of the team, that this is the smoothest one out of the line-up of 5.

Scott: 5 stars. Okay, if you’re a peanut butter and banana addict this would be a good one for you!! This ejuice has an amazingly smooth flavor that lasts forever, but I will agree with Dori and Alicia on this one. Apollo could have used a little more peanut butter flavoring. FOUR is a nice, smooth vape, but very light. To me, the bananas tasted more like a candy banana then a fresh banana. FOUR was VERY enjoyable!!

Dana: 5 stars. Make your taste buds come alive with the flavor of peanut butter and banana sandwiches! This is a nice, lightly sweet eliquid with a ripe, real banana finish. Some eliquids have that fake banana or candy flavor but I disagree with Scott and Louis and think this one has a fantastic real banana flavor. Four is just the right mixture of both flavors combined into one amazing tasting eliquid. I vaped this with my mod set at 35 watts.
Louis: 5 stars. This was kind of an obscure combination of flavors that somehow blend together in an amazing way and it’s great! I really liked that the peanut butter wasn’t too strong because that’s usually what I notice with nutty ejuices. The thing I thought was kind of weird was the banana is more of a sweet candy banana and I was kind of expecting a real banana taste instead of artificial. But honestly, for some reason it works really well with the peanut butter. I got the candy-ish banana taste more on the inhale, and the nice smooth peanut butter came on the exhale. A nice note to leave out on. I really appreciated the way that the flavors came together and think it was an awesome ejuice!

FIVE

“A sweet candy blueberry paired with a creamy sour yogurt.”

Dori: 3.75 stars. FIVE is a little harsh for me again. I think a little more cream would have gone a long way in adding to the smoothness of the yogurt flavor. The blueberry adds a nice touch as I’m inhaling, but leaves a bitter kind of taste as I’m exhaling. This could possibly be the sourness just from the yogurt I guess. This one is a mix for me. The vapor production was nice with Five and if you like blueberry and a throat hit, this may be for you.
Alicia: 3.5 stars. Mmm…the blueberry smells so good! The taste isn’t too bad either. However, it’s more of an artificial blueberry. The blueberry reminds me of the taste I get when I eat the ready-made blueberry waffles. Overall, it’s not a bad eliquid, but I don’t think this is one I would vape too much of after this review. For a yogurt, like Dori said, there needs to be more creaminess to it and possibly a little less artificial sweetener. The inhale delivers the sweet, artificial blueberry flavor. The exhale is more blueberry, but there are subtle notes of cream mixed in towards the end of the exhale. I’m really wishing that the cream was more noticeable and that I could taste it throughout the entire vape. I’m not getting any harshness with this as for me, it’s more of a mellow vape, with a little too much sweetness.
Scott: 5 stars. I really disagree with Alicia and Dori on this one. Just like the name of the ejuice-I agree that it’s all five star flavoring as well!! For you blueberry fans out there, this one’s for you. I’m not the biggest blueberry fan, but I will say this one is pretty amazing. The flavoring is awesome. It’s supposed to taste like a blueberry yogurt, but I didn’t get much of the yogurt flavoring. The blueberry is definitely there and almost reminds me of a blueberry slushy when it melts and I would drink the syrup off the bottom of the cup. So, if you like blueberries, this might be a good one for you to try.
Dana: 5 stars. I am not a fan of yogurt-flavored eliquids, but I am with Scott on this one and Five has tantalized my taste buds! It has a lightly sweet, fresh blueberry inhale and smooth, but not that bite that yogurt normally has, exhale. It has just the right amount of sweetness as well. I can now say I have a new outlook on yogurt eliquids. My mod was set at 35 watts.

Louis: 5 stars. Blueberry flavored anything is usually a win for me, unless it tastes weird or not sweet enough or something. Fortunately, I agree with Scott and Dana and I found this ejuice to be very smooth and creamy with just the right blueberry taste. I got the tartness of the yogurt more on the exhale, but the majority of the taste was in the inhale where I got a lusciously smooth yogurt blended with an extra sweet blueberry flavor. I really liked this ejuice. I could almost close my eyes and imagine having a scoop of frozen blueberry yogurt, it really is that delightful!

CONCLUSION

Out of the five eliquids in the Signature Series two of them scored high enough to earn the Spinfuel Choice Award. That is impressive, especially for a vendor not well know for its eliquid.

This says a lot about Apollo eCigs and the commitment it has made to develop superior premium eliquids for the vape community.

We feel that no matter where you are in the realm of the vape scheme, from a beginner to the more advanced, Apollo’s Signature Series is worth a try. In fact, the sample pack may be the way to go if you’re unsure which flavor to try first! ($35.95)

The Signature Series would be great in clearomizers as well as tanks and RDA’s and we believe we have demonstrated that they do indeed vape excellently whether they are vaped with an RDA or simple clearomizers despite the 50vg/50pg ratio.

Suggestions For Apollo

Because the Apollo eCigs  Signature Series vapes well in an RDA I would like to suggest that Apollo add a 3mg Nicotine option to the line up as soon as possible. Many Drippers choose 3mg nicotine in all their dripped eliquids and without it many potential customers are lost to those companies that specialize in eliquid for Drippers.

We also believe that offering a simple 15mL bottle is not a sustainable option. People that choose to vape the Signature Series with an RDA or even a sub-ohm tank will, by the very nature of these vaping styles, vaporize eliquid much faster than a 2.4-ohm clearomizer and pen-style vape pen. People like myself, as well as the rest of my team, would vape through a 15mL bottle in less than a day. Considering the cost, $7.95 per 15mL bottle, it becomes an expensive vape experience very quickly. But, selling larger bottles perhaps Apollo can offer them to the vape community for less than the current 53 cents per mL.

Apollo eCigs has worked with many eliquid brands in the past, and currently continues to work with Lindbergh Vape Company and Fa-Q, and now, by creating a custom line of in-house ejuice with talent like Chris Gaskill, Apollo may very well become a major player in the world of e liquid creators. Only time will tell of course, but if Apollo continues to create new blends that are as good as these first five in this Signature Series then it is, at least, a strong possibility.

As always, the team and I all have a unique way of tasting flavors but you’ll know whom you relate to most after you read several of our reviews. We all have our own styles, but as a team it just works. These are our impressions and it is nice to have different point of view sometimes, don’t you think?

The Spinfuel eLiquid Review Team

Chris Gaskill Video

Apollo Signature Series from Apollo Ecigs on Vimeo.

Apollo’s Signature Series e-liquid by Chris Gaskill