Table of Contents
Gothic Vapor E-Liquid Review
Spinfuel eLiquid Team Review
Straight out of the great state of Texas, Gothic Vapor has been a long-time advertiser with Spinfuel, but in all honestly we’ve never reviewed their e-liquids before today. I am so glad we invited them to submit several flavors because, as a team, we’ve been very impressed.
Each of the premium e-liquid flavors reviewed today can be purchased with various VG/PG blends. Our choice was their 65% VG, 35% PG, thick enough for good sub-ohm tanks, and RDA’s as well, but Gothic Vapor offers an even higher VG blend for true drip vapers. Our thoughts were to choose a ratio that would work particularly well for sub-ohm tanks.
Gothic Vapor is a hand-crafted eJuice company, using ingredients that are made from USP grade PG/VG “kosher” blends and are ultrasonically steeped so that you can start using them as soon as you get them. Well, most of them time anyway. Because the e-liquids are blended the same day you place your orders, some ejuices may require a few days of home steeping to reach optimal flavor. For this review we allowed them to steep for 72 hours.
Home Steeping
On the occasion that you may need to home steep your Gothic Vapor premium e-liquids we recommend you do so in this way; shake the sealed bottles really well, open the bottles and flush the glass eye dropper a few times to get some air into the blend. Screw the cap back on, shake again, and then place in a room temperature dark space. We use the stockroom at HQ, or our kitchen cabinet at home in Boston.
The Gothic Vapor Seven
(Gothic Vapor offers many more e-liquid blends than the 7 we’re reviewing today.)
Two of these flavors will also appear in our annual Seasonal e-Liquid article that will publish in the 3rd week of November.
The 7 flavors are:
Junkyard Dog – “This blending of butterscotch and caramelized bananas and creams will have you howling!”
Scarecrow – “Scarecrow is a very rich pumpkin custardy blend that brings all the frights and delights of fall.”
The Good Sh*T – “The Good Sh*t is just that; the best darn bakery style custard you’ve likely ever tasted. It’s like a custard bomb in your mouth.”
Lemon Caramel Cheesecake – “Rich creamy cheesecake topped with ribbons of caramel with a twist of lemon. Lightly sweet lemon caramel cheesecake, bright and tangy lemon on the inhale and creamy caramel on the exhale.”
Ratchet – “Don’t let the name fool you, this cream filled cinnamon sopapilla is a real treat.”
White Girl – “Pumpkin spice latte, every white girls’ favorite beverage”
Bourbon Pecan Pie – “Grandma’s secret Bourbon Pecan Pie drizzled with caramelized sugar and sweet southern pecans.”
Characteristics Of Gothic Vapor e-Liquid
Like the best High VG e-liquids, Gothic Vapor offers a blend of their flavors that creates a delightful vape experience. A good High VG e-liquid must deliver extraordinary flavor despite a lower PG level, and at the same time allow the vaper to experience thick clouds of delicious vapor. It is a feat that is easier said than done. Only professional level e-liquid artisans are capable of this delicate balance of flavor and vapor. Gothic Vapor has accomplished this in each of the seven blends below.
The seven blends give the vaper the option of turning up the wattage on low resistant coils so that the deep, dense clouds are warm yet flavorful. It is for this reason that we can highly recommend Gothic Vapor e-liquids in their 65/35 blend, and we believe their Max VG would be just as charming. Though please keep in mind the possibility that your experience with any Gothic Vapor e-liquid may be quite different if you move below the 65% VG level.
Vape Gear
For this review the team decided on two sub-ohm tanks. The first is the Aspire Triton 2, a brand new upgrade of the Triton 1, equipped with their standard 0.5-ohm Clapton Coilhead.
The second sub-ohm tank we used for this review is the Horizon Arctic Turbo tank, equipped with the sextuplet 0.2-ohm (total). We all seemed to agree on a wattage level of 32W for the Triton v2 and 60w for the Arctic Turbo. These two tanks produced enormous clouds of vapor with Gothic Vapor blends, and stupendous flavor. Box Mods for this review varied, from the ProVari Radius to the Reactor from HaloCigs (iStick 50), and even a HCigar DNA200 and WISMEC Reuleaux DNA 200.
For the Seasonal eJuice piece John used his Playboy Lux 150W TC and Vixen sub-ohm tank.
The Team Review
Junkyard Dog – “This blending of butterscotch and caramelized bananas and creams will have you howling!”
Julia: 4.75 – When I looked at the official description my thoughts about blending butterscotch with bananas were all over the place. Did Gothic Vapor know something I didn’t about mixing two very disparate flavors, or was this blend an accident, a fluke? I was apprehensive about it, but the minute I started vaping Junkyard Dog I was blown away.
Junkyard Dog uses a delightful buttery butterscotch, a flavor that my taste buds instantly recognized as butterscotch, with a revealing of sweet, ripe banana on the exhale, all wrapped around a profound creaminess that kept me wanting more. Not an all-day-vape for me because of the richness of the flavor, but the vapor production was extraordinary, with hints of butterscotch in the exhaled vapor.
Kiera: 5 Stars – I don’t see many butterscotch flavors these days so it was heartwarming to see Junkyard Dog use it as the main course of this terrific blend. On the inhale the butterscotch made itself known in a big way, and the sweet creamy flavor that IS butterscotch melted away any apprehension I may have had about this blend. On the exhale a magnificent sweet banana flavor stepped forth, and I was swept off my feet with this super rich blend. A must-try for butterscotch lovers.
Tom: 5 Stars – Junkyard Dog is a perfectly executed blend of butterscotch and banana. The layers are exactly where they need to be, and the intensity of the flavor blend were pushing the envelop on max-flavor. My only issue, the one that pushed me to awarding 5 stars is the caramelizing of the bananas. I think Gothic Vapor was going for a Bananas Foster type flavor with butterscotch notes, and the result is a flavor blending that will drive you to edge of flavor madness. Too much of a good thing is the proper way to put it I think. If you are a vaper that craves BIG flavor, Junkyard Dog is a must.
Jason: 5 Stars – Junkyard Dog is as decadent at it gets with the butterscotch. So rich and creamy you want to bath in it. The caramelized bananas are definitely as Tom described to me, a bananas foster type, which is a perfect fit with butterscotch.
I’m sure I couldn’t vape Junkyard Dog all day, but for the couple of hours at a time that I can, it is simply incredible. If you don’t like butterscotch or bananas you probably won’t enjoy it, but if you do, you’ll want to cover yourself with it.
Scarecrow – “Scarecrow is a very rich pumpkin custardy blend that brings all the frights and delights of fall.” – A Spinfuel Choice Award Winner
Julia: 5 Stars – White Girl is also a pumpkin flavor, or rather a pumpkin spice latte flavor, but this? This is truly MY kind of pumpkin flavored eliquid. Such a delicious layer of creamy pumpkin that for me it is an all-day-vape.
In order to get the pumpkin flavor to pop you might have to crank up the wattage a few notches, but when you do that be 
prepared for a full pumpkin punch.
Kiera: 5 Stars – Now this is a pumpkin custard! Gothic Vapor warns you that it is a “very rich” pumpkin custard and they are not kidding. There are all kinds of ways to love Scarecrow, but for me this is best served as warm vapor, so don’t be afraid to push the wattage a bit.
Tom: 5 Stars – Scarecrow gets the full 5 because it is exactly what it claims to be, and it’s a damn good vape. Rich custardy pumpkin, sweet, creamy, with a definite pumpkin flavor dominating the flavor profile.
Jason: 5 Stars Right before I began vaping Scarecrow I was with the Lemon Cheesecake for almost 10 hours. My taste buds were drenched in lemony goodness, and my first hit from Scarecrow pushed the lemon cheesecake into obscurity and reset my buds in an instant. Deep, custard-pumpkin that screams Thanksgiving. The perfect vape for a Thanksgiving feast.
Yet… at the same time this was showering me with pumpkin custard I knew that I could make this an all-day-vape as well. So, I kept it by my side and continued to fill my tank for the entire day. No vapers tongue, no loss of pumpkin creaminess, just a rich sweet pumpkin flavor all the live-long day. Whatever Gothic Vapor is using as their VG base and their flavoring brand, every flavor in this review was rewarding in ways that are rare for a 7-flavor review.
The Good Sh*T – “The Good Sh*t is just that; the best darn bakery style custard you’ve likely ever tasted. It’s like a custard bomb in your mouth.” A Spinfuel Choice Award Winner
Julia: 5 Stars – I am awarding this blend the 5 stars “conditionally”. What I mean by that is that even if you allow it to steep a few days, The Good (Stuff) needs to sit in your tank for at least 30 minutes, and a start off of a 5 second pre-vape. The first time I vaped this in a tank with a new coil I was hit with a blast of artificial custard flavor. After that, I put the device down and ran to the bank. I came back and tried it again and all that artificial flavor was gone and in its place was a luscious, I mean really luscious custard flavor that just put it over the top. After a while I decided to try it again, repeating the same steps. The same thing happened, 2 more times.
It’s almost as though this blend needs to burn away a “pudding skin” element, if you know what I mean, before you get to the good stuff. So, fill your tank, give it a 5-second burn, then step away for 30 minutes, come back and enjoy an amazing custard vape. Bravo!
Kiera: 5 Stars – I hate mentioning other brands and flavors during a review, and you will no doubt notice if you read our team reviews that no other brand/flavor has ever been mentioned before. Well, maybe once, just to cover my ass. Anyway… John has a list of his Top Five All-Time Favorites and on that list is a flavor called “Poundcake” by Teleos Remixed. It’s a $22 bottle of eliquid and he loves it. The number of times he has had me try it numbers in the dozens.
The Good Sh*t tastes exactly like it. And a 30ML bottle is just $14.00!
The Good Sh*t is delicious and pumps out more vapor in a sub-ohm tank than you could expect. Thick, aromatic clouds of rich custard (or is it poundcake?) that you’ll never want to put your mod down. In my rotation now!
Tom: 5 Stars – I honestly do not know what Gothic Vapor could do to make this a better e-liquid. For what it is, it delivers perfectly. A very rich custard flavor on both the inhale and exhale, with tons of vapor production. It’s a little too rich for an all day vape, but its close. Best served warm.
Jason: 5 Stars – The Good Sh*t is so rich and so dense that in order for me to enjoy it for any length of time I had to back off my wattage a bit. With a 0.5-ohm coilhead this is perfect at 30w, warm, flavorful, with plenty of vapor. It could go warmer, to 35-36w with a half-ohm coil, but then the flavor gets so rich I can’t vape it for more than 30 minutes or so.
Lemon Caramel Cheesecake – “Rich creamy cheesecake topped with ribbons of caramel with a twist of lemon. Lightly sweet lemon caramel cheesecake, bright and tangy lemon on the inhale and creamy caramel on the exhale.” – A Spinfuel Choice Award Winner
Julia: 5 Stars – The description says it all. This is definitely a rich creamy cheesecake with a prominent sweet lemon layer that makes this blend a cut above the rest. The only tangy flavor note is at the very end, where it should be, and its not too tangy to spoil the otherwise delicious cheesecake flavor. Adding to my December rotation, and probably for the rest of the winter.
Kiera: 5 Stars – Since Julia is in charge of which reviews we can do and which ones we can’t, I had to ask her yesterday why we haven’t reviewed Gothic Vapor until now. She said that we invited them when they first began advertising and nothing came of it. I’ll tell you honestly, we are worse for it. Had I known how delicious these e-liquids are, and how perfectly the 65% VG works on these flavors I would have been a long time customer by now.
Take this Lemon Cheesecake for instance. As a high VG blend this flavor is so smooth, yet still very flavorful, that vaping them is more than enjoyable. The lemon is a sweet/tangy creamy lemon and the cheesecake is delicate, not at all overwhelming. Never would I guess that we would enjoy a lemon cheesecake as an all-day-vape. If you like lemon flavors, or cheesecake flavors, I urge you to try this. It is wonderful.
Tom: 5 Stars – I’m not positive, but it feels like this is the first cheesecake e-liquid I’ve ever scored 5 stars. Maybe not, but it feels like it. This lemon cheesecake is amazing, very creamy, with a soft cheesecake flavor wrapped into a sweet lemon flavor, with a touch of tangy lemon on the exhale. Truly a delight. On my rotation now, and will be for quite some time. And as a tobacco and coffee loving vaper, that is remarkable.
Jason: 5 Stars – A perfectly balanced lemon cheesecake. An all day vape that delivers a sweet/tangy lemon with a smooth light cheesecake. I certainly didn’t think this was going to be a 5-star juice, but it is, it really is.
Ratchet – “Don’t let the name fool you, this cream filled cinnamon sapodilla is a real treat.” A Spinfuel Choice Award Winner
Julia: 5 Stars – I usually don’t smell the e-liquid when its in the bottle because the aroma it gives off can be completely opposite of the flavor when vaporized. But for some reason while I was filling my tank I caught a whiff of it and proceeded to stick my nose to the rim of the bottle. And it smelled SO good. But, what about the vaporized flavor?
Oh my God! One of the best eliquids I have ever vaped in my life! I know that sounds like hyperbole, but I swear Ratchet is the best damned all-day-vape anywhere at any price.
For the maximum vapor clouds I recommend huge lung hits, as usual, but for maximum flavor, I recommend a large, but slowwww lung hit and exhale. The delicate, yet creamy flavor notes will soak your mouth in such delicious and unique piquancy that you will never want to stop vaping it.
Ratchet has a genuine, as far as I know, musky flavor, and when blended with a sweet cinnamon the combination is to die for. If you choose just one to try, make it Ratchet.
Kiera: 5 Stars – Sometimes just the right ingredients come together to form a truly unique and wonderful blend. For Gothic Vapor Ratchet is that exacting and wonderful blend. Just the right amount of sweet cinnamon, and the unique flavor of this never-heard-before fruit called so papilla, (a Mexican Dessert) come together in this 65% VG blend to create perfection. All-day-vape, never creating vapers tongue, Ratchet has to be vaped to be believed. Definitely part of my daily vaping.
Tom: 5 Stars – I’ve been hunting down more all-day-vapes lately, and it seems that maybe 1 in 20 flavors I try are truly all-day-vapes. It is difficult to blend a flavor that will taste the same for hours and hours, strong enough to satisfy yet light enough to keep you from getting sick of it, Gothic Vapor did just that by blending Ratchet. Ratchet is just as good with warm vapor or lukewarm vapor, but I prefer it warm. Vapor production is mind-blowing, thick, aromatic and satisfying.
Jason: 5 Stars – It is so funny when we get together and talk about our time spent vaping a brand of e-liquids and everyone tries to top each other with compliments about an eliquid we are all crazy about. That is what happened with Ratchet. This is a sweet, cinnamon and sopapilla blend that touches on everything that is wonderful about great e-liquids. Despite the use of cinnamon, this is still an all day vape in anyone’s book. In my rotation for a long long time.
White Girl – “Pumpkin spice latte, every white girls’ favorite beverage”
Julia: 4.5 Stars – I swore to myself that White Girl was going to be a white chocolate type of e-liquid. Makes sense, right? Well, it is not that. What it is… a deliciously heavy pumpkin spice latte. It is heavier on the pumpkin spice than a latte, but as an individual e-liquid it works very well.
Kiera: 4 Stars – White Girl is a favorite among many of our friends that live in Texas, and I like it quite a bit. But, for me, this particular pumpkin spice latte has a deep pumpkin flavor when it should have more latte in the blend. Although I can certainly enjoy it, when it comes to pumpkin spice e-liquid it wouldn’t be the one I would choose. If you want more pumpkin than latte, this is one you should try.
Tom: 5 Stars – If I am to continue to be a truth teller than I have to admit that I rated this one a 4-star flavor. It is a very good, pumpkin spice latte, good enough to earn a spot in my December rotation, but the 5th star comes from the people at Gothic Vapor for the bravery to call this White Girl, and then go on to say “every white girls’ favorite beverage”. What a blow to political correctness! I LOVE it.
White Girl does deliver on the flavor and the vapor, and it makes a pretty darn good holiday vape.
Jason: 4.5 Stars – ‘Sometimes I think that when it comes to flavoring pumpkin and tobacco have very similar profiles. Both are heavy flavors, kind of dark and smoky. I think that’s why I like White Girl as much as I do. I know it’s not a favorite of Julia’s or Kiera’s, but for me, it’s one of the best I’ve vaped. If you are interested in a smoky-like pumpkin blend White Girl would be a good choice.
Bourbon Pecan Pie – “Grandma’s secret Bourbon Pecan Pie drizzled with caramelized sugar and sweet southern pecans.”
Julia: 5 Stars – Bourbon Pecan Pie is crazy good. I would have never believed that you could get a beautiful blending of rich bourbon and a nice pecan flavoring to work this well together. To get the full flavor profile I strongly recommend deep lung hits of warm vapor and a slow exhale. By slowing your vapor release you will taste bourbon and pecan pie together as they glide over your tongue. A new favorite for cold nights.
Kiera: 5 Stars – This is definitely a 5-star eliquid, but I want to warn you that if you do not like the taste of bourbon don’t buy this one. Not that the bourbon is overwhelming, it isn’t, but it is there and it reaches the deep recesses of your taste buds and surrounds it like a glaze. The pecan pie flavor is more pecan than pie, and I imagine it as a coat of flavor sitting atop the bourbon, making contact with the taste buds randomly. Julia and I agree that this is an eliquid best served warm.
Tom: 4.5 Stars – Bourbon Pecan Pie is definitely not for everyone. The bourbon is a deep, smoky bourbon that dominates the blend, with the pecan pie flavor making an appearance on the exhale. This is positively going into my rotation for a winter blend. I’ve tried several eliquids that has a bourbon flavor to it, but this is the first one that is unmistakably bourbon. This is also an all day vape for me, when it is cool outside. In the Florida heat, not so much.
Jason: 4 Stars – A very good bourbon e-liquid, but as far as pecan pie goes there is hardly a flavor note to be found. I taste a nutty flavor, a significant nutty flavor, but its not pecan pie. If you like a bourbon-flavored eliquid I think you’ll love this one, if you don’t, and you’re looking for a real pecan pie, I think you’ll be disappointed.
A Brief Word On High VG
I think it’s important to mention that when reviewing a High VG e-liquid we require a clean, true flavor. PG is the flavor carrier, VG is the cloud maker, and that being the case, building a recipe using high VG (65% and above), requires a special skill in order to deliver full flavor without an edgy taste that can kill a recipe. Using more VG means using more flavoring, and to avoid a disaster the flavoring has to be the highest quality money can buy and mix in a way that brings out the best flavor possible. High quality brands do this as a matter of course, whereas those brands that try to bring a high VG recipe to market but fail to compensate usually fail. One thing was certain while spending time with Gothic Vapor; they use excellent flavorings and they wield them with confidence.
And In The End…
Gothic Vapor, price-wise, is on the lower end of the scale. Just $14.00 for a 30mL glass bottle and only $45.00 for a huge 120mL. If you want to go nuts, like we are doing with Ratchet, you can buy a 500mL bottle for a mere $149.00, or 29 cents per mL. Very hard to believe because all seven portrayed premium-level flavor and vapor.
Gothic Vapor offers so many flavors in their lineup that these 7 hardly scratch the surface. We will try to bring you a few sequels to this review, all in the 65% VG and above, so that you can get a larger sense of their lineup. With four (4) Spinfuel Choice Awards for this first review I can’t help but think that further awards are just around the corner.
Julia Hartley-Barnes, Kiera Hartley-Barnes, Tom McBride, and Jason Little
