Table of Contents
Halo Cigs Goes Before the Spinfuel eLiquid Review Team
Special Note* Right now you can get a free 10ML sampler of Halo Cigs newest e-Liquid, aptly named: Voodoo. We’ll have our own review of Voodoo below. Just spend $20 or more and you’ll receive your free bottle in your vapemail. A truly nice incentive, no?
If you’re a regular reader of Spinfuel eMagazine then you already know how much we like Halo Cigs, the company. From their phenomenal G6 (a powerful and long-lasting cig-a-like battery and cartomizer/micomizer system) to their new and hottest selling product ever, the Halo Triton Series (ego-type batteries with 2.4ML clearomizers), their products have always had a special place in the hearts of Vapers at Spinfuel. The products feel right, vape right, and are priced right… Halo batteries are the most used by members of the Spinfuel Team, both with e-Liquid reviews and for personal vaping. Halo Cigs is also one of the most honest vendors, with great customer service, and very fair prices for all their products.
Halo e-Liquid
But what about their e-Liquids, can we say the same about Halo’s line of e-Liquids? Well, no, not really. And to be completely transparent there is only one person at Spinfuel South and North that vapes Halo eJuice regularly. That person is me, Tom McBride. Remember, I said regularly, not exclusively.
I believe the reason others at Spinfuel don’t use Halo e-Liquid regularly is twofold; one, there are just so many great brands and great flavors out there in the marketplace too choose making it difficult to build a permanent collection of go-to eJuice when new ones are always coming in for a review, and two, Halo’s eJuice is very different from any other e-Liquid we’ve vaped. Let me try to explain a little before we get to the five flavors we are reviewing today.
“The e-Liquid choice for grownups” – Tom McBride – 2013
Yes, I really did say that, and I meant it, but not in the way many people have interpreted it. Whether you are vaping Halo’s Tribeca, their closest to a normal e-Liquid in their lineup, to their new Voodoo, a flavor I am convinced was born from a ‘mad mixologist’ working in a secret part of Halo’s laboratory, Halo e-Liquids have a sophisticated nuance that many people, including the staff at Spinfuel, don’t quite understand.
Their “recipes”, if you will, are so complex, so layered, you would think that instead of combining the 4, 5, or 6 basic ingredients that make up eJuice Halo ‘engineers’ their e-Liquids at the molecular level. How else are they able to develop such intricate flavors that can excite certain taste buds at the precise time that they need to be in order to deliver the proper signals to brain that payoff in the wonderful sensations that elicit responses from Vapers that are almost obsessive? While ALL e-Liquids are made for people over the age of 18, the e-Liquids that come out of Halo Cigs are not mainstream flavors, well, maybe one of two come very close.
Naturally I’m not being completely serious, there is no mad scientist and Halo doesn’t engineer at the molecular level (at least I don’t think so), but they do come up with some of the most sophisticated blends I’ve ever vaped.
Mainstream versus…
I’m not trying to say that Halo is the only e-Liquid brand that can reach this level of sophistication. There are others, a few maybe, that are every bit as layered, complicated, complex, and full of nuance as Halo e-Liquid is, but even those brands have several mainstream flavors in their lineup.
Each Halo e-Liquid is carefully constructed and tested, and tested some more until they reach the desired goal of the head mixologist. The company does not come out with new flavors often, but when they do, it becomes an instant ‘classic’. Unfortunately, there are times when a new e-Liquid from Halo takes time to gain its momentum because the new flavor profile is not only new to Halo, it’s new to the entire e-Liquid marketplace.
Ask yourself; Which Halo eJuice resembles a raspberry milkshake, or banana bread, grape, or any other fruity, desert, or even any type of bakery flavor? If you are already a fan of Halo e-Liquids can you equate any of their flavors to any mainstream offering? I can’t, and I’ve vaped every eJuice to come out of Halo Cigs. Well, except for the one I mentioned above, in review below, but even with that particular e-Liquid Halo presents it in an ‘almost-traditional’ flavor in a decidedly non-traditional fashion.
The Fellowship of the Halo…
There are a lot of Vapers who call themselves fans of Halo e-Liquids. I consider myself a huge fan of Halo’s eJuice. We, the fans, put Halo e-Liquids in a different category than we put other brands we enjoy. If we, the fans of Halo e-Liquid, were to build a pyramid with our various bottles of eJuice from various brands we vape Halo would be at the top. Any “fan” of Halo knows this to be true, and if you’ve not yet had the pleasure do a little research on the net about Halo, hit various forums, read what the fans say and you’ll see the fans are very strongly attached to Halo’s eJuice. You might even read a post in a forum or two where a certain Halo e-Liquid is referred to as “the precious”
Vaping Halo e-Liquid is just… different.
The Non-Fans, or the ‘Normies’
And then there are those that don’t see what the fuss is all about. Offer a non-fan, or ‘normie’ a couple of drags off your PV filled with Halo’s Tiki Juice and ask them to give you a similar tasting e-Liquid equivalent and their brains would most likely kick into what its like to recite Pi, until the brain just gives up. They will search the database in their head and come up empty because there isn’t an equivalent to TiKi Juice, and in that case some people would reject it out of hand. “This does not compute”… or rather, “I can’t relate this to another brand’s ‘take’ on it, so I’d rather not bother” … and they’re right. For some reason Halo’s approach to creating a new flavor is somehow different. Whether that’s a good thing or bad, I cannot answer. I have no idea of the numbers of bottles Halo sells each month and how it compares to other, large e-Liquid brands. I can sense that the legion of Halo Followers is large enough to make an impact, but there aren’t any exact numbers…
The Spinfuel e-Liquid Review Team and Halo e-Liquids
I told you in the beginning that I am the only person here that vapes Halo juice on a regular basis. But that is not to say that I am the only one here that enjoys Halo e-Liquids. Far from it. You will read some very interesting responses below as we get into individual flavors. The reaction from the team was generally very positive, even for Halo’s Sub-Zero, but are the experiences of vaping Halo’s five flavors in this review enough to cause any team member to, as we like to say “add this to my rotation”? Not often, not nearly as often as they should, in my opinion. Yet, in this review there is one that achieved that level of “greatness” and most of the team has decided to embrace it and include it in their personal vaping times. They added it to their rotation.
In the end though, this whole review process that we go through, from assembling a team of Spinfuel people that make it their business to know e-Liquids, to fully develop their palates as much as they can, to have a passion for vaping eJuice and understanding what it is they are vaping, to agreeing to spend X-amount of time exclusively vaping X-number of e-Liquids from a certain brand, all of it would evaporate in an instant if they were not 100% honest, no matter what. The Team must tell the truth about every eJuice they vape, if we don’t do that then what is all this for?
Halo e-Liquids – The Particulars
Halo e-Liquids come in two sizes, 7ML in a plastic bottle ($5.99) or a 30ML bottle ($19.99). The 30ML uses a blue cobalt glass bottle with a clear glass eyedropper, and a white cap.
In total, today, July 5th, there are 21 e-Liquid “flavors” to choose from. They are divided into three categories, Tobacco, Menthol, and Gourmet. The Tobacco category is the most populated, with 11 flavors in all, and although they are not reviewed today, my personal favorites in that category are Torque 56, and TIKI Juice. Many of my Halo buddies also enjoy Midnight Apple, but I don’t share their love for it. Halo Cigs Tobacco e-Liquids are directly responsible for my success as a Vaper. I said all along that my main vaping liquids are tobacco, and that’s because of Halo’s wide variety of tobacco blends.
Halo Cigs e-Liquid – The Chosen
This review will cover the following flavors from Halo:
- Voodoo
- Tribeca
- Sub-Zero
- Turkish Tobacco
- Malibu
Tribeca, Turkish Tobacco, and Malibu were the e-Liquids that our team had vaped in the Halo review we published on July 31st, 2012. That was a year ago, and the team back then consisted of John Manzione, Jason Little, and me. With a year under our belt and a couple of hundred other e-Liquids vaped between then and now, some things have changed. For me it was a large expansion of acceptable e-Liquids. I am no longer just the ‘tobacco’ Vaper, and that has been the direct result of vaping so many great e-Liquids from so many great vendors.
Team A – My Team
The team today consists of Angel Marie, Nicole Henderson, Stephanie Sanders, and me. John Manzione sat this one out because of a scheduling conflict but he is also a member of Team A. In any case, we are Team A and in this review there are 3 new sets of taste buds that will evaluate the five flavors, along with my own taste buds that have vaped two of these five flavors by the gallon.
Hardware And Scoring
Every team member made sure to spend a good amount of time vaping the five flavors with Halo’s own hardware, both the G6 and the Triton; In addition, we used various APV’s, and clearomizer tank setups. We even used a few dozen Kanger horizontal coil cartomizers atop our APV’s in order to test the ‘taste’ differences when the e-Liquid is run through various devices. In the case of Halo no discernible differences were detected.
Scoring was the standard Spinfuel e-Liquid Review Team scoring method. We scored on flavor, vapor, throat hit, and satisfaction. Team A does not necessarily use Complexity as a scoring matter. The score that you will see immediately after the review is what we are calling the “gut” score. It is not the averaging of the scores below it, but rather the score the member of team gives the e-Liquid as a personal score. It is indicative of how strongly they feel about the e-Liquid itself, not how well it performed, or even tasted, but what it was like to them, individually, to vape that particular e-Liquid and the desire to vape it again, on their own time.
And Now…The Halo Five
We begin this review with Tribeca, the best-selling e-Liquid offered by Halo.
Tribeca – “Tribeca E-liquid is a new ultra-smooth tobacco e-liquid with fantastic flavor all its own. Tribeca E-liquid has definitive tobacco undertones with a semi-sweet top note that is reminiscent of RY4 e-liquid and other treasured tobacco e-liquid blends with slight hints of vanilla and caramel. Tribeca E-liquid delivers a solid throat hit and excellent vapor production.” – Halo Cigs
Tom: Tribeca is listed on the Halo website under “Tobacco” flavors, as it should be, despite the fact that this ultra smooth tobacco flavor comes from a finely crafted recipe consisting of toasted nuts, vanilla, and caramel. And as tobacco flavors go this is the sweetest tobacco offered by Halo (The driest is Longhorn). Tribeca is also the e-Liquid chosen for use in Halo’s new retail product consisting of a single G6 battery, 3 prefilled cartomizers, a USB charger and a nice logoed case that keeps everything neatly tucked away, all for $19.99. It is one of two of the five flavors that are closest to “mainstream” eJuice.
For me Tribeca is definitely an all-day eLiquid, or my workhorse e-Liquid. It never fails me; it is consistent, flavorful, produces tons of vapor and offers a splendid throat hit. The actual “taste” of Tribeca is not “killer”, or even exciting. Tribeca is even-keeled, pleasing… not the prettiest girl or handsomest man at the party, but still the one you want to spend time with anyway. 5 Stars
Flavor 5 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 4 – Satisfying 5
Nicole: Halo’s Tribeca is the smoothest tobacco e-Liquid among their several different tobacco juices. It offers a very smooth, yet complicating blend of flavors that creates a serious attitude of vaping. Consider how you feel when you’re vaping something like a Chai Tea blend (if you like Chai Tea I suppose), how every taste bud comes alive and you want to breathe in as much vapor as can and slowly let it out so that it runs across your taste buds leaving the unique Chai flavors behind. Tribeca is NOT that. Instead, imagine when you were a smoker and you’re enjoying that first cigarette of the day with your morning coffee. How deeply satisfying it was without being fancy about it. It’s the flavor of that cigarette that gives you the understanding for why you choose to smoke in the first place. Tribeca tells you, in the smoothest possible way, “This is why I vape.” 4 Stars
Flavor 5 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 4 – Satisfying 5
Stephanie: The entire time I spent vaping Tribeca I felt like I did when I was a smoker. I enjoyed smoking was because it calmed me, it slowed me down with a gentle motion of the act of bringing the cigarette up to my mouth, inhaling, filling my lungs with nicotine laced smoke and then blowing out the smoke through my mouth and nose. It was my meditation. Describing Tribeca would be the same way. It isn’t that Tribeca was the best tasting tobacco vape ever, but it is the most calming vaping experience. Halo chose the right e-Liquid for their retail pack because just as every smoker who picks one up as an impulse buy will feel the same “centeredness” they get with their brand of cigarette, and could very well be the catalyst for leading them away from tobacco products. 4 Stars
Flavor 5 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 5 – Satisfying 5
Angel Marie: I get that my fellow team members all feel great when vaping Tribeca, and that it is, without a doubt, one of the smoothest tobacco flavors around, but what I don’t get is why they think it’s one of the best tasting tobacco flavors around. I don’t identify Tribeca with tobacco flavors, I don’t. I can’t place Tribeca in any category. As I try to figure out each layer of Tribeca the evidence for vanilla notes, caramel notes and something “else” are all there, each distinctive in its own way, coming together to wind up being different from anything else. This doesn’t taste like any RY4 I’ve ever had, nor does it have a distinctive ‘tobacco’ flavor. It is a fine vape, but as an e-Liquid I can take it or leave it. I am left emotionless. 3 Stars
Flavor 3 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 3 – Satisfying 3
The next e-Liquid we discussed was Sub-Zero, a flavor none of us had vaped before now.
Sub-Zero – “SubZero E-liquid offers an intensely fresh experience, packed with triple the menthol effect of our standard menthol e-liquid flavors. Designed for those seeking a more concentrated menthol effect, this premium e-liquid blend offers a subtly sweet mixed mint aftertaste.” – Halo Cigs
Tom: So, okay, I read the description for SubZero before trying it. I thought I knew what I was in for. Triple the menthol…got it. Sweet mixed mint aftertaste…got it. Then I made the mistake of making my very first drag of SubZero a nice, long, deep drag. And I thought I had killed myself.
For the briefest moment I believed I had overdosed on menthol. My sinuses froze up like never before, my throat felt like it had been hit with a sudden shot of liquid nitrogen, and my lungs just felt like I had inhaled tiny mint crystals. I had no idea any e-Liquid could freeze you to death.
There is an entire segment of Vapers who live for the ultimate menthol freeze-out rush. Several brands produce what they believe is the coldest menthol blend possible, and for a while maybe it is, and certain people flock to it like they had finally caught the dragon. Then later another brand up the ante a bit and produces one that is little colder than the last, and the cycle continues. I think that if another brand ‘out freezes’ SubZero we’re going to be talking about vaping liquid nitrogen for real. It just can’t get any colder than this.
I could have stopped after the first drag. I knew exactly what SubZero was… the boldest menthol yet. There is no room for tobacco taste in SubZero, and only the smallest room for any mint flavor. Thing was, I didn’t stop with one drag… I stopped at ten.
Of course, after ten drags I couldn’t touch it for an hour or more, but then despite everything I kept going back until I had, over the course of 3 days, vaped a full 2.4ML of SubZero.
I don’t know how to score this one because Vapers looking for the absolute menthol this is going to be a perfect 5 Stars. But for me, this is like forbidden fruit. To be vaped rarely, when the urge to freeze out my sinus cavity overtakes my common sense. As for satisfying, when I want it SubZero delivers 5 Stars, when I don’t want it and vape it anyway it delivers 1 Star.
Flavor 4 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 5 – Satisfying 5 and 1
Nicole: Hearing Tom talk about SubZero almost laid me out on the floor doubling over in laughter. I know exactly what he’s talking about because I am one of those dragon chasers looking for the ultimate freeze out. LOL, I love the way he puts it. And it’s so true. There are many Vapers like me, and he might think we’re a cult and we live underground, but the truth is we like menthol coolness. Most of the time we’re vaping something much less powerful than SubZero but there are times when SubZero is the ultimate hit. I would find it hard to believe that anyone could vape SubZero all day long, I know I couldn’t come close. But when I do vape SubZero I am having moments of ecstasy. 5 Stars
Flavor 5 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 5 – Satisfying 5
Stephanie: SubZero is the strongest menthol e-Liquid I have ever tried to vape. It is a “take no prisoners” e-Liquid that doesn’t try to be anything other than what it is, a triple menthol monster vape. Plenty of flavor, wicked vapor and a super wicked throat hit. 3.5 Stars
Flavor 5 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 5 – Satisfying 3
Angel Marie: I sense no tobacco in this menthol blend whatsoever, and I guess I’m not supposed to. So, if its not a tobacco menthol that might appeal to a smoker of Salem, or Kool’s, or some other menthol brand, who is for? I think Tom has it right; it is for Vapers looking to score the one e-Liquid that could kick their butt. As though Halo said “They want menthol? Let’s give them menthol!” and then proceeded to create something most people couldn’t vape on a hot day, much less on a normal day. This is one wicked e-Liquid.
In order to see if a cool breeze eJuice could make a difference on a hot day I took an e-cigarette filled with SubZero outside and walked around the block with Dave (a non-Vaper and non-smoker). Within 5 minutes we were both hot as hell because of the combination of very warm air and very high humidity. I took out the e-cigarette and started vaping. Before I exhaled my third drag I felt at least 15 degrees cooler than Dave did. In fact, I couldn’t feel the heat of the midday sun at all. SubZero tricked my brain into thinking that it was no longer hot. The extreme cold you feel in your throat, your sinuses, and even in your lungs counteracts the outside heat of the day and you alter your senses in minutes. For me this is the real value of SubZero. I don’t know why no one else mentioned this, but SubZero is also a great vape for clearing your sinuses. Much more effective than one of those Vicks inhalers they use to make. 4 Stars
Flavor 4 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 5 – Satisfying 4
Following the extreme menthol SubZero e-Liquid, Malibu is one of the most overlooked e-Liquid blends. Well, let me qualify that; among the people we talk to, Malibu is one of the least mentioned e-Liquids. I think I know why, but I’ll save that for my review of Malibu, below.
Malibu – Spinfuel Choice Award – “Malibu E-liquid is best described as a frozen Pina Colada twisted inside of a light menthol wrapper. Malibu Menthol E-liquid has a nice smooth flavor that is perfect for vaping poolside or at the beach. The throat hit is relatively light with no harshness, and the aftertaste is pleasantly sweet. This tropical e-liquid flavor is highly recommended for a refreshing springtime vape.”
Tom: A year ago I was very much ensconced in tobacco flavors. I “tolerated” other flavors most of the time, and Malibu was one that I tolerated, calling it “almost too sweet.” But times change, and so do ones palate for flavor. Today I am much more adventurous about e-Liquids, more open-minded about them. Now I’m no longer concerned about how “tobacco-y” an e-Liquid is. Today, I am enamored with Malibu.
Malibu has a remarkably complex balance of cream of coconut and strained pineapple, with a dash of smooth, sweet rum. There is the tiniest pinch of coolness (not a menthol IMHO) too, but you only taste it on the exhale.
Malibu was the e-Liquid I didn’t want to stop vaping in order to start vaping another of the five flavors. This should be an all-day vape for every Pina Colada Vaper out there. 5 Stars
Flavor 5 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 4 – Satisfying 5
Nicole: For all the Halo e-Liquids I have vaped in the past year or so Malibu is the sweetest one of the bunch. I think this is kind of a big deal since most of Halo’s eJuices are either dry, or every-so-lightly sweet. Even their Belgian Chocolate isn’t as sweet as Malibu. The dominant flavor of course is the pineapple, a pleasantly sweet pineapple juice with a hint of coconut that is so satisfying in vapor form. I don’t think I would change a thing about Malibu, except for the name or the color of the graphics. It harkens menthol, and Malibu just doesn’t evoke enough menthol. 5 Stars
Flavor 5 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 5 – Satisfying 5
Stephanie: I could easily vape Malibu all day long, and actually came close to it during the 72-hour review period. It is a wonderfully sweet and pineapple-ly e-Liquid. It also comes close to the top of the list of my favorite Pina Colada e-Liquids.
Malibu is a straightforward Pina Colada eJuice that took me by surprise. I expected a light menthol so when the ample pineapple flavor hit me I was not expecting it, and even more so when I exhaled and was greeted by a minty fresh coolness. Malibu is certainly the most complex Pina Colada I’ve ever tasted, and a great one. If you are searching for a really awesome Pina Colada flavor and overlooked Malibu you need to try a bottle and see why I have added this to my rotation, no questions asked. 5 Stars
Flavor 5 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 4 – Satisfying 5
Angel Marie: I have been searching (along with John I might add) for the perfect Pina colada e-Liquid. The perfect blend of coconut, pineapple, and other savory flavors that go into the ultimately pleasurable… Pina Colada. I’ve probably vape 20 different e-Liquids all called Pina Colada, and every one comes up short in one way or another. (Though some are great and wonderful, but none are perfect.) After all this searching I come closest to the ultimate Pina Colada not in an eJuice that even hints at it by name, but in one that makes you think of menthol. Why? What does the name Malibu have to do with a Pina Colada? Malibu is wonderful, boasting of magnificent flavor, plumes of vapor, and nicely executed throat hit. I even enjoy that tail end bit of coolness, especially in the summer. The best why to describe it is to imagine the best bartender in the world making you the best Pina Colada, and as a ‘finish’ he rubs a crushed up mint lifesaver around the rim. That is Malibu. 5 Stars
Flavor 5 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 5 – Satisfying 5
Update Addendum: Once we found that we were all in agreement that Malibu was a profoundly good Pina Colada we discussed the name, and how the name of an e-Liquid can be critical to its success. Now, we agreed that we had no idea how successful Malibu is, but we all know for a fact that Malibu is the least talked about Halo e-Liquid, among the many voices we speak with everyday. That being the case there should be a concerted effort to get the word out that Malibu IS a great tropical Pina Colada, not some California beach drink. – July 5th 2013
Next up was Turkish Tobacco, a very serious tobacco e-Liquid that doesn’t pull any punches. Classified as barely “semi-sweet” this is a rich, bold, and a big seller for Halo.
Turkish Tobacco – “Our Turkish Tobacco E-liquid blend offers an excellent combination of sun-cured tobacco flavor with a very light semi-sweet top note. This unique e-liquid flavor is characteristic of the original Turkish Tobacco cultivated off the coast of the Black Sea, which is widely used in traditional cigarettes and blended into various pipe tobaccos. Turkish Tobacco E-liquid has a relatively mild tobacco flavor, so it is a great choice for “light tobacco” smokers still seeking substantial throat hit and good vapor production.” – Halo Cigs
Tom: My experience with Turkish Tobacco goes back a long way. A year ago I said that it was going into my rotation and it has not come out. Everything about it is spot-on delicious and satisfying.
When Vapers talk about a good tobacco vape they really don’t mean the taste of a cigarette. There are so many chemicals in cigarette tobacco that the flavor of honest tobacco is nowhere to be found in modern cigarettes. This is where Halo’s Turkish Tobacco comes alive with real, quality, rich tobacco flavoring. When you combine this richness with just a hint of sweetness you have an e-Liquid designed for people like me. Like real tobacco? You’ll love Turkish Tobacco. 5 Stars
Flavor 5 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 5 – Satisfying 5
Nicole: A tobacco lover’s dream, Turkish Tobacco is very rich, very silky and luscious moderate tobacco. This is the “tobacco” blend that possesses the right amount of tobacco flavor.
I would caution cigarette smokers though, if you’re looking for a cigarette wannabe this isn’t it. Not really pipe tobacco either, but something a pipe tobacco smoker could appreciate before a cigarette smoker could. Turkish Tobacco is an e-Liquid for Vapers looking for a deeply satisfying vape in the tobacco category. 4 Stars
Flavor 4 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 5 – Satisfying 3.5
Stephanie: If Tribeca were a tobacco e-Liquid then it would rate as the smoothest, least aggressive one of the bunch. Turkish Tobacco, on the other hand, is Tribeca’s big brother…bigger, stronger, with a harder hitting everything. Turkish Tobacco is too much for me, but for Vapers in love with tobacco “vapes”, it doesn’t get much better than this. Terrific vapor production and a wicked throat hit. As Tom would say, “One for the grownups”. 4 Stars
Flavor 5 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 5 – Satisfying 4
Angel Marie: Turkish Tobacco is such a finely tuned tobacco blend that it’s like putting all the best aspects of real tobacco leaves into liquid form, and taking out all the bad stuff. My only complaint is the throat hit; it hits on the hard side. Otherwise this is a great tobacco e-Liquid with lots of complex notes hitting at different times. Now having said that, is it a tobacco flavor I would vape a lot? I don’t think so. But the only reason why is that, to me, Turkish tobacco needs to be a little sweeter, sweeter than this one anyway. 3.75 Star
Flavor 3.5 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 4 – Satisfying 3.75
The final e-Liquid in today’s review is Halo’s newest e-Liquid, Voodoo. Personally, I think the name Halo made the right choice with the name Voodoo after combining all the flavors in it like various items in a witch’s brew and the end product being so good that it seemed like voodoo magic. Oh something like that.
Voodoo: “Voodoo E-liquid offers a mild tobacco base gently layered with a complex assortment of flavors including black currant, grape, plum, and a touch of cinnamon. This unique e-liquid flavor is then rounded out with subtle notes of smooth vanilla, offering a delicate balance of tobacco with gourmet flavors. The unique structure of this e-liquid flavor will vary in profile while vaping, hence the voodoo effect.” – Halo Cigs
Tom: My first experience with Voodoo was horrible. I had just spent most of the day vaping something completely different, on the opposite side of the flavor spectrum, and the leftover flavors were still lingering. The result was a huge disappointment in the newest Halo concoction. So, I let a day go by, concentrating on other e-Liquids I had to vape for the Halo review and left Voodoo for last.
When the time came that I was left with no choice but to spend a few hours, at least, with Voodoo, I brushed my teeth, drink 8 ounces of water, eat a slice of watermelon (finally in season, and sweet as can be!), then waited 15 minutes, just for good measure. The clearomizer full of Voodoo had sat, unused, for almost 30 hours, so if it was ever going to give me the true flavor it was now. By the way, while living in Florida I found that a lot of people here use watermelon as a terrific way of cleansing their palate. It works very well.
Voodoo is an almost perfect combination of strange flavors that shouldn’t work, but do. It was a hit with everybody, as you will see, but each of us had just one little ingredient that we believed would have been best left out, or more put in.
For me it was the Black Currant. To my palate black currant has a taste similar to the taste of prunes. That became the one ‘taste’ that didn’t blend. The one that stood out, that one that kept it from being perfect. I minimized the black currant by taking slow drags and slow exhaling. Every time I thought I must have been imagining it I took a stronger pull on the e-cigarette and bam, that prune/currant taste showed up and ruined the whole thing. When I kept my drags slow and steady it was a wonderfully delicious flavor. So, I give it a conditional 5 Stars.
Flavor 4.5 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 4 – Satisfying 4.5
Nicole: For me there was one ingredient I would have liked to see a little more of; cinnamon. The combination of the other flavors was absolutely delicious. The plum flavors, the black currant, and the grape were an inspirational masterwork. With just a tad more cinnamon it would have been a homerun.
The category Halo put this in, Tobacco, doesn’t sit well with me. We all know that there is no real “tobacco” flavoring, that it is a mixture of other flavors that combine to come close, but this blend of flavor didn’t taste anything like tobacco to me. The category, “Gourmet” would have been a better fit. Other than that, and the added pinch of cinnamon are the only complaints. Vapor was amazing, throat hit was nice, and overall satisfaction was very good. Voodoo should do very well. 4.5 Stars
Flavor 4 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 3 – Satisfying 3.75
Stephanie: I knew nothing going into my vape with Voodoo. I had no idea what to expect, so the first flavors that came to mind were dark, naturally sweet fruits. Definitely a plum taste with a black currant lingering, and I could even taste the cinnamon (but just barely). So when I found out it was supposed to be a tobacco flavor I was mildly surprised. In any case, it was a delicious combination that worked for the most part, but it is just too far off the beaten path for it to become an e-Liquid I would use. 3 Stars
Flavor 3 – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 4 – Satisfying 3.25
Angel Marie: Have you ever been talked into eating something you’ve never tried and yet you somehow knew you wouldn’t like? Whether it’s a family member or friend or significant other they love it and they want you to love it so you just go ahead and try it. Happens all the time. Once and while we even try some strange new food and we become big fans. Sushi for the first food I was talked into trying, and it was oddly great, but I didn’t think I was going to like eating raw fish. That was how Voodoo was for me.
For a few hours Voodoo was an awesome flavor. So strange tasting, but so good. Hard to understand and hard to analyze, but somehow it worked. And then it didn’t. I’m still not sure what it is, but there is something about it that doesn’t taste right about half an hour. (I’m not talking about half an hour of straight vaping, but rather half an hour of vaping stitched together.) Ultimately, Voodoo is an e-Liquid I don’t feel can be properly scored; this is one you have to decide to want to try. With so many great e-Liquids on sale right now at Halo (20% off all e-Liquids) and a free 10ML bottle of Voodoo if you spend more than $20, I think everyone should take advantage of this opportunity to try Voodoo for free. I would love to get feedback from our readers on this one.
Flavor abstain – Vapor 5 – Throat Hit 4 – Satisfying abstain
Conclusion
As you can see, this was a very difficult review despite there being just five flavors to look at. We all agree that Tribeca was the most mainstreamed, mild, accessible tobacco flavor, and Malibu was probably one of the best Pina Colada flavors made but the name is just wrong. As we got deeper into more niche flavors, SubZero, Voodoo, things were all over the board.
Halo Cigs is a very different e-Liquid company, and their approach to flavors is different than most every other company we’ve reviewed. Sometimes that approach paid off for us, and other times it didn’t.
In Spinfuel you’ll find other Halo e-Liquid flavors reviewed, so if you are new to the Halo lineup you need to know that this is just five out of many, and these five are not as closely representative of the lineup as you might think.
Buying Advice – The Sample Pack
This part of the review is the easiest part, at least for this particular Halo e-Liquid review. Halo offers several “Sample Packs” to choose from, Tobacco, Menthol, Gourmet, and Variety packs. Each pack contains 6x 7ML bottles of eJuice for just $24.99, minus the 20% sale, which puts the price today at less than $25 for 42ML of e-Liquid. Our best advice, agreed to by all, would be to take a look at the various Sample Packs and choose one that comes closest to your personal preferences. Unless you know for a fact that you are looking for either the mildest tobacco flavor or you’re looking for a delicious Pina Colada eJuice. Then feel free to order a 30ML bottle or two and enjoy.
From what I’ve seen there are people who love every Halo e-Liquid that comes to market, and then there are others who “want” to love Halo e-Liquids but just can’t. A sample pack, or one of each of the sample packs are the best way to find out which e-Liquid flavor is going to be additions to your personal collection of eJuice.
While I still believe that Halo’s e-Liquids appeal to finer, perhaps ‘aged in wisdom’ palates there are a few that do have a wide appeal, If you’re feeling adventurous grab a Sample Pack or two and see what its like to vape the most serious of e-Liquid flavors.
Winner = Malibu, by a lot. Winner of the Spinfuel Choice Award
Least Popular = SubZero, because this is not an e-Liquid that many people can vape for more than a few minutes at a time.
And now a short interview with Halo Cigs:
SPINFUEL: So far 2013 has been a very active year for e-cigarettes. Which e-Cigarette device do you think has had made the biggest impact on Vapers in the first half of 2013?
HALO: For us personally it has been the Halo Triton. Overall sales for Halo have sky rocketed since offering a big battery device and solid tank system.
SPINFUEL: Are you surprised that the FDA has so far remained silent since there was a rumor that their “deeming regulations” were due in April?
HALO: Not really, the FDA has their hands full with the ingredient filings for the Big Tobacco companies from last year. They cover a very wide scope, so a delay on regulation was not really a surprise.
SPINFUEL: Of all of your e-Juice flavors which one are you most proud of, and why?
HALO: Definitely Tribeca. This flavor appeals to such a wide audience, and offers the most realistic smoking experience in my opinion. It’s one of those flavors that never gets old, and I tend to crave myself.
SPINFUEL: What is your newest flavor release? If it’s out now, how is it being received and if its due soon, are you nervous about upcoming releases? (This will be worded properly when published)
HALO: We have a couple of new flavors coming out in the next month or so. We just introduced Voodoo, which is a fruity tobacco and just a bit of spice. It has just been released, and initial reviews are good. We will also be offering a sweet tobacco blend shortly, which I personally love. It’s definitely different than previous flavors, and hits real well.
Spinfuel: Any exciting plans due over the rest of 2013?
HALO: We will be focusing a lot on retail this year, and are introducing an entry level kit Starter Kit designed for convenience stores and high-traffic locations. It will be a scaled down version of our G6 Starter Kit, offering the same quality components. It includes 1 rechargeable battery, 3 prefilled cartomizers, and 1 USB adapter packaged in a hard carry case. This kit will offer a lower price point, and is designed to introduce new customers to our products.
Tom McBride, with Nicole Henderson, Angel Marie, Stephanie Sanders and
