By Julia Barnes, with Jason, John, and Lisa
This morning the postman delivered a brand new Mountain Oak Vapors e-liquid flavor to the Spinfuel office. After spending a few hours vaping the new Shangri-La, a wonderful blend of Peach and Lychee we came to the conclusion that our readers might enjoy knowing what we thought about this magical new mixture from one of the most successful eLiquid brands.
Oh, by the way, for those of you that don’t know what Lychee is, let me clue you in. (I had no idea either, so I had to look it up.) Lychee is small round fruit with a reddish skin. Inside is a sweet, whitish translucent pulp eaten fresh or dried. Sound good? Who can tell? No matter, when its blended with peach flavors and mixed into a liquid for vaping it’s an amazing, fantastic eJuice that you simply must try.
What’s really incredible (to me anyway) is that there wasn’t any need to let Shangri-La steep overnight, or even an hour, like most eLiquids I’ve reviewed, even others from Mountain Oak Vapors. Straight from the bottle and into a clearomizer (CE5) and it was fantastic! Shangri-La produces a ton of vapor, a very hard-hitting yet extremely pleasing throat hit that is out of this world, and is so flavorful that the first time I vaped it I was taken aback, pleasantly so.
Normally I wouldn’t have vaped Shangri-La minutes after I have the bottle in my hands. I have a routine that works very well, and it is my belief that all eLiquids get better if allowed to steep for a day or so. It was only after John tossed me the bottle and asked me to prepare a few clearos so that we could try it out while we wait for a monster storm that’s headed our way. (We are expecting a tropical storm with sustained winds of 45mph and gusts to 60mph is supposed to start in about a half an hour and we are all a bit nervous.) So I figured why not. I prepared four (4) CE5’s and asked Jason and Lisa to join John and myself and enjoy (?) this new concoction by MOV.
Mountain Oak Vapors released Shangri-La early last week. They describe it as: “Shangri-La™ is our newest rendition of a juicy, succulent peach flavor accompanied by a clean, fresh & crisp finish. Looking for a new all day vape? You may just find it with Shangri-La™! Exotic, bright and crisp Lychee notes finish this one off but make no mistake at its heart this is an authentic peach flavor. We hope you enjoy this one, we sure do! Experience the taste of an earthly paradise today!”
The Shangri-La “Profile” gives it a “5” for throat hit, a “5” for flavor strength, a “4” for vapor production, as well as a flavor profile of “Sweet Peach”. I’m going to assume that the number scale goes from 1 to 5.
So, how accurate is Mountain Oak Vapors “Profile” and description?
John, Jason, Lisa and myself all agree that the flavor profile is indeed sweet peach, but it’s a unique peach flavor that I have to believe comes from the sweet Lychee touches. We also agree 100% that it qualifies as an all-day vape. You do get a nice sweet peachy flavor but its not so overly sweet that you would tire of it after a while. I’ve been vaping it steadily for more than 3 hours now and I haven’t even begun to consider changing to another flavor, and neither has anyone else.
The MOV “Profile” is exactly right except for one thing; the vapor production. MOV states that the throat hit and flavor outdo the vapor production and “we” believe that vapor production is excellent. Maybe they feel like they have to back off a perfect “5” score and chose the vapor production to take the hit. We grade Shangri-La as all “5’s”.
Mountain Oak Vapors offers Shangri-La in 15ML glass bottle ($7.99, on sale as an introductory price) and 30ML glass bottles ($13.99). Nicotine strengths are 0%, .09%, 1.8% and 2.4%. Shangri-La is a PG/VG blend, 70/30 mix only, and they will add menthol to it, but unless you have to have menthol I wouldn’t do it. Lastly, Shangri-La is a thin juice that makes saturating a cartomizer easy and fast.
As is our custom, I’ve made some notes from our chitchat about Shangri-La.
John: Something seems to be happening out there in the eJuice community. All of sudden it seems like we’re getting better and better flavors then we were just a few months ago. Yesterday we spent the day with an absolutely fantastic juice, a new flavor that just floored us all, and today we’re getting the same thing. I love it, and I hope it continues.
Whenever I vape a peach flavored eJuice it seems that I really like or really dislike it. Sweet peach flavors are the ones I usually go for, the peach flavors that are too tart, or just not sweet enough are the ones I don’t go back to. Shangri-La is not an overly sweet peach blend, nor is it a non-sweet peach blend. Maybe it’s the Lychee that makes the difference, or maybe it’s the masterful artisans at MOV and their magical touch with both peach and lychee flavors. Whatever it is, I put Shangri-La in the same class as MOV’s Heavenly 7, Classic CountRY4, and Blue Ridge. By that I mean that whenever I want to vape something that really satisfies, a flavor that I can happily vape when I really need to vape. (It’s hard to explain). I can tell you this, Mountain Oak Vapors Shangri-La is one of the best flavors I’ve ever vaped from them, and my love for Mountain Oak Vapors eLiquids is well known. A great, great new flavor from the masters! Buy a bottle, then come back and thank us for telling you about it.
Jason: Shangri-La is such an awesome flavor that packs such an amazing throat hit and a mouth full of flavor that has caused me to move it to the top of my list on the very first drag. It usually takes me a week or so to decide if an eLiquid is ultimately good enough to become one of my regulars, an eJuice I reach for when I’m not reviewing another eLiquid brand. There are only a handful of flavors on that list, and Shangri-La is now a major new addition.
Chelsey and I have similar taste in eJuice flavors and its very different from John or Julia’s. The first thing I look for is a good flavor that has to have an equally good throat hit. Without a good throat hit I’m left unsatisfied, I’m left ‘wanting’ as John is fond of saying. Shangri-La delivers on both, a fantastic throat hit without being harsh and a great flavor.
Something that I haven’t seen mentioned yet is the hint of citrus in this blend. You can taste it on the exhale, a light, clean citrus touch that gives Shangri-La that extra something. I’m not a DIY eJuicer so I can’t be certain, but it seems to me that it is that citrus touch that makes Shangri-La both sweet and not-so-sweet at the same time, and probably plays a role in the fantastic throat hit. Sweet going in, not so sweet coming out. That’s the best way to describe it.
Mountain Oak Vapors makes the very rich, very deep Heavenly 7, one of my all-time favorite flavors, and despite Shangri-La being almost the opposite of Heavenly 7, I have no doubt that it will become an equally loved eJuice of mine. I can’t wait to add this one to my regular rotation and when I get back home I’m going to have a pretty large order to place with my favorite eJuice companies. I would recommend this to anyone that likes peach flavored vapes or someone looking for a fantastic throat hit.
Lisa: Wow, is this fantastic or what? I could vape this all day; in fact I think I will. I’ve never had a peach flavor that had a citrus kick to it, and what a kick it is. As good as yesterday’s eLiquid was, and it was amazing, the throat hit and vapor production, along with the cleanest tasting peach I’ve ever vaped, Shangri-La is an eLiquid that gets your attention and doesn’t let go.
Both the peach and citrus flavors are there but neither one is overwhelming. MOV’s description is perfect, a juicy peach flavor going in and this clean and crisp flavor coming out. Before today I’ve never heard of Lychee, I don’t think so anyway, so I can’t really say that I taste it since I don’t know what to look for. Is this a fruit that you can buy at the grocery store?
I don’t want to sound like a phony or someone who exaggerates for the sake of exaggeration, but I really and truly love Shangri-La. I definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a great peach vape, but who is looking for something a bit different than a straight up peach blend.
Julia (me): I think I covered my own thoughts on Shangri-La above, but I’ll say it plain. This is a great peachy flavored eLiquid that delivers a powerful, but not harsh, throat hit and tons of vapor. It is a complex flavor, and one you will reach for time and time again. Mountain Oak Vapors is one of the community’s most successful eJuice brands because they can produce expertly crafted flavors time and time again. There are times when only an MOV eJuice will do, and with the addition of Shangri-La I have yet another MOV choice to choose from. Steve and Brandy Nair, the owners and operators of Mountain Oak Vapors are two people that are truly gifted eJuice creators, and Shangri-La is without a doubt another great flavor.
Final Words
Two days in a row the Spinfuel Team has been treated to exceptional eLiquids that are worth celebrating. Right now we don’t have plans to sit down and write up 1500-word reviews for a single flavor, but yesterday’s flavor, and todays Shangri-La are two very special achievements by two of the best eJuice companies and deserve this special mention. If any of what we’ve said in this review entices you to try Shangri-La then I can assure you that you will love it in ways you didn’t think we’re possible.
Julia Barnes, with Jason Little, John Manzione, and Lisa Johnston.
