Mountain Oak Vapors – American Made Awesomeness
Note: Readers of Spinfuel are invited to visit Mountain Oak Vapors and receive a 15% discount on any many flavors, in any size, simply by typing SPINFUEL into the Coupon Code upon Checkout.
Of course you can’t tell the quality of a company’s eJuice by simply looking at the packaging, but we admit that when opening the box from Mountain Oak Vapors and seeing the nice glass bottles, the silver-colored labels, and even the way each bottle was bubble-wrapped, we knew Mountain Oak was very serious about their product. We couldn’t wait to start vaping these (hopefully) great flavors.
Mountain Oak Vapors became a company just 3 short months ago, and yet they have already secured exclusive deals with eCig brands like Liberty Stix, and an Israeli based company that aims is to bring Vaping to the Middle East. Once you read our Interview with Steve Nair, the co-owner (with his wife), you’ll understand the level of professionalism and passion that they both bring to the eJuice market.
Preparations to conduct the evaluations included loading up 5 cartomizers for each flavor per staff member (25 cartomizers for each flavor), filling a few Texas Tuff Tanks, a couple of Totally Wicked DCT’s, and charging up a Johnson Creek Vea, Vapor King’s Storm 2.0, ProVape’s ProVari, a couple of eGo’s, and several Halo G6 batteries and Element batteries.
This is the amount of hardware we use in each of our Juice reviews and, we think, provides the best and most thorough testing over any other “reviews” in the industry. Once all the cartomizers, cartridges, and tanks were filled, they were all placed in a locked safe and left overnight. We leave the Juice overnight to properly ‘marry’ each cartomizer and cartridge so that when the vaping begins each staff member will vape the true essence of each juice.
Staffers were assigned their vaping hardware, handed the same amount (in ML) of juice, and then went about their business for 72 hours. Each staffer used Mountain Oak Vapors exclusively. Once the 72 hours expired we met in the shared conference room for 6 hours to discuss each flavor in great detail, and we took copious notes. (We also prepared several new cartomizers of the various juice flavors just in case there were any disagreements that could be settled by additional sampling of a particular flavor.)
In the end, we knew we chose wisely when we sent an invitation to Mountain Oak Vapors.
For the record; all the juices were 70/30 PG/VG, and high nicotine (18MG). We did receive 3 flavors that were zero nicotine to evaluate for flavor, vapor and throat hit. We are all pleasantly surprised to report that the zero nicotine flavors were every bit as good as the nicotine-infused flavors. Vapor was about 90% the same. Throat hits with the zero nicotine were about half the hit of nicotine flavors. The Throat hit for the nicotine-infused flavors were all very good to great.
Mountain Oaks Vapors has a total of 35 flavors, and we sampled a total of 7. Admittedly we would have loved to sample a higher number, but if these 7 are any indication of the over-all quality of their entire line then we can say with confidence that this is a great line of eJuice
After learning how much they put into creating a flavor and then the painstaking steps to producing them we were dutifully impressed. Mountain Oak Vapors is no DIY hobbyist; this is a great company with tremendous respect for what they do.
So, let’s get on the results of our extensive evaluations. For this review our staff consisted of Tom McBride, Chelsey Laney, Julia Barnes, Lisa Johnston and John Manzione. Our lead writer this time out is Tom McBride, and he has laid out the description of each flavor and add his opinion on the juice underneath, and then we followed up with a paragraph or so for each of us.
Before we jump into the review portion a word about the descriptions Mountain Oak Vapors provides on their website. While taste buds differ from person to person, we found the descriptions on their site to be spot on. If you read a description that you find appealing and wish to try it based on their description we can attest to the fact that what you read is what you’ll get.
While we cannot guarantee that you will like or dislike a particular flavor, by having 5 of us give our impressions and opinions on them we feel confident that you will have a better idea of what to expect is just one of us reviewed them.
Mountain Oak Vapors divide their juice line into three distinct lines; Sweetwater Valley, Deep Temptations, and Tennessee Original.
First up, Tennessee Original.
Tennessee Original is Mountain Oak Vapors ‘tobacco’ line, offering twelve (12) flavors. We reviewed a sampling of this line with Classic CountRY4 and Blue Ridge. Both samples were 18MG nicotine, 70/30 PG/VG.
Classic CountRY4: Described as Mountain Oak’s take on the ever-popular RY4, it’s both light and smooth, with just enough sweetness. Did they deliver?
Tom: RY4 is indeed a classic vape, and I’ve seen various versions before, but nothing like this. As a tobacco-flavored Vaper I always search out a company’s tobacco influenced flavors first. CountRY4 is an amazing and unique blend. Definitely a 5 Star juice, I found myself disappointed when it was time to move to another flavor. I will buy this juice and add it to my own rotation.
Chelsey: Excellent blend, definitely a touch sweeter than the original RY4. Vaping this made me wonder what we were missing. Only two (2) of their tobacco blends were sampled, and this one was great. 5 Stars easily.
Julia: Smooth and light describes this blend perfectly. I think the added sweetness to a classic RY4 was inspired. I want more of CountRY4. I also agree with Chelsey, ‘What are we missing by not sampling their other tobacco blends?’ I want to know. 5 Stars
Lisa: It’s looking like a unanimous vote. I give this great tobacco vape a 5 Star award anytime. The right amount of added sweetness to a traditional flavor gives it a warm and inviting taste. Tom is right; it was an inspired move.
John: It’s unanimous then. I loved it. To be honest, I always thought the RY4’s I’ve had were a bit boring. But this is exceptional. A great start to this review. Now I’m wishing they had sent more samples as well.
Blue Ridge – Described as an unlikely combination of blueberries and their signature tobacco recipe, I was not that hopeful for this being a stand out blend. But, I was wrong.
Tom: I found it hard to decide which one of the Tennessee Original’s I liked best. As it turns out, blueberry is a terrific addition to their signature tobacco blend, or I think it is. As far as I know we haven’t sampled their signature tobacco, so I’m guessing. The bottom line is, it’s a great flavor and I enjoyed it tremendously. 5 Stars.
Chelsey: I’ve vaped a few blueberry based flavors before and it was either too much or two little. Blue Ridge is hitting the blueberry flavoring just right. I can’t believe how much I like this juice and I’m not crazy about blueberries. 5 Stars again.
Julia: I’m with Tom on the fact that we don’t know what their signature tobacco blend is. For me though it doesn’t matter. Blue Ridge is delightful. All the flavors we sampled were thin, in that it was very easy to fill a cartomizer, and when I went back to refill some of the cartomizers I was given Blue Ridge was the one I refilled most often. 5 Stars
Lisa: You know what I thought was great about Blue Ridge? Despite the blueberry flavor it wasn’t overly sweet. I expected more sweetness to this because it seemed like a ‘fruit’ blend. It’s more than that; it is a wonderful flavor. I would recommend Blue Ridge to anyone. 5 Stars
John: I wouldn’t normally say that any blend that included a fruit of any kind could possibly be an all-day vape. Blue Ridge was a flavor I came back to after the samplings and I vaped this for an entire day without tiring of it. You get a tobacco taste and blueberry taste in equal amounts; perhaps this is why it’s so good. 5 Stars.
Bottom Line: Both Blue Ridge and Classic CountRY4 did an across the board 5 Star sweep. Although it would have been nice to try the remaining 10 tobacco flavors, these two choices were terrific.
Next up was their Dark Temptations. Said to be created to satisfy your “darker” desires, these flavors are admittedly sweet. Dark Temptations are non-tobacco blends. Did they fare as well as Blue Ridge and CountRY4? The samples we tried were; Legendary and Heavenly 7, leaving 9 flavors on the table, perhaps for a later review.
Legendary: The Mountain Oak Vapors website indicates that this is a new flavor, just how new we don’t know. Described as having a banana nut flavoring, there are hints of other flavors as well. Definitely a graham cracker flavor in there, perhaps a hint of chocolate as well.
Tom: If you had told me that I could enjoy an eJuice that didn’t have any tobacco flavoring as an all-day vape I would have told you that you were crazy. In fact, banana and graham crackers doesn’t sound appealing at all. But, I’ll be damned if this wasn’t one of the best flavors I’ve had from any brand of juice. It is a dark, sweet vape, and addictive. I found myself pulling harder on this flavor than any of the others, a definite indication that my body wanted more. I don’t know how, or why, but this one is going to be in my rotation for a long time. Beyond delicious. I’m amazed. 5 Stars and then some.
Chelsey: What Tom said! Seriously, Mountain Oak appears to be the real deal. Legendary is an amazing vape. Deep and dark, the banana nut flavor is to die for. 5 Stars and please sir, may I have another?
Julia: This roundtable discussion is like nothing we’ve ever done before. How can these flavors satisfy all of us? We have very different tastes when it comes to smoke juice, I don’t get it. Anyway, how could anyone not love this? Banana nut comes though in spades, and as Tom said, with graham cracker and chocolate hints. It’s very easy to see how we went through every drop of this in 3 days. 5 Stars and then some.
Lisa: I agree that it is delicious, of that there can be no doubt. As Tom said, this is just not the kind of flavor that I would normally want to vape all day, but like Tom I certainly wanted to. I was not ready to move to the next flavor. I want more of Legendary, and I want it now! 5 Stars
John: I wonder if we would wind up giving Mountain Oak a 100% 5 Star rating had we sampled all the flavors. Maybe we would, because I haven’t been this happy with a banana nut creation in like, ever. So yea, this is a 5 Star blend. Who knew I loved banana as much as I appear to?
Heavenly 7 – A complex blend of silk chocolate pie, graham cracker crust, caramel, and a hint of coconut. Is it heavenly? Could this top Legendary. Let’s ask the panel.
Tom: This is a lot like Legendary because of the graham cracker crust. Turns out the graham cracker is a dominating flavor. That said, with no hint of banana in this one it is a different flavor that gets better and better. It took until my second vaping session with Heavenly 7 before I tasted the coconut. Faced with both Legendary and Heavenly 7 as a choice for vaping it would be it would be very difficult to choose. 5 Stars
Chelsey: Isn’t that funny? I tasted the coconut straight away. And it was great. Yes, the graham crust was dominant, but it made the illusion to the “silk chocolate pie” a lot more convincing. This IS a silk chocolate pie in a vapor form. With only two samples from the Dark Temptations line I would have rather had something else in there to provide a bigger divide though. Still, no about about it, 5 Stars.
Julia: I agree, this is a lot like the Legendary because of the graham cracker crust. I also agree with Chelsey that it is a silk chocolate pie in vapor. Delicious and sweet, (though not as sweet as Legendary) Heavenly 7 is a great vape. I see its on sale too, so I will get more of this. 5 Stars
John: Julia, they are all on sale, and readers who are reading this get another 15% off too. But I agree with all of you. Less sweet than Legendary, silk chocolate pie for sure, and since I am a huge coconut fan I tasted the coconut right away. Absolutely delicious! 5 Stars and then some.
Final Word: Deep Temptations is a rich and rewarding line of juice. The flavors were deep and satisfying.
Sweetwater Valley – This line is also a non-tobacco line of flavors, with many different fruit combinations. A bit of coolness, some sweet watermelon, some berries, a bit of everything from Mother Nature. Did the panel go for the three (3) flavors? Let’s see what they had to say about Nirvana, Cool Berry, and Red Drop.
Nirvana – A new flavor from these obvious artisans of eJuice, there are bits of mango and melons with hints of vanilla, peach, and watermelon.
Tom: While I enjoyed my time with Nirvana I have to admit that it wasn’t the best eJuice I’ve had from Mountain Oaks. Yes, watermelon was there, and a bit of vanilla, but there other flavors? Couldn’t taste them. I like mango too, but it just wasn’t there. 3.5 Stars
Chelsey: Indeed the watermelon was the dominate flavor for me as well. I also received hints of vanilla and the peach. As for mango, I agree. It just wasn’t there for me. I think I liked it better than Tom, because I’m giving this a 4 Star rating. Might have been a 5 had I been able to get a sense of the mango.
Julia: You guys are crazy. I remember not being able to put Nirvana down. Definitely a lighter, sweet vape with hints of peach, vanilla, watermelon and mango. The mango was there guys, you just had to look for it. I loved this vape, especially outdoors. 5 Stars
John: Since I’m a huge tobacco fan like Tom it was very hard for me to judge Nirvana. I got the flavors, especially the watermelon, and even the vanilla punched through some. The problem for me was it was a light and refreshing flavor. I knew Julia would love this one, and probably for the reasons that I give this a 4 Star rating. The execution was excellent; the delivery to my taste buds was less so. Remember, this is an opinion on the flavor, what we all like and dislike.
Cool Berry – Another cool and refreshing vape, this time with a touch of menthol over the fruit. Does it work? Let’s see.
Tom: As soon as I saw that Cool Berry had a touch of menthol I waited to try this one last. Most of time it was outdoors as well. I’m glad I did because this is an excellent “outdoor on a hot day” blend. The menthol was a perfect touch. Not too much, not too little, just enough menthol to cool the throat. I think I caught some strawberry and raspberry in there, but they were all so well blended that a single fruit did not come to the surface. That being the case, I could vape this all day the next time I drive to Miami. 5 Stars
Chelsey: I wasn’t aware of the menthol so I took a deep long drag the first time and about died. The throat hit was magnificent! A very pleasing blend of various berries with just the right amount of coolness. I loved Cool Berry! 5 Stars
Julia: Menthol, when its done right (and that is rare) can be a pleasant addition to an eJuice. Cool berry gets it exactly right. Not much else to say, I really enjoyed it. 4 Stars
John: Isn’t this one of the best jobs in the world? Here was are spending hours and hours vaping a blend like this and its our JOB to do so. It doesn’t get much better than this. Julia is spot on about the menthol. Only a true master can wield the menthol just right and these guys did. Light and refreshing. 4 Stars
Lastly, there is Red Drop – A raspberry blend with limeade. Mountain Oaks says this will tickle the taste buds. Did it? Let’s see.
Tom: The dominant flavor here is limeade. It’s delicious, no doubt about that, but where was the raspberry? There was no tickling of taste buds, not in this man’s mouth anyway. But, as a limeade eJuice it was splendid. I liked it more than I thought I would. 4 Stars
Chelsey: There must be something wrong with your taste buds when it comes to fruit Tom. The raspberry was there, and it was wonderful. Completely different than Cool Berry and just as satisfying. Lime is an underappreciated flavor in my opinion, and this juice is proof of that. Wonderful! 5 Stars
Julia: Lime. A lot of lime. Which I liked. But barely a hint of the raspberry. A nice throat hit too. For a lime-based flavor this was great. Red Drop deserves 5 Stars for the lime, but because they say there is raspberry there and I didn’t taste it, I have to give it 4 Stars. On a hot day though, Red Drop cools you off, as it should. 4 Stars
John: Yea, I agree that lime was a cool trick here. Never tasted lime in a vapor form before, not that I can remember anyway. I got the hint of raspberry but it could have been stronger, I think. I battled with this flavor a lot because the lime was good enough for 5 Stars, but I have to admit that by the time I went through all three of the Sweetvalley flavors I desperately wanted to go grab the Blue Ridge again. So, I wound up giving it 4 Stars.
Final Words: Mountain Oak Vapors produce a top line of eJuice that will satisfy even the most demanding Vapers. We are going to try to find it in the budget to get the rest of the line and do another review, only because we are as curious as you are apt to be after reading our ‘take’ on the 7 flavors were sampled. We would like to mention again that the zero-nicotine flavors were every bit as good as the nicotine flavors, so even if you are winding down your nicotine intake Mountain Oaks is a great choice.
We would like to thank everyone at Mountain Oak Vapors for their complete cooperation in making this review a reality. They have been nice enough to provide a Discount Code to all our readers for a nice big 15% discount on their juice, at the same time they are running a sale on their juice so there isn’t a better time to order a bunch of flavors. Type in SPINFUEL when you checkout (in the coupon code box) and the discount will appear!
Lead Writer: Tom McBride, with Chelsey Laney, Julia Barnes, Lisa Johnston, and John Manzione. Edited by John Manzione.
