White Lightning E Liquid by AR eLiquid

Arkansas eLiquid Company – Spinfuel eLiquid Team Review

 Does a premium brand of e liquid have to cost an arm and a leg? Can you vape delicious e juice, made with high-end ingredients with an 80% VG base, yet spend just $9.99 for a 30mL size, or 120mL for just $20? Let’s find out the answer to both of these questions, and many more, as the Spinfuel eLiquid Review Team spends some quality time with AR eLiquid’s White Lightning line.

The Founders of AR eLiquid call their e liquid “Shine” in the tradition of the Moonshiners from back in days of Prohibition. (Can you even comprehend the thought that the US government would think itself so controlling of our personal lives that it felt justified in banning all alcohol products, on a Federal level? How ludicrous it seems today…or does it?) This bold mindset of AR eliquid seems right on the money in today’s atmosphere of bans, taxes, restrictions, and regulations. The heart is there, in the people of AR eLiquid, and they definitely talk the talk, but do they walk the walk as well?

Consider; how can a quality eliquid get made, distributed, and sold in the United States, at dozens of vape shops, for less than ten bucks for 30mL? That’s 33 cents for each milliliter. Or how about twenty bucks for 120mL?? That’s just 16 cents per milliliter. How can they do it? What’s wrong with this picture?

Seeking an answer to that question we turn to AR eliquid themselves, and here is the God’s Honest Truth about how you and I can spend ten bucks for a 30mL bottle and enjoy the vape.

“We have been manufacturing Premium Juice at AR eLiquid for almost two years now. We sold our eliquid at industry standard “premium” prices for 22 out of the past 24 months (just like everyone else.) Up through July 2015 we charged $57.99 for a 120ml, $17.99 for a 30ml, and $9.99 for a 15ml retail. After exhausting our efforts by competing for shelf space and customer loyalty with with a tidal wave of new eliquid companies fighting for the same shelf space and customers every day, we were searching for how we could be different, stand out from the crowd and truly serve our shops and customers better. During our last (very successful) 50% off sale we looked at our numbers and we saw the truth of the matter. Our most successful months were every month we ran a 50% off sale! We simply couldn’t argue with those results staring us in the face.”

They go on to say….

“With vapor devices getting more and more powerful each day, it’s pretty common for drippers and sub-ohm vapers to blow through 30ml of eliquid in a day (that’s approximately two 120ml bottles a week!!). At that rate, vaping can become a very expensive habit if you are spending $60-$80 per 120ml bottle. The majority of our customers) began looking for cheaper options because vaping can and should be a cheaper alternative to smoking tobacco. When we first released our Max VG Gypsy Juice line, it was intended to be a premium juice line. Cobalt blue glass bottles, awesome labels, quality flavors = Premium Juice. We haven’t changed a single ingredient or method, we are just saving money buy buying in larger quantities and are passing that savings on to our customers. Our new price points make our juice both “Premium eLiquid” AND “Cheap eLiquid” at the same time!”

This kind of honesty, and openness mean a lot to this team, and while there are moments in other e liquid reviews where a team member or two might feel a bit anxious about expressing their real impressions about a certain flavor or eliquid, we went into this review feeling like we could be as open as AR eLiquid is, without worrying about hurting someone’s feelings. This review of AR eLiquid’s White Lightning line (our review of their Gypsy line will appear next month) will pull no punches. Most importantly, we made the decision to not consider how inexpensive the e juice is when determining our impressions. You won’t see anything like “Well, considering the price…” We either liked it or not, period.

AR e liquid uses US-Sourced ingredients from top manufacturers. 99.7% pure VG, Nic Select Nicotine and food flavorings sourced from US companies like, Capella, Flavor West & The Flavor Apprentice…definitely Premium e juice.

The Particulars of White Lightning

White Lightning e liquid, in the 30mL size anyway, is bottled in tall, thin, plastic bottles with a long thin snout tip. Not only are these bottles easy to store, they are exceptionally easy to fill any tank, no matter how narrow the opening.

It’s agreed among the team that these bottles should be adopted by all e liquid manufacturers. We doubt that will happen since many brands depend on their super high-end marketing strategy of expensive bottles, fancy 4-color labels, and boxes, pendants and other fancy ways of gaining attention. While I am personally a sucker for slick presentation it does take a toll on the pricing of such products. The tall, thin, plastic bottles have many qualities, but they are inexpensive enough to allow for lower pricing of the eliquid inside.

White Lightning e Liquid is an 80% VG, 20% PG blend. You’ll never ‘want’ for vapor production, there is plenty to be had in each flavor, though some are better at vapor production than others. At the same time, when the AR eliquids arrived they were nearly colorless, but over time (about 3-4 weeks), a few have changed into a golden shade.

Lastly, while an 80% VG blend makes for a smooth, vapor-heavy experience, individual flavors, and the brand of flavoring, can make or break the ‘all-day-vape’ experience. We’re happy to report that all 7 eliquids in this review will work as all-day-vapes, as long as you like the flavor.

Hardware Used in This Review

Tom: iStick 100W (not the TC model) and the HCigar DNA200. Tanks included the Scylla (ceramic coil), the Defiant (ceramic coil) and the Subtank Mini with Atom Vapes ceramic coil and Coil Art replacement coils of various builds.

Julia: ProVape Radius, Pioneer4You IPV D3. Tanks were Kanger Subtank Mini with Coil Art Clapton build, and Cubis by Joyetech.

Kiera: Innokin Cortex and iSub G, and the eVic-VTC 75W with Tron tank.

Jason: iStick TC100W and Uwell Crown.

White Lightning – Our Thoughts and Impressions

Unicorn Cake

 “You won’t believe how tasty this flavor is until you try it for yourself. Don’t let us convince you by mentioning that it’s comparable to a piece of sweet cake layered with strawberry cream and milk icing. It’s as mythical and legendary as a unicorn. You have to see it (and try it) to believe it.” – White Lightning

Tom: 5.00 – I can excuse the hyperbole in the description above, but I also agree with the description that Unicorn Cake is a delicious sweet cake with strawberry icing notes throughout. A solid all-day-vape, the flavorful blend and big vapor makes this one a great choice to begin your White Lightning experience. Very hard to believe that anyone can buy a 120mL bottle of this stuff for just $20.  FLAVOR – 5

Julia: 5.00 – ‘Cake’ is a great flavor component for an eliquid, and Unicorn Cake delivers on that sumptuous cake goodness. The ‘strawberry’ component is very light, and only after pushing the wattage to produce warmer vapor does the strawberry come through. Unicorn Cake is a simple, non-complex e liquid with massive clouds of vapor with sub-ohm tanks and enough wattage. An all-day-vape, Unicorn Cake is definitely joining my selection of eliquids in my rotation. FLAVOR – 5

Kiera: 5.00 –  The range of power that can be used while vaping Unicorn Cake is pretty amazing. In a sub-ohm tank at 0.5-ohm you can get plenty of vapor and a smooth yellow cake flavor at just 25-watts. At 45-watts with the same coil this Unicorn Cake explodes with awesome sweet cake flavors and a nice strawberry icing finish. Definitely an all-day-vape, Unicorn Cake is satisfying, delicious, and just the right flavor for leisure vaping. FLAVOR – 5

Jason: 5.00 – 80% VG is perfect for sub-ohm tanks, and with the flavoring inside this mixture being a sweet yellow cake with small strawberry notes it delivers an all-day-vape without a chance for vapers tongue to hit. Unicorn Cake is rather simple, yet deeply satisfying. If you like cake vapes, Unicorn Cake is one you won’t want to miss. Keep a 30mL plastic bottle close by and a 120mL bottle in your collection. FLAVOR – 5

Super Cereal

“Fruit cereal and milk. Plain and simple. Warning: this product may cause flashbacks to early childhood memories.” – White Lightning

Tom: 5.00 – The description fits to a tee, so it gets the full 5 points. Now, I have to be careful here; I have tasted fruity cereal flavors that I have enjoyed more than Super Cereal, but they are also a lot more expensive. I totally enjoyed this creamy fruity cereal flavor. The milk, or creamy aspect of the flavor, brings it home and makes it super satisfying. Easily a winner, and tasty to boot. FLAVOR – 5.00

Julia: 5.00 – Cereal blends are so popular that it is hard to distinguish one from another. I really liked this flavor, and I will add it to my rotation as an all-day-vape, but, there really isn’t anything “super” about it. A fruity cereal flavor, with a milk finish, that satisfies in a big way, I recommend it to anyone looking for a solid cereal vape for less cost than any other I know about. FLAVOR – 5.00

Kiera: 5.00 – After vaping Unicorn Cake, Orange Dream, and Berry Blast I expected something unique about this fruity cereal mix. The reality is that Super Cereal is a good, delicious fruity cereal, but one I’ve seen many times before. Simple and effective. FLAVOR – 5.00

Jason: 5.00 – While I liked this Fruity Pebbles e liquid I was not knocked over by it. But I believe you don’t have to be knocked over by every eliquid you buy. Sometimes having a good, dependable, and enjoyable ejuice to go to when you want something fruity and creamy is enough. It might be wrong to call Super Cereal a workhorse eliquid, but that’s what I feel while I’m vaping it. Nothing magical here, but its still a delicious cereal vape. FLAVOR – 4.50

Berry Blast

 “Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and bananas mixed to creamy perfection. This refreshing smoothie will leave you ready to blend up some more.” – White Lightning

Tom: 5.00 – Because of the quality of these eliquids in the White Lightning line its hard to not score them all the full 5 points. About the only thing that would prevent a 5.00 score is if the description provided wasn’t what we experienced. That can, and does happen.

But 5.00 points that doesn’t mean we like the flavor, which is why we now add our Flavor Score after we provide our impressions. Berry Blast is an example of that, a 5.00 eliquid, and a Favor Score of just 3.00. The reason for the 3.00 is the mix of berries with banana. That banana sort of ruins it for me. I like banana flavors, but not when its mixed in with strawberries and raspberries, or blueberries for that matter.

Berry Blast has a big banana flavor component, so big it takes away a lot of berry flavor. I sort of enjoyed it for a while, and then I didn’t. FLAVOR – 3.00

Julia: 4.00 – I can’t award Berry Blast the full 5 points for one reason; this is not a ‘creamy’ blend as indicated in the description. These berry flavors are all there, but they are stark, bold, intense. Throw in banana flavoring and you wind up with a weird mix of flavors. I won’t be adding this to my rotation, but I’m betting some people will love the berry and banana blend. – FLAVOR 3.00

Kiera: 5.00 – Berry Blast has become one of my favorite fruity blends. If you try you can taste each of the flavor components; the raspberry, the blueberry, the strawberry and even the banana. It’s unique, bold and beautiful. An instant addition to my rotation! FLAVOR – 5.00

Jason: 4.75 – I know Tom didn’t like that Berry Blast had banana in it, but I think that banana flavoring makes it a different, and a delicious fruity vape. I don’t think its an all-day-vape, at least not for me, but for those times when I want a hearty fruit vape this is going be it. FLAVOR – 5.00

S.K.Y.

 “The ever so good strawberry with a sweet kiss of kiwi makes this a wonderful and enjoyable liquid!” – White Lightning

Tom: 5.00 – Kiwi. A dreaded flavor for me… until now. If you would have told me before this review that I would enjoy an eliquid that contained Kiwi, I would say you’re crazy. But I’ll be damned if I don’t love this blend of strawberry and Kiwi. I mean, what the hell?!

S.K.Y is a strange blend of the perfect amount of strawberry and Kiwi that creates this wicked smooth, flavorful vape that I just didn’t want to stop vaping. If you’re like me, if you don’t particularly enjoy Kiwi you owe it to yourself to try S.K.Y. I was shocked and delighted that this is now in my rotation, and an all-day-vape. Damn! FLAVOR – 5.00

Julia: 5.00 – A lot of people like Kiwi in their eliquids, and it’s a bit weird that no one on this team does. However, during the discussion period of this review all I heard was how great this eliquid is. And I agreed. S.K.Y. is fantastic. A wonderfully smooth blend that produces more vapor than any other eliquid in this line, S.K.Y is also as satisfying as an eliquid can be. I don’t understand how they did, but I accept the fact that they did. Truly marvelous. FLAVOR 5.00+

Kiera: 5.00 – Unicorn Cake, Orange Dream, and now this, S.K.Y., how incredible that these flavors are so good that I will now add more eliquids to my rotation than I have in long time. S.K.Y. is a blend of sweet ripe strawberry, absent any tartness, and a muted Kiwi flavor that somehow blends into what I can only call a “perfect” flavor.

I don’t mean perfect in the way that it is the best flavor I’ve ever had, but rather the perfect blend that combines to create a pleasurable flavor that hits the tastebuds perfectly, lasts all day long, and pushes out enormous clouds of aromatic vapor. Definitely part of my rotation now, and I suspect for a long time. FLAVOR 5.00+

Jason: 5.00 – The real test for S.K.Y. would be to fill a tank and give it to John (Manzione, our publisher) and ask him his opinion, without telling him what it is. So that’s exactly what I did.

A couple hours later John sent me a note that said it was a “fantastic” vape, and he wanted to know what it was so he could get some for himself. When I told him that the eliquid contained Kiwi he didn’t believe me. John said this was an award winning flavor because it was one that he believes everyone would love, and everyone would think of it as an all-day-vape.

As for myself, I mostly agree with John. However, in order for it to truly come alive S.K.Y. needs a healthy amount of wattage with a sub-ohm tank or RDA. At lower wattage the Kiwi is a little stronger, and there is a bit of an aftertaste to it. Vaped as a warm vapor all that disappears and the result is a flavor blend that demands to be in my rotation. FLAVOR 5.00+

El Flan

“When you take the best of both worlds you get a creamy vanilla custard torte topped with caramel and a silky smooth horchata to wash it all down. Once you try this flavor it will be hard to put it down.” – White Lightning

Tom: 5.00 – Flan is a baked custard similar to crème caramel. It is made with eggs, cream, gelatin and vanilla flavoring. Flan’s crème caramel profile includes a layer of burnt or caramelized sugar on the bottom. It is one of my favorite desserts in the world. Even the premade Flan I buy at the grocery store is fantastic.  Because I know the flavor profile of Flan so well, I expected a complex, delectable dessert vape. If I told you that the flavor tasted like Flan, then trust that it does.

In some small way El Flan does indeed taste like Flan, but the flavor in the vapor is much more complicated than a simple Flan. Vaped with the Defiant tank and the ceramic coil on an iStick 100W set to 45w you’ll taste every note described in the official description. There are ample creamy vanilla custard notes with a sweet caramel and horchata flavors twirling around the custard base. If there is an issue with El Flan, it’s the limited range of wattage. Anything higher than 45w will introduce what we call an ‘edge’, a flavor component that removes it from the all-day-vape column. However, if you can find the sweet spot you’ll enjoy it all day. FLAVOR – 4.5

Julia: 5.00 – First, I totally loved this flavor, and the only reason it doesn’t get the full 5.00 in the Flavor Score is the bare minimum of horchata notes. El Flan is a caramel custard vape, one that produces big clouds of warm vapor. If you need a good caramel custard in your rotation you can’t go wrong with El Flan, just don’t expect that horchata finish in a big way. FLAVOR – 4.75

Kiera: 5.00 – If you’re spending good money on a more expensive caramel and vanilla custard then you need to pick up a bottle of El Flan and save big and enjoy just as much. I have tasted very similar e liquids, so in that respect El Flan isn’t unique. What makes this a great addition to anyone’s rotation is that it delivers a smooth custard base with vanilla and caramel notes that provides a satisfying and delicious vape for so little cost.  FLAVOR – 5.00

Jason: 4.50 – The description for El Flan is more complicated than it needs to be. El Flan is a simple flavor; a delicious vanilla and caramel custard delivered in super thick vapor. El Flan would make a fine addition to any rotation that includes a custard category. In fact, if custard is your thing it can easily be an all-day-vape because it vapes smoothly, without hitting you over the head. The horchata is a tiny part of the flavor profile but if you vape El Flan with every taste bud fully awake you’ll get that horchata on the tail end of the exhale. FLAVOR – 5.00

Orange Dream

“Creamy orange and sweet vanilla notes with a hint of luscious, yellow cake. This flavor will, most definitely, bring you back to every summer of your childhood.” – White Lightning

Tom: 5.00 – Over the years this team has had lousy experiences just about every time we reviewed an e liquid with an ‘orange’ flavor component. In that vein we didn’t expect much from Orange Dream. So imagine my shock when I discovered that this orange/vanilla/cake blend delivered an unexpected and delightfully delicious vape.

Maybe it’s the particular orange flavoring used in this blend, or maybe it’s the precise amount of orange, vanilla and sweet cake flavoring, but whatever it is, Orange Dream is a full flavored e liquid that delivers the real flavor of an orange creamsicle melted over a warm slice of cake. When it was time to move to another eliquid I balked. I stayed with it for another few hours, until there was about 10mL left, to savor after the review. FLAVOR – 5.00

Julia: 5.00 – I was tempted to score Orange Dream a 5.00 if only because it’s a rare treat to find an enjoyable orange vape. I thought long and hard about where I’ve tasted this combination of flavors before, it took a while, but after a couple of ‘sessions’ with it I realized that it tasted exactly like Entenmann’s Orange Cake-Iced. When I lived with my parents a handful of years ago my dad loved this cake and my mom would make it a point to bring one home about twice a month. Orange Dream is that cake in vapor form. Period. FLAVOR – 5.00

Kiera: 5.00 – Julia and I were vaping Orange Dream one night while watching a movie at home. Out of the blue Julia abruptly shouted “Entenmann’s!”. I asked her that the hell she meant and she told me all about this orange icing cake from Entenmann’s and how Orange Dream tastes exactly like it. The next day I stopped by Shaw’s grocery store and found it. I bought it and took it home and we devoured it in a day. Strange thing is, she was right. Makes me wonder if that is what AR eliquid was going for. We added it to our rotations. – FLAVOR 5.00

Jason: 5.00 – I have never, ever, vaped anything orange and loved it. I may have liked it, or tolerated it, but never loved it. This Orange Dream is the one I love. I think the reason is that no other brand I know of blended a sweet orange flavoring, eliminated the ‘tart’ from it with vanilla flavors, and blended it all inside a cake flavor. The result is amazing. I love a good orange, I drink orange juice every morning, but in an eliquid its just never worked out. Now it does, and that is fantastic. – FLAVOR 5.00

Donuts – NEW!

“An ooey, gooey, chocolate donut smothered in sticky blueberry glaze” – White Lightning

Tom: 5.00 Please make sure you read all these descriptions before coming to a conclusion about the new flavor from AR eliquid. We received these eliquids weeks ago, and at the time there was no description available for Donuts. I automatically assumed that, like other donut eliquids, this was going to be a glazed donut flavor with, or without blueberries. It is not. It is a CHOCOLATE donut…with a blueberry glaze. If you’re expecting a similar flavor profile as the global Phenom I Love Donuts, you won’t be happy…

However, if you like Chocolate donuts you will LOVE this new eliquid. Believe me when I tell you that on the exhale you will taste the EXACT flavor of a Dunkin Donuts Chocolate donut. It is scary authentic.

On the inhale you’re going to taste an unfamiliar blueberry ‘glaze’, which some friends that I’ve shared a few hits with, like and dislike.

Here’s a tip for getting the best flavor from this new eliquid; warm vapor. – FLAVOR 5.00

Julia: 5.00 – Chocolate donuts slathered with a thick blueberry glaze… that is exactly what Donuts tastes like. And it is so damn good you’ll find it hard to believe.

On the inhale you’ll get this mix of chocolate and blueberry, which at first is a little strange. Then, on the exhale you’ll be greeted with a 100% authentic chocolate donut. I don’t know how, but being able to create a flavor that tastes like a donut is just amazing to me.

Chocolate is a hard flavor to reproduce in vapor form, and many times, especially in early years of Spinfuel, whenever chocolate was attempted is failed. Today, creating a chocolate donut is within the realm of possibilities and AR eliquid nailed it with this one. In my rotation now – FLAVOR 5.00

Kiera: 5.00 –  When I first filled my tank, a tank with a brand new coil, I waited a few minutes and began vaping. My initial response was… unpleasant. The flavor was unlike anything I’ve tasted before and I had no idea what to make of it. So I set it aside and vaped more of the S.K.Y. eliquid. Several hours later I went back to it and all of sudden the chocolate donut and blueberry glaze flavors popped right out. I’ve seen this happen many times before, which is why we’ve said many times that eliquid always improves when it gets a chance to breathe.

This delicious chocolate-cake donut is very authentic, if you can believe it. The inhale gives you a chocolate donut flavor with blueberry glaze (read=sweet, thick blueberry icing), and the exhale, the tail end of the exhale, you will get a mouthful of genuine chocolate donut. Best vaped warm. Let it breathe, or you won’t get the full effect. FLAVOR – 5.00

Jason: 5.00 – What surprised me about Donuts is that for the first time in my vape life I know what a chocolate donut in vapor form tastes like. That’s a flavor I never thought would happen. Chocolate? Yes, sure. Donuts? Yes, glazed donuts absolutely. But a chocolate donut? Doubtful.

Not anymore.

 Unlike the other 6 flavors in this review, Donuts needs to breathe before vaping. I believe that’s because of the chocolate flavoring, which can be bitter if not aged properly and aerated properly.

Although I enjoyed this eliquid a lot, I think I would have liked it better without the blueberry glaze. Still, chocolate donuts in vapor form is a real treat. – FLAVOR 5.00

 White Lightning Conclusion

 Vaping eliquids that are this good, but costs so little, is a paradox that needs looking into. The thing is, I’m perfectly happy to pay $20 for a 30mL bottle of eliquid that I truly like. So when presented with flavors like these, at 120mL for the same $20 feels like something’s wrong. But, there it is. True, high quality ingredients, in easy to use and easy to store plastic bottles, flavors that all types of vapers will love, for half the price of other brands, that’s White Lightning.

This turned out to be one of the most interesting reviews we’ve done. We didn’t expect to like them all, and clearly the Kiwi-based eliquid was dead on arrival as far as we were concerned, and yet at the end of it all, the result is a review that showed us, as plain as day, that quality, flavor, and satisfaction can be had for a whole lot less than we ever imagined. How can you not want to try this line?

The next time we visit AR eliquids we will be reviewing their Gypsy line. And if they are anything like the White Lightning line, we’re in for another wonderful review. Visit AR eLiquid Here.

Tom McBride, Julia and Kiera Hartley-Barnes, and Jason Little – The Spinfuel eLiquid Review Team