Halo is a well-established company with a stellar reputation, and their US-made juices – while not being as pretentious as some craft or gourmet juice companies – definitely stand the test of time.
With reasonable prices and international availability, they’re destined to remain part of the vaping landscape for many years to come, and, for new vapers in particular, they have plenty to offer. There may be more exciting combinations and more delicately-crafted blends available elsewhere, but you’re unlikely to be disappointed with what they have on offer.
Halo is one of the institutions of the vaping industry. They’ve been around since 2009, and have gained the loyalty of vapers from all across the world with their range of 26 e-liquid flavors, as well as earning six Spinfuel Choice Awards. With an established presence in industry, an extensive selection of tobacco, menthol, fruity and sweet juices and reasonable prices – 7 ml for $5.99 or 30 ml for $19.99 – they’re a pretty tempting choice, especially for new vapers, but have their juices stood the test of time? Our Halo Cigs e-liquid review puts six juices from the mixer to the test: is their reputation still deserved, or have they been eclipsed by some of the newer entrants into the market?
Packaging and Design
For design, the Halo look is well-established and still gets the job done. The blue-flame logo and navy blue-tinted bottles combine to produce some very aesthetically appealing juices, with the back label offering all the information you need, including the name of the flavor, nicotine level, lot code, best before date, the ingredients (USP-grade nicotine, PG and VG) and the expected nicotine warning. The tinting of the bigger bottles probably does a lot of the work, but Halo definitely comes out well in terms of looks.
The large bottles of Halo e-liquid are all glass and come with medicine bottle style child-proof caps, immediately giving off an air of quality. The 7 ml bottles are the standard plastic type, and although 15 ml bottles aren’t available in the US, they are in the UK and Europe, and come in glass bottles more like the 30 ml ones. The 15 ml bottles don’t come with dropper tops, but you can pick up some spare ones to make it easier to fill up – although this is at the expense of the child-proofing. Overall, a great job in this department from Halo.
Mixing Options
Halo e-juice comes in the expected five nicotine levels: 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 mg/ml, offering plenty of choice for everyone from long-time vapers through to just-switching smokers. Some other mixers have started offering 3 mg/ml options, but overall there’s nothing to complain about here.
The PG/VG ratio of the juices is fixed, and – bizarrely – is called “proprietary information” by Halo. This pays no consideration to vapers sensitive to PG, and realistically, you wouldn’t have much more of a chance of replicating the juice if you knew the PG/VG ratio anyway. Based on the consistency and fairly substantial throat hit, it seems to be a PG-heavy mixture, offering suitable vapor production but not the thick fog you get with a higher-VG e-juice.
Halo Cigs E-Liquid Flavors
Malibu – Rating 3/5
Accuracy: This is described as a frozen piña colada with a hint of menthol, offering a unique spin on a common e-juice flavor. The pineapple comes through at the start of your draw, but it’s quickly followed up by a punch from the coconut that drowns it out a little as you continue your draw. Both fruits are identifiable, but they both could be captured a little more authentically; the pineapple is fairly realistic but too fleeting, and the coconut just misses the mark ever so slightly. The menthol is present throughout; very subtle, but adding its character to the flavor throughout.
Overall: This is an enjoyable juice, but nothing particularly impressive. The combination is intriguing, and it does have a certain charm, but the dominance of the coconut takes something away from the overall flavor. Coconut just isn’t the most exciting of flavors, especially if it isn’t expertly captured. Malibu isn’t bad, but dialing up the pineapple and dialing down the coconut would have made it much better.
Sub Zero – Rating 4/5
Accuracy: This is described as having “triple the menthol effect” of Halo’s standard menthol juices, being “intensely fresh” and having a subtle sweetness. Intense is definitely the word. It’s so mentholated its borderline eye-watering. The immediate taste is what you’d expect if you ground up super-strength breath mints into a fine enough powder to inhale, and then took in a whole pack of them at once. There is a touch of sweetness, almost like peppermint, and it does help balance out the flavor, but this is still a juice for those wanting seriously powerful, icy menthol.
Overall: For what it is, this juice really knocks it out of the park. It’s potentially the most hard-hitting menthol liquid I’ve ever tried, with the lingering icy sensation playing on your tastebuds long after your last puff. For me personally, the main downside is that it’s really too much menthol, but if you’re an ex-menthol smoker just making the switch or you really want a robust menthol e-liquid, then it could be just what you’ve been looking for. One word of warning: this is much more tolerable in a clearomizer. In a dripping atomizer, while you still get the pleasant sweetness, it’s way too powerful on the menthol front.
Turkish Tobacco – Rating 4/5
Accuracy: This juice promises a sun-cured Turkish tobacco flavor with a light sweetness riding on top. The tobacco here is very well done; it has just enough accuracy to pull it through, and definitely has the unique, warm and slightly earthy character of a Turkish tobacco. The sweetness is detectable too, rounding off the taste and adding another (albeit subtle) dimension to the juice. This one definitely delivers on its promises.
Overall: A well-captured tobacco with enough character to make it stand out. The tobacco flavor might not be powerful enough for some, but for me it’s the ideal level: the earthy tobacco aroma makes up the bulk of the taste but retains enough subtlety to prevent it from becoming too pungent. The understated sweetness is the unsung hero of this e-liquid, helping it stand out from the many Turkish tobacco e-liquids available and keeping you coming back for more. A very nice juice, overall; if you like Turkish tobaccos, it’s definitely one to try.
Belgian Cocoa – Rating 4.5/5
Accuracy: This is billed as a Belgian chocolate e-liquid, with a powerful flavor, dry cocoa undertones and a sweeter chocolate note on top. The description here is perfect: you get a pure, cocoa flavor on the inhale that branches out into a rich, chocolate sweetness as you continue your draw. The cocoa is fantastically authentic, with the complexity of a dark chocolate coming through clearly, producing an almost unbeatably realistic taste.
Overall: This is a wonderful juice, great for anybody with a sweet tooth and being right up there with the best chocolate e-liquids you’ll find. It boasts enough sweetness to keep the experience pleasant – and make it a potential all-day vape – but the real selling-point is the authentic cocoa taste, managing to justify the “Belgian” part of the name with the taste of a high-end chocolate. It leaves a puzzlingly unpleasant note in the room, that really doesn’t smell like chocolate (more like a discount fart spray), but for you as the first-hand vaper all you’ll pick up is the realistic and delicious chocolate aroma. This is probably my favorite juice from the bunch from Halo.
Kringle’s Curse – Rating 4/5
Accuracy: This is a peppermint e-liquid, billed as a straightforward minty flavor with no underlying tobacco. It definitely hits home with the peppermint, with the same cooling, menthol quality you’ll find in Sub Zero but (thankfully) less robust and backed up with much stronger notes of sweetness. The flavor is very clean, with nothing other than peppermint detectable in the juice, leaving the minty sweetness to carry the taste on its own.
Overall: A very good option for menthol lovers with a sweet tooth. This is definitely easier to vape than Sub Zero, packing enough cooling mint to satiate the needs of ex-menthol smokers but having the much-needed sweetness to give it a wider-ranging appeal. The juice would admittedly be more interesting if they’d incorporated another element, but it’s tasty enough to serve as a stand-alone flavor anyway.
Tribeca – Rating 4.5/5
Accuracy: This is an RY4-style juice often called one of the best tobacco options on the market, with a base of tobacco topped off with vanilla and caramel. The juice definitely has an RY4 quality, with an underlying tobacco flavor draped in sweetness, but it also brings its own unique character to the table. On its own, the tobacco wouldn’t really be particularly impressive – more like a dime-a-dozen tobacco juice than anything noteworthy – but the caramel is given equal weight in the mix, and some hints of nuttiness bring the juice to life. The vanilla isn’t really detectable, but probably offers a subtle contribution to the resulting flavor.
Overall: A legendary tobacco e-liquid that deserves its status. While long-time vapers might prefer a sweeter RY4, for just-switching smokers or those looking for an RY4 more towards the tobacco end of the spectrum, it’s a fantastic option. Easily an all-day vape thanks to the fairly gentle sweetness and the warm complexity of the flavor, and one you’ll keep coming back to. Although it’s hard to imagine placing an order with Halo without picking up a bottle, it's still worth adding that this is a definite must-vape e-juice.