JAC Vapour’s e-liquid does leave a lot to be desired. One on hand, their fruity e-liquids often do a great job – the Strawberry Chew and Blackcurrant Squash in particular – but on the other hand, their selection of tobaccos unilaterally miss the mark and all of their juices are a little too basic. They’re a straightforward mixer: when the one-note of the flavor is pulled off well, it can be pleasant, but most of the time you wish they’d gotten a little more creative in their flavor combinations. If you’re already placing an order with JAC Vapour, there are a handful of juices it’s worth picking up, but otherwise you can do a lot better elsewhere.
JAC Vapour is a UK-based company, which got started in 2010 and has been gaining popularity since then with their eGo-style e-cigs, and also offers a few ranges of e-liquid: standard liquids, UK-made e-liquids and vaporless e-liquids. They claim to be one of the best e-liquid brands in the UK, but are these strong claims justified by the quality of the juice? At £5.19 (around $8) for 10 ml and £13.99 (just under $22) for 30 ml, the prices are reasonably high, but are the e-liquids worth it? We’ve put a selection of 12 juices to the test for our JAC Vapour e-liquid review to find out.
Packaging and Design
JAC Vapour’s design doesn’t really do anything special, but the overall impact is pretty good, thanks to the consistent color-scheme and its air of understated confidence. The logo is straightforward but effective, and all of the core information you need – the name of the flavor, nicotine level and PG/VG ratio – is right beneath it.
The rest of the label is taken up with warnings, but there’s also some storage advice and a batch number – both helpful additional touches. The 5 and 10 ml bottles are plastic; fairly run-of-the-mill but at least coming with good child-proof caps, which seem better-made than most but work in the same way.
Additionally, I received most of the juices in two “Taster Tins” (£13.99 or around $22 for five 5 ml bottles), which carry the same understated but effective branding, and have a foam insert to cradle the individual bottles of juice. In terms of presentation, the tin is a fantastic touch, and JAC Vapour does well in this department overall.
Mixing Options
For nicotine, JAC Vapour offers the standard five options: 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 mg/ml, covering enough bases for most vapers and just-switching smokers. They also give you a choice in PG/VG ratio, between 80/20 (PG-heavy) and 30/70 (VG-heavy), which is excellent for anybody sensitive to PG and provides more choice than you’ll find with many mixers, although a 50/50 mix (or something a little closer to one) would have been an ideal addition.
JAC Vapour E-Liquid Flavors
Banana Milkshake – Rating 4/5
Accuracy: This is a straight-up banana milkshake e-liquid, and it accomplishes what it sets out to pretty well. The banana is robust and pretty realistic, and is backed by creaminess throughout your draw. The taste gets a little alcohol-y on the inhale, but it doesn’t take much away from the overall impact.
Overall: A very enjoyable e-liquid, despite a fairly straightforward flavor combination. The banana makes up the bulk of the taste, but the underpinning creaminess softens the harsher elements and produces something you keep coming back to.
Toffee – Rating 3/5
Accuracy: This is described as a buttery yet sweet toffee flavor, with a hint of maple syrup. Toffee e-liquids often fall short of the mark, but the flavor here definitely comes across clearly. The maple syrup isn’t particularly detectable, though – you do pick up a slight hint of it if you’re looking for it, but it’s largely lost in the sweetness of the mix.
Overall: This juice is pleasantly sweet and has enough of the character of toffee to carry it through, but it doesn’t have that extra something to take it to the next level. There isn’t anything bad about it, but it’s not one you’ll be rushing back for more of.
Smooth Cigar – Rating 3/5
Accuracy: JAC Vapour calls this “strong and full-on,” incorporating tobacco essence for a smoky, intense flavor. The result is definitely strong and smoky, and it does capture an element of the cigar flavor, but it falls short of being a realistic tobacco. It’s smooth, but lacks the depth and complexity of a true cigar flavor.
Overall: Despite not having the realism you’ll find with other tobacco e-liquids, the juice isn’t too bad. Cigar-smokers might be a little disappointed overall, but it still achieves its core goal, and would be a nice option for a just-switching smoker.
Real Vanilla – Rating 2.5/5
Accuracy: This is a “true vanilla,” advertised as a rich and creamy blend. The vanilla comes through most strongly at the beginning of your draw, but it’s quickly drowned out by the creaminess. The “real” part of the name isn’t too justified; there are definitely more substantial vanilla e-liquids on the market.
Overall: If I had to describe this in one word, it would be “bland.” It has some pleasant sweetness, and the vanilla at the beginning of your draw is tasty, but it quickly turns into a dull, faint sweetness. Some have taken to mixing this with other juices to vape it, and I can see why.
Strawberry Chew – Rating 4.5/5
Accuracy: This is a strawberry e-liquid, specifically modeled after strawberry-flavored Chewits. The strawberry is present throughout your draw, supported by a taffy-like sweetness that does a fantastic job of replicating the taste of the sweet it’s modeled after. It does an excellent job in terms of accuracy, although it’s more candy-sweet than mouthwateringly fruity.
Overall: A fantastic e-liquid, with just the right amount of sweetness to make every puff come to life but with the strawberry always adding character to the flavor. This is an all-day-vape for me, even if my memory of Chewits has faded since my youth. Definitely one to pick up if you place an order with JAC Vapour.
Pure Menthol – Rating 3.5/5
Accuracy: This is a menthol e-liquid billed as having a minty kick, but also called a tobacco and menthol blend. The minty kick is definitely there – it’s an in your face menthol with a touch of sweetness and a cooling sensation on the inhale – but any hint of tobacco is completely and utterly absent. That’s not a bad thing, but if you’re looking for a tobacco and menthol blend, this definitely isn’t it.
Overall: A good menthol e-liquid overall, being minty enough to satisfy the needs of ex-menthol smokers, but not too powerful. The flavor isn’t too interesting, admittedly, but if you want a straight-up menthol this is a pretty good option.
Real Raspberry – Rating 4/5
Accuracy: The raspberry here is well-captured and realistic, having a fragrant, fruity flavor that’s immediately recognizable: the “real” is actually justified here. It might be slightly too floral and perfume-y, but it’s a great fruit replication regardless.
Overall: This is a great e-liquid, overall, replicating the characteristic taste of raspberries well. The juice is a nice balance between sweetness and fruitiness, and for what it is, it does a fantastic job. Again, the main downside is the one-note nature of the flavor, which isn’t a bad thing, but it could be more interesting with the addition of something like a creamy backdrop.
Real Tobacco – 2/5
Accuracy: A no-nonsense tobacco e-liquid from JAC Vapour, based on tobacco essence and boasting a genuine flavor. The smoky elements of the flavor are definitely present, and it has some level of realism, but overall it falls well short of the mark. The fact that both this and Smooth Cigar use tobacco essence is clear: both have the same generic tobacco taste and the difference between them is pretty minor.
Overall: A passable tobacco e-liquid, but definitely not one to get excited about. It’s almost a perfect example of how non-NET tobacco e-liquids often fail to get the job done: it’s accurate in a limited sense (thanks to the smokiness from the essence), but it’d be better to take a step away from doomed attempts at realism if it means getting a better juice.
Real Tobacco Lite – 2.5/5
Accuracy: This is described as a lighter version of Real Tobacco, and that much is definitely true. The overall flavor is very similar, but it has a bit less punch and that does help it go down a little easier. The same problems exist when it comes to realism, though, with the smokiness from the tobacco essence being pretty much all this has going for it.
Overall: I rate this slightly higher than the Real Tobacco, if only because it’s a little more understated, but ultimately the story here is much the same: a fairly standard tobacco juice that doesn’t really accomplish what it sets out to. Some people love it, but you can definitely get better.
Bubblegum – Rating 1.5/5
Accuracy: The start of your puff is marked by a definite bubblegum taste, with a characteristically synthetic-tasting sweetness hitting you immediately. The flavor fades pretty quickly after that, though, leaving a faintly-sweet but primarily tasteless end to your draw. The bubblegum definitely needs to be dialed up a notch or two.
Overall: This is a limp effort from JAC Vapour: like they’ve identified bubblegum as a common e-liquid flavor and made one just to “tick the box,” so to speak. There’s nothing special about it, and unless you have an unhealthy love for cut-price corner-shop bubblegum, very little reason to recommend it.
Spearmint – Rating 4/5
Accuracy: This is a candied menthol flavor, advertised as being just like spearmint gum. The mixture of mint and sweetness comes across clearly, and the comparison with spearmint gum is definitely justified. The menthol is fairly subtle, but the balance with the sweetness works perfectly.
Overall: For lovers of menthol, this is probably a little too light, but overall it’s a great e-liquid. The sweetness is really the savior of the flavor; turning a run-of-the-mill menthol into something you can happily vape all day. As is usual with JAC Vapour’s juices, it doesn’t exactly do anything special, but this is pulled off very well indeed.
Blackcurrant Squash – Rating 4.5/5
Accuracy: Thisis billed as a Ribena-style blackcurrant squash, and it’s another case of JAC Vapour doing a pretty good job with fruity e-liquid. The blackcurrant is very realistic, offering a mouthwateringly fruity flavor that does evoke memories of Ribena. The juice has some “natural” sweetness from the blackcurrant too, being present throughout your draw but not overpowering.
Overall: This is one of the best juices I tried from JAC Vapour: it does exactly what it claims to with style. The fruity sweetness makes it pretty impossible to dislike, and its one you’ll keep coming back to for more. It’s possibly a little too sweet to be an all-day-vape, but as an occasional treat it’s excellent.