Symphonic Salts from Totally Wicked
Si gets his nic salt fix thanks to the Symphonic Salts range from Totally Wicked!
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by Si Davies
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Supplied by Totally Wicked for review
Something a little bit different from Totally Wicked with their latest Symphonic Salts e-liquid range. They are nicotine salts which are usually 50VG/50PG suitable for MTL (Mouth To Lung), instead these juices are 65VG/35PG which means they are a little bit thicker. They also offer a range of strengths to suit most vapers from 3mg up to 18mg which means these juices are suitable for DL as well as MTL.
That said, the thicker liquid doesn’t suit all coils, ideally you need something that is suitable for DL/RDL which accepts 70VG/30PG or something that wicks fast. After a little trial and error, I ended up using the Artery PAL 3 for stock coils and the Vapefly Galaxies MTL RDA to test these juices and both worked a charm.
There are 12 flavours in the range and there is enough variety to suit most tastes. Not all are to my tastes but I have tried every one of them and have tried to be as fair as I can. I often discover flavours I wouldn’t otherwise choose when reviewing juices and there were a couple of pleasant surprises in this range.
I have always loved the 10ml bottles from Totally wicked, they are stubby and squeezy with a narrow spout making them ideal for pretty much every pod/tank I can think of. They are also superb quality which makes them great for reusing, I still use the empties for dispensing my shortfills into when I am out and about.
Flavours
- Apple & Raspberry Sour - A crescendo of sour green apple and fizzy raspberry.
- Banana Milkshake - Rich, ripe banana with smooth ice cream and notes of vanilla.
- Blackberry Lemonade - Tart lemonade harmonised with juicy blackberries.
- Blueberry & Pomegranate – Juicy blueberry bursting with sweet accents of pomegranate.
- Bubblegum Chews - Swirling soft candy with an echo of tutti frutti.
- Chilled Red Grape – Sweet and juicy red grapes work in perfect unison with a cooling exhale.
- Frozen Forest Fruits - A full medley of frozen berries.
- Frozen Fruit Squash – An ice chilled ensemble of your favourite purple squash.
- Glazed Lemon Tart - Opulent, buttery pastry, smothered with upbeat sweet lemon curd.
- Iced Blackcurrant Fusion – A crescendo of blackcurrant, menthol, aniseed, eucalyptus and lemon.
- Iced Mango & Lychee - A rumba of tropical iced mango and exotic chilled lychee.
- Strawberry & Watermelon - Fruity duet of delicious sweet strawberry and juicy watermelon.
Nic salts? WTF are nic salts?
The easiest way to describe nic salts over the more common ‘freebase’ nicotine is the speed that the nicotine enters your bloodstream; nicotine salts enter your system much faster which helps relieve your nicotine cravings much faster. Nic salts take seconds compared to freebase which takes several minutes, the downside for some folks (and the upside for others) is that nicotine salts are generally smoother and taste less of nicotine which results in less of a throat hit associated with smoking so it feels less ciggie-like as a result.
Personally I much prefer nic salts as I often get that ‘first ciggie’ like headrush in the mornings or when I have had to go without a vape for prolonged periods. I simply have never been able to achieve this with freebase nicotine. Nic salts weren’t around when I first quit smoking, but I know they would have made it a lot easier for me to quit as I struggled to get my morning nicotine fix.
Apple & Raspberry Sour
"A crescendo of sour green apple and fizzy raspberry.
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The first in the range brought me my first pleasant surprise, ‘sour’ is something I avoid with a vengeance so naturally I was reluctant to try this one. The apple was the dominant flavour and the raspberry was picked up in the aftertaste, the sour element was more of a tangy taste which wasn’t overdone so made it quite refreshing and flavourful. It kind of reminded me of refreshers sweets with that sherbet tang. For me, this one wasn’t an all-day vape (ADV) but certainly was a refreshing change.
Banana Milkshake
"Rich, ripe banana with smooth ice cream and notes of vanilla."
There’s no doubting what flavour this one is, the banana was obviously dominant and the ‘milkshake’ was pretty subtle. I would class it more as a creamy banana, the result was a very sweet juice. This e-liquid was also one of the thickest juices and I preferred it in a dripper to get the best from the flavour, another ‘treat’ juice rather than an ADV for me.
Blackberry Lemonade
"Tart lemonade harmonised with juicy blackberries."
Blackberry is one of those flavours that is a trip down memory lane for me, not a flavour I would go out of my way to choose in real food, but still a nice fruit occasionally. This mix of blackcurrant and lemonade is a good balance, I enjoyed this one far more than I expected and soon worked my way through the 10ml bottle. The ‘lemonade’ element wasn’t as strong as I’m used to with MTL liquids and I think RDL or DL would bring this side out more.
Blueberry & Pomegranate
"Juicy blueberry bursting with sweet accents of pomegranate."
Blueberry is one of those flavours I don’t get on with as a dominant flavour so this juice wasn’t for me. I was able to judge the flavour in a dripper (Galaxies RDA), and the pomegranate actually complimented the blueberry fairly well. The flavour was accurate and if you enjoy blueberry then I think you should enjoy this liquid. Despite my dislike for blueberry, I still polished off the 10ml which says something for this flavour. One for blueberry fans I would say.
Bubblegum Chews
"Swirling soft candy with an echo of tutti frutti."
This was one of the easiest juices to review as TW got it spot on. This wasn’t as thick as some of the other sweet flavours and worked a charm in a couple of my pods. I really enjoyed this juice as you were left with that pleasant bubblegum aftertaste. I prefer vaping bubblegum over the real thing as the flavour is constant. A borderline ADV, but definitely one I would regularly re-order.
Chilled Red Grape
"Sweet and juicy red grapes work in perfect unison with a cooling exhale."
This was the ‘pick of the bunch’ for me, another flavour TW nailed. The description is spot on and the cool exhale was just right. I don’t usually like ‘koolada’ but this was subtle and refreshing, one of those flavours I could quite happily class as an ADV. Naturally I soon demolished this bottle.
Frozen Forest Fruits
"A full medley of frozen berries."
For me this is one of those ‘meh’ flavours, I couldn’t detect any dominant flavour and the ‘frozen’ element just muted the overall effect. This was a borderline menthol flavour, and I simply don’t do menthol so I didn’t enjoy this one at all. Perhaps if you enjoy menthol, then this one will appeal to you. For me, I was happy to move on to the next flavour.
Frozen Fruit Squash
"An ice chilled ensemble of your favourite purple squash."
Bearing in mind I didn’t enjoy the previous flavour, I was expecting this one to be similar. Perhaps the colour of the box should have given me a clue, but this one was much nicer and closer to ‘Vimto’ resulting in a more dominant flavour profile. The ‘frozen’ wasn’t as noticeable which resulted in a better balance for me, just enough koolada to leave a refreshing and pleasant aftertaste. Not quite an ADV for me though, but one I would re-order.
Glazed Lemon Tart
"Opulent, buttery pastry, smothered with upbeat sweet lemon curd."
Lemon Tart is one of my most frustrating flavours, I love it but I have struggled to find one that works for MTL. This is one of those that worked better in a sub-ohm RDL pod/tank to get the best from it. Unfortunately I chose 18mg to test which is more suited to MTL, however I did test it in one of my RDL pods. The flavour was really good but I couldn’t vape it for too long due to the high mg, a 3mg or 6mg in a sub-ohm pod would have been perfect. A RDL set up and 6mg would be a great ADV for me.
Iced Blackcurrant Fusion
"A crescendo of blackcurrant, menthol, aniseed, eucalyptus and lemon."
I’m afraid I can’t offer an opinion on this one, if you had asked me for a flavour blend I can’t tolerate then this would be it. The smell was enough for me as I can’t hack aniseed ever since binge drinking Pernod in my youf and there was a real menthol note to this. As a result I bottled it in trying this one...sorry!
Iced Mango & Lychee
"A rumba of tropical iced mango and exotic chilled lychee."
I do love a good mango liquid and lychee compliments this fruit well. I’m no fan of ‘iced’ juices but I still enjoyed this one very much, I actually think the iced tones made this juice a little less sweet or sickly and made it more of an ADV than I was expecting. The mango was clearly the dominant flavour and the Lychee wasn’t very noticeable. This was my second favourite out of the range which surprised me as it did have a slight menthol tang to it.
Strawberry & Watermelon
"Fruity duet of delicious sweet strawberry and juicy watermelon."
I’ve never tried strawberry and watermelon together in real food but I really should, these two really complement each other perfectly and in this e-liquid, it helps subdue the sweetness of the strawberry. As a result, this flavour was really good but another one I should have tried in a lower mg as it worked better in an RDL pod, but I still enjoyed this in an MTL setup (Galaxies RDA). Not quite an ADV for me as it is still a very sweet one.
Overall conclusion
Upon first looks I was surprised about the mix ratio of this range, 65VG/35PG is usually more suited for sub-ohm DL vaping, but Totally Wicked have dared to be different and have created a range that can be used across the vaping spectrum. Though a couple of them I personally didn’t find suitable for MTL, the majority were flexible. The down-side is that a little trial and error might be involved to find the best setup to get the most from them, the safest path would be somewhere in the middle. 0.4Ω to 0.8Ω coils would be the sweet spot for me, and anything from 3mg to 12mg to suit your nicotine requirements. 18mg was a poor choice from me but I didn’t notice the 65/35 ratio and just saw nic salts which I assumed were 50/50, something to bear in mind when ordering.
For those that are fairly new to vaping then Totally Wicked have a lot of B&M (Bricks and Mortar) stores across the UK so if you are unsure which one suits you better, their staff are generally pretty helpful in guiding you to the right choice to suit you and your setup.
I do wish the Symphonic range was available when I first quit smoking as nic salts would have helped the nicotine cravings more, and these flavours are far better than the choice I had back then.
Si Davies
Reviewer at POTVMy background is Engineering and Professional Photography. Mostly from POTV users knowledge I learned so much about pretty much all styles of vaping and equipment, Cloud Chasing, Squonking, Mouth To Lung, Direct To Lung, Pods, Mechs, Rebuild-able tanks and atomisers etc, and have experience with many many devices and atomisers, it's become a hobby and enjoy trying out the latest gear. I like to think my reviews are plain speaking and informative without getting too technical, if I have to resort to reading the manual then I don't consider it user friendly!
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