Disclaimer: This E-liquid was provided to me free of charge for the purpose of conducting a review. This fact notwithstanding, I will, as best I'm able, provide an honest, accurate and unbiased assessment of this product. Pertinent portions of this review are quoted from my review of Tark Vemada's Matador. http://vapour-taster.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/matador-by-tark-vemada.html Quoted passages are in italics.
The Aztecs are arguably best known for their practice of ritual human sacrifice, but it's understood that they believed sacrificial death fast-tracked an individual's spirit to a superior resting place in the afterlife. Not at all the barbaric and terrifying murder that we, in our distant "civilised" minds imagine it to have been. Imagine if you will, a kindly old man, something like the parish priest, coming to you the night before you depart for Paradise. You sit together and chat, perhaps eating together before he prays with you. He blesses you and you're filled with a feeling of love and excited expectation. Our contemporary conception of death would be utterly alien to them. It was no more feared than any other of life's great and wonderful adventures. Furthermore, a person's experience of the afterlife was determined by the manner in which they died, rather than the manner in which they lived.
"There were different realms a person could go to in their afterlife. Warriors who died in battle or by sacrifice either went to a paradise in the east and joined the sun’s rising in the morning, or joined the war god Huitzilopochtli in battle. Women who died in childbirth were considered just as courageous and honorable as warriors who died, and thusly went to a paradise in the west and joined the sun’s descent in the evening. People who died from lightning, drowning, certain diseases, or particularly violent deaths went to Tlalocan, a paradise presided over by the god Tlaloc located within the Aztec’s thirteen heavens.
In contrast, those who died of most illnesses, old age, or an unremarkable death went to Mictlan, the Aztec underworld. Once in Mictlan, a person had to traverse through a harsh terrain with many trials in order to descend from Mictlan’s top level to its final ninth level. This grim path for those who died in more ordinary ways highlights how Aztecs perceived both life and death; in general, there was greater esteem for people who died from premature but honorable deaths than for people who avoided these endings and managed to grow into old age." http://fortheloveofchristi.org/2013/02/ancient-aztec-perspective-on-death-and-afterlife/
I like it.
Tark Vemada's Aztec is a custard flavoured e-liquid. Amid much pomp and ceremony, I copy and paste from another website, for your pleasure and instruction, a recipe for actual custard.
How to make actual custard:
Ingredients
4 free-range eggs
100g/3½oz golden caster sugar
1 tsp cornflour, optional
300ml/1 pint double cream
300ml/½ pint full-fat milk
1 vanilla pod
Preparation method
Separate the eggs, placing the yolks in a large bowl. (You will not need the whites for this recipe. You can use them to make meringues.)
Add the sugar to the egg yolks and whisk until pale and thick.
Add the cornflour and whisk well to incorporate into the egg yolks.
Put the cream and milk into a medium saucepan.
Cut the vanilla pod open lengthways and scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife, then add to the milk and cream.
Heat the cream mixture to just below boiling point. Take the vanilla pod out and set aside (it can be dried out and placed in sugar to make vanilla sugar).
Slowly pour the hot cream and milk onto the eggs and sugar, whisking as you go.
Transfer the custard to a clean pan, and set it over a very low heat.
Stir the custard constantly with a wooden spoon, paying special attention to the corners of the pan, until it is steaming and has thickened slightly. The custard is ready when you can draw a clear line through it on the back of the wooden spoon. This can take up to 10 minutes. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/how_to_make_custard_82327
The Mod&World website describes Aztec as "Sweet creamy vanilla is a real treat. Fall in love with the rich flavor and aroma of freshly prepared vanilla custard. Both Genesis and Silica will bring out the flavor equally well. Proudly made in the USA with the finest ingredients." http://www.modnworld.com/Tark-s-Aztec-Juice-p/sra.htm
Tark's Select Reserve range comprises six juices. These are: Old Gold ("classic RY4"), Matador ("strong, sweet, cigar tobacco... with a kick"), Port Royal ("exotic Carribean flavor with coconut and fruity notes"), Maghrib ("exotic... dried fruit and oriental desserts"), Troy ("...layered, mild, sweet tobacco with subtle apple under notes") and Aztec.
Each liquid is available as a 50/50 PG/VG juice with nicotine content of 6, 12 or 18mg and in bottle sizes of 20 ($13.99), 30 ($18.99) and 100ml ($38.99). Apparently, special orders for 100% VG and various nicotine contents can be placed upon request.
The Select Reserve range is available from the Mod&World website at http://www.modnworld.com/default.asp
The 30ml bottle is a brown (protecting the nicotine within from ultraviolet light damage), glass cuboid with rounded edges and a black, plastic (non-childproof) screw-top cap. The label is reminiscent of 19th century product labels and contributes an air of historicity and a measure of glamour associated with "the other" to the product. The label includes the following information: the brand/range name, the name of the liquid, nicotine content in mg, liquid contents in ml, the name/website of the manufacturer, an advisory notice that the liquid within contains nicotine and a warning to keep out of reach of children, a skull and crossbones graphic and an image of a child's face with a red "X" superimposed on it. Whether or not this is intentional, I enjoy the humorous subtext of these latter two elements.
The liquid, as observed in an eye dropper is a clear Vanilla Yellow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla_(color) Holding the opened bottle below my nose and taking a shallow, sustained whiff, I discern an immediate sweet/sour alcoholic brightness, somewhat reminiscent of the aroma of Rum. Within a second this gives way to the sweetened warmth of an egg yolk-rich vanilla custard.
I'm vaping Aztec in a Quasar on a Provari running on an 18490 battery. I've built a single coil with six wraps of 28AWG (0.32mm) Kanthal wire around three strands of unbleached cotton twine and the atomiser is reading 1.1ohms on the Provari. (Mod&World recommend a setup that produces between 1.2 and 1.5ohms in order to fully appreciate the flavour of their liquids) I've set voltage output to 3.8 and I've almost completely closed off the Quasar's airflow holes which favours flavour but at the expense of throat hit and vapour production.
I fire the device and draw the vapour through my mouth to the back of my throat and as I do so I apprehend a medial sweetness which builds in intensity. There's a silky smooth quality to the vapour which makes for a pleasurable mouthfeel. I recognise the flavour of a creamy vanilla which seems to mature as I finish inhaling vapour and follow through with a small breath of air. As I begin to exhale the richness of egg yolk shifts the flavour towards that of a finely crafted custard. Throughout the vape there's the subtlest suggestion of rum which lends a trace of alcoholic warmth to the flavour. The aftertaste is a very pleasant lingering of vanilla, Demerara sugar and vanilla with a slight metallic tang around the teeth and gums.
Throat hit is variable depending on your preferred nicotine content and atomiser set up. On my set up with 18mg nicotine content, I experience a very worthy kick at the back of my throat. Vapour production is outstanding.
Aztec is a refined, elegant product. The presentation of bottle and label and the historical and cultural associations derived from the name alongside the experience of the vaped liquid itself contribute to the cluster of sensations that suggest this is a quality product; Tark Vemada is a clever marketer as well as a very talented juice craftsman. Aztec offers a robustly authentic flavour which I've enjoyed immensely these last few weeks. There's a number of vendors offering variations on vanilla custard flavoured liquids but this is one of the best that I've tried and the association with the Aztec people and their culture, albeit borrowed, is irresistible.
