E-Liquid Reviews

Smooke E-liquids

Smooke – one of the first Italian vape brands – has landed in the UK. We check out ten juices from their range to let you know how they fare.

by Dave Junglist
Jul 11, 2018

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Smooke were one of the first Italian vape brands, conceived in 2010, by a team of people who believed in the change that vaping could bring to the lives of smokers across the world. Their products are all made in Italy and their production process places safety and health above all else. Their range of juice is now available direct from the UK – we check out ten from their range here!

You can learn more about their company profile on their site here so you can be assured of their commitment to quality.

I received these juices in 0mg, which is a shame really as I would have loved to try the nic containing varieties. To me, 0mg is a bit of a waste, there is always a little something lacking in the taste of e-liquid that does not contain nicotine, it is never a completely fulfilling experience for me so I have taken this into account when testing.

Looking at the Smooke site I was a little surprised to see that the only variants in terms of nic level are 0mg, 9mg or 18mg. However, when you look at each flavour profile page on their site you will see a couple of handy tips for mixing their flavours to get the right strength for you.

To obtain 3mg nicotine simply mix half of a 10ml bottle of 9mg e-liquid into a 10ml bottle of 0mg.
To obtain 6mg nicotine simply mix half of a 10ml bottle of 0mg e-liquid into a 10ml bottle of 9mg.

I spoke to Roberto, the CEO of Smooke in the UK, and he told me that to make it even easier the 10ml e-liquids are sold in 15ml bottles, so it doesn’t get messy when you try and combine them. In my opinion the best way to do this would be to purchase one 9mg bottle and two 0mg bottles and divide the 9mg bottle between the two 0mg ones to get two 15ml bottles at 3mg and then in reverse (two 9mg bottles and one 0mg bottle) to get two 6mg 15ml bottles!

The reason for the difference is that in Italy, e-liquid tends to be sold in 0mg, 4.5mg, 9mg and 18mg and they felt that being able to mix the gradients in the way explained makes it easy for vapers to get the right level for their needs.

With the rise of the short fills in the UK I think many of us, even those who were not into the whole DIY side of things, have got a bit more used to tipping some nic into flavouring so this shouldn’t be a problem for most.

With the increase of short fills we have also seen a drop in prices. The initial cost of short fills when they came out, at £17-20 for a 50ml bottle, was relatively cheap to those of us who had come through the times of the standard £5 for 10ml and £15 for 30ml. This year we really started to see prices coming down for short fills and they seem to be bottoming out now at about £10-12 for a 50ml shortfill. We are starting to see this reflected in the 10ml market now with prices coming down considerably when in bundles etc. so I was surprised to see these juices available on the Smooke site for only £2.50 for a 10ml bottle.

Value is only outstanding when the product is worth purchasing though, so let’s crack on and see what these Italian flavours are like. The first four of these juices are from their tobacco range - https://www.smooke.co.uk/tobacco - seven are available in the range on their site.

Newport

The taste of spicy tobacco will transport you to the scents of the Orient with its aromatic nuances. The taste of sophisticated tobacco, enriched by notes of cloves, incense and wood. A unique spicy taste for you to discover!

This is a really lovely tobacco flavour! I was quite taken aback by it to be honest. I have tried quite a few tobacco juices this year and absolutely love this one. The cloves gives it a great aromatic taste, not over powering in any way, it blends really well with the tobacco to give a superb vape. This with a glass of port at Christmas will be a real winner! I don’t think that this juice should be reserved for special occasions only though, even today, on one of the hottest days of this bonkers heatwave, I am really enjoying this juice and will definitely be getting some of the nic containing variant so I can give it a mix.

Black Tobacco

A dry, slightly bitter and essential taste! The real taste of tobacco, perfect for adding a note of intensity at any time.

This is more of a classic tobacco to my tastes, a straight up tobacco with no frills! It is superbly blended though, no dark, smoky aftertaste like I have had with some no-frills tobacco juices. There is a very slightly bitter edge to the juice but this is no bad thing. I would be more than happy to recommend this one to a smoker who is looking to switch specifically to a tobacco flavoured juice, I expect this is a very smoke-like experience with the 9mg variant.

Fili

A fruit tobacco aroma, obtained by blending the balanced taste of tobacco with light notes of violet, liquorice, berries and mint.

Now this is an interesting sounding juice – but wasn’t too sure if I was going to like it or not! Tobacco, yes, with berries – I can go for that. But with violet and mint too – could be a step or two too far in my opinion... On testing the juice the overall flavour is, of course, the tobacco, not as heavy as Black Tobacco or Newport but a good tobacco flavour all the same. You do get a hint of liquorice on the exhale with this one, balanced well with the mint – a good combination. The violet is not overpowering, (which is a good thing in my opinion!), but adds an ever-present floral note to the juice. Like all things flavour related, some will love this, some won’t go for it at all – and I am dead in the centre, it doesn’t revolt me by any means but it doesn’t make me want to vape it all day either. It is a well-balanced juice and likely to have its lovers and its haters alike. If you have spent your life yearning for a violet, liquorice, mint and tobacco juice then you’re in luck!

Morocco

The taste of spicy tobacco will transport you to the scents of the Orient with its aromatic nuances.

This juice is very similar to Newport, not quite as strong and without the addition of the cloves. It is a really nice tobacco flavour, I think I might have enthused about it a bit more had I tried this one before I had tried Newport! It has lovely aromatic undertones – I really can’t put my finger on where I know them from - a distant neural connection is made somewhere but I just can’t get to the root of it. A great juice in its own right but it’s on another level in Newport.

These next four juices are from Smooke's tasty range - https://www.smooke.co.uk/tasty - there are thirteen flavours available in this range and we were sent six to try out.

Cuba

The timeless charm of Mojito presented in a blend in which lime, mint and brown sugar evoke pleasant summer memories.

This is a great vape for the current climate! With the temperatures in the UK staying happily in the mid 20’s (and higher) for what seems like forever now, this was a real treat on a hot afternoon. This flavour delivers and exception citrus lime twang, a real taste bud teaser, the sweet, sugary overtones makes your mouth water and the mint gives it a lovely aftertaste as well. This is another superb juice from their range and it is something I could easily vape all day.

Lilac

The delicacy of the violet in all its fresh and harmonious aroma. A taste with timeless floral notes.

I love lilac plants – we have a nice old one in our garden and I really look forward to it flowering each year. It is an early flowering plant and for me it is a great sign of the oncoming of summer when it blooms in May. It is a really heady perfume, if you don’t know it well then seek it out next spring and have a good, deep inhale of the flowers! I like to cut a few off and put them in the house – it is such a beautiful smell and something I really do look forward to each year.

Vaping it though? Like the violet in the Fili e-liquid – hmmm, not too sure about that!! The smell of the juice is not overpoweringly floral, and neither is the taste. It is a bit like a refresher sweet, not as strong as a parma violet, just a nice, sweet juice in my opinion, not as shocking in terms of flavour as I thought it was going to be. I quite like it, which was a pleasant surprise!

Green Ice

The taste of mint is transformed into a refreshing and natural blend: an exciting aroma capable of giving glacial sensations.

With this juice I was expecting either an icy blast of all-consuming menthol or just a straight up mint flavour. Don’t get me wrong, I think there is certainly a time and a place for either of these profiles, I love a good icy blast on the very rare occasion that I get hit by vaper’s tongue, and a good refreshing mint flavour is hard to beat every now and then.

This juice falls on the side of the description that is given on the site, a refreshing mint. There is a good level of sweetness to the juice, which I like, the sweet flavours are what keeps me coming back to e-liquids that I like and helped me get off cigarettes when I started vaping. Tasting an inhaling something that feels like a sweet treat was a real winner for me when I switched to vaping and I am sure that a nice sweet mint flavoured e-liquid will appeal to many.

It reminds me of when I had “given up smoking” when my kids were young, I hated myself for not being strong enough to kick it, even though I knew I should, and would always have a few packs of Extra Strong mints knocking about to try and stop myself smelling like an ash tray. This juice is not a menthol blast like my preferred fag breath disguiser, no “glacial sensation” for me, this is just a nice sweet mint, more like a spearmint chew. Good stuff!

Espresso

The right e-liquid for those who would never miss their coffee ritual, with a pronounced aroma and a warm and enveloping taste.

Heap shame upon me dear readers, coffee vapes have never really been my thing. I don’t know, maybe I had a bad coffee juice experience in my early vaping days, as I certainly did try a few early on, but since the days of Aspire BDC tanks they just haven’t ever been on my radar. I know from reading the reviews here and comments on the forum that there have, apparently, been some superb coffee ranges and individual flavours, but I always think “nope, not for me, thanks”. Which is odd, as I will often have four or five coffees a day and this year I even bought a bean to cup coffee maker! I do like coffee quite a lot.

One of the things that struck me about this juice was the colour – and this is the same for all of the juices in the Smooke range – all the ones that I tried are crystal clear and I think this says a lot about their use of flavourings.

All I can say is that is a brilliant vape, it has the right balance of sweetness and coffee flavours that I have always wanted in a coffee vape. With ten juices to try in the range I did really want to rattle though them and give you an honest opinion from a quick vape of them but with this one I did refill the tank a couple of times before I moved on to the next one. I am definitely going to revisit, it’s a really tasty vape! If you are a coffee vape fan then I would love to hear from you how this one stacks up to other coffee vapes on the market.

The Big Apple

The fresh pleasantness of green apple blends with the enveloping creaminess of cream to give life to a delicious and irresistible aroma.

This is a lovely smelling juice! As the description states, it is the smell of crisp, green apples. Usually the green apples have a sharp edge to them but this juice is nice and sweet and made my mouth water with the first few blasts on it.

Another clear, refreshing and sweet juice from this line up – perfect again for this hot summer weather. If you like apple juices then this one is definitely worth a try.

Havana

A taste that is a true ritual: the experience of rum aged in oak barrels combined with a slice of lime, brown sugar and coffee powder, all in an e-liquid.

Again, this juice is very clear – with the description above I was expecting at least this one to be a good shade of brown and something that would gunk up my little MTL coils as soon as it saw them! But no, this is another clear looking juice that packs in a lot of flavours – bellissimo!

To be honest I was expecting a lot more flavour from this juice. There is the sweetness that I have come to expect from this range of juices, and there is a nice hint of the lime flavouring on the exhale but there isn’t the heady flavours of rum and coffee that I was hoping for, it is a much milder juice than I had hoped it would be.

Maybe after three days trying these ten flavours I am vaped out and my taste buds just aren’t getting it in the way they should. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a bad flavour, the lime aftertaste is great and there is a hint of rum and coffee notes in there – making a good overall flavour but maybe just not as punchy as it could have been.

Conclusion

Welcome to the UK, Smooke, thank you for bringing your range of superb flavours from Italy for us to try! I wholeheartedly recommend these juices to our readers, they are superb value and well worth trying. I can understand why they are the largest e-liquid producer in Italy, they certainly know what they are doing in terms of creating outstanding flavours.

I was impressed with the level of detail they presented about the creation and manufacturing processes behind their products. I have heard a lot of stories about e-liquid production recently, especially in terms of the short fill market. The glaring hole of the 0mg omission from the TPD has left the door open to many companies who are more concerned with making a few pounds than they are with the health of the vapers who use their products. I am certainly paying more attention to companies that take production seriously – and Smooke certainly seem to tick this box.

As I said earlier in this review, the costs of e-liquid are coming down massively for the consumer and this great. If vaping looks like a cheaper, as well as a healthier, alternative to smoking then we will see the number of smokers in the UK continue to fall as more switch to vaping (don’t forget to sign the petition here https://www.change.org/p/european-commission-act-now-to-stop-the-eu-vape-tax) so to see a 10ml juice range – and a quality one at that – at £2.50 a bottle is good.

Yes, the lack of nic levels, especially not 3 or 6mg, is a shame but these can be easily produced by mixing 0mg and 9mg variants so if you do find you like the sounds of these flavours then it isn’t a big deal to mix them up – but the thought of buying three to try at your preferred level is likely to be a barrier to some.

Roberto has told me that the 3mg and 6mg versions may well be in the pipeline for the UK market, but also that short fills will also be available in the future, so this is great news and it will certainly open up their brand to more people who are willing to try them. Smooke also have their own hardware as well and this may well make an appearance on their site once their e-liquid brand has started to build in the UK.

As long as you can get over the lack of the UK favourites of 3 and 6 I have no hesitation in recommending the e-liquids from Smooke to our readers and I will certainly be going back for some more of the Green Ice, Newport, Cuba and Espresso juices and I am looking forward to trying some more from their range!

Thanks to the team at Smooke we have five boxes, each containing twenty 10ml bottles from the Smooke range to try out. You can enter the competition here, five winners will be drawn in two weeks. Good luck!

Dave Junglist

Reviewer at POTV

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Dave Junglist is co-owner of Planet of the Vapes and has been vaping since 2015. He spent his early years with his head in a bass bin and was a very committed and experienced smoker. He had his first cigarette at the age of 13 and just knew it was for him. He did stop briefly with the aid of patches but reverted quickly and became a ‘secret’ smoker, working hard to keep his weak will from the attention of his family. Vaping made an honest man of him and for this he is forever thankful. He has been involved in websites since completing a degree in Environmental Science in the late nineties. At that time there was pretty much no contact with computers but on joining the regular workforce and deciding that the world-wide-web was the future he blagged his first job as a web designer and never looked back. As you would expect from a junglist, Dave likes his beats and is most comfortable when the bass is wobbly.