Thanks for all the info. I didn’t actually try to return it. I stopped in the next day for something else and mentioned the dates to the owner (who, so far, has been the most helpful shop employee I’ve met to date). If I made a big deal to return it I believe he most likely would. I probably won’t because I’d like to maintain a good relationship with the store. Instead, for future purchases I think I’ll ask them to find me a bottle that’s in date before I buy. If they say anything about how dates don’t matter I’ll likely say “I understand, but I’d still prefer a juice within the date.” If they act annoyed about that then I’ll find a new shop. The problem with knowing whether the juice tastes as it should, or is the right color, is that I’m trying many of these liquids for the first time. Some good juice tastes funky to me anyway. One of the juices tastes great to me, the other is darker with some staining on the inside bottom. It tastes off to me, but like I said, I don’t know what it’s supposed to taste like. The other primary concern for me is nicotine degradation. I vape primarily for nicotine delivery and secondly for flavor. My girlfriend will tell you I’m a stickler for avoiding oxidation
I’m constantly asking her to close lids completely on anything from supplements to cooking oil. Ingesting oxidized cooking oils isn’t ideal and is known to cause inflammation. I can’t help but extrapolate that inhaling oxidized nicotine might not hurt you measurably, but probably should be avoided. This is a long way of saying I’m going to find a way to get fresher juice. In the meantime, thank you all for the information and personal experiences with past date juice. I’ll definitely be finishing the first bottle