I Compare 14 Different Bay Rums

Nice review!

You must, of course, try the Royall Bay Rhum as well ...

Catherix PIFFed me a bottle of the QCS Cayman ASB earlier this year. I find it a little on the clovey side, but as a balm it's top notch.

What would be ideal for me is an AS or ASB that smelled exactly like Mystic Water Bay Rum soap.

It's a good idea for me to have the pocketbook out of reach when reading reviews such as this. Sounds like you ran the table with some well-known brands and some that are primarily familiar to barbers. Reading between the lines I'm getting the impression that the critical choice for the user is whether he wants a product that tends to have a drying or moisturizing effect. Thanks for lending us your face on this review.

When reviewing these I wanted to cover scent, face feel, value, and anything special about that particular bay rum.

California Cajun said:

It's a good idea for me to have the pocketbook out of reach when reading reviews such as this. Sounds like you ran the table with some well-known brands and some that are primarily familiar to barbers. Reading between the lines I'm getting the impression that the critical choice for the user is whether he wants a product that tends to have a drying or moisturizing effect. Thanks for lending us your face on this review.

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Ajax was kind enough to send me a sample of Burt's Bees Bay Rum aftershave balm. I promised to give it a review once I tried it. Here goes.

The consistency of the balm is somewhere between a splash and a cream. It's a thick liquid that goes on very easily. Shortly after application, I noticed a nice a nice cooling sensation on my skin. I didn't have a particularly rough shave, but menthol always feels great after a good shave. After it dried, it left a mildly waxy sheen on my face that took about one hour to absorb. Once absorbed, it left my skin very soft and very subtle without feeling greasy or tacky. The scent is pretty complex and is strong at first, but fades out in about an hour. It's definitely bay with lots of other notes that I can't quite figure out.

It's a wonderful balm and I can see why so many people have been heartbroken after its discontinuation. You can still find it, but it will cost you. On Amazon, I found a 4 oz bottle for $40.

There may be hope, however, for the Burt's Bees faithful. This balm reminded me a lot of Aubrey Organics ASB. I only have the North Woods scent, but Spice Islands is available in the balm. The ingredients, while not identical, are very respectable and leave my face feeling very similar to the Burt's Bees balm. The consistency of the balms are nearly identical. At $10 for 4 ounces (or 2 for $17), it may be worth the gamble to try it for yourself.

Aubrey Organics Spice Island ingredients: Deionized Water, Organic Aloe Vera, Natural Grain Alcohol, Witch Hazel (natural herbal extract), Hydrolyzed Oat Protein, Vegetable Glycerin, Flaxseed Lignan Extract, Essential Oil Blend (Bay Rum, Patchouli, Black Pepper, Nutmeg, Vetiver), Xanthan Gum, Canadian Willowherb Extract, Organic Jojoba Oil, Menthol.

Great write-up, although I would have liked to get your feedback on Krampert's Bay Rum Acadian Spice too.......

Thanks!

Huh. I love the Masters and don't find it sticky at all.

Thanks for the write up! I was really curious about the Stephan and would like to try it.

-Greg

Truly nice write up on the choices of a classic scent! Thanks much.

Great post. Just ordered some Aubrey Organics Spice Island after reading this review! Can't wait to try it out...

Here's the label from Burt's Bees Bay Rum Balm. It's got quite a mix of scents!

Great write-up. I was thinking about trying my first bay rum, and picked the Co9T based on your descriptions. Loved the burn, but unfortunately, I found it to be clove-heavy. Maybe I'm just not a bay rum kind of guy.

justabranch said:

Great write-up. I was thinking about trying my first bay rum, and picked the Co9T based on your descriptions. Loved the burn, but unfortunately, I found it to be clove-heavy. Maybe I'm just not a bay rum kind of guy.

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I believe that Captain's Choice AS, (Original, CO9T & Lime) are all made without cloves. Must be the bay or something in the background scent that you don't like... maybe allspice?
If you don't like bay rum, try Portland General Store's "Whiskey" after shave. I can't describe it other than that it's a refreshing, manly scent that could be closer to what you were expecting from bay rum AS.

Or just use Jack D

Thanks, Ajax--maybe it is allspice. I just felt like I smelled like Thanksgiving dinner. I'll look into the Portland General Store's Whiskey. Thanks for the advice.

-ch

I'd be interested to hear about bay rums from a UK perspective - seems as if in the US you can't leave the house without falling over a bay rum artisan! Any Brits got favourites that are available here?

Old Town Shaving said:

You need to think long and hard about this before you act. Do you want to watch your 14 bottles of bay rum sit in solitude or do you want to keep your BRAD in full flight? If the former, buy a bottle of St. John's. It was the original bay rum which, after its introduction, all tried to copy but none have come close. That's not to say that the others are bad in any way, many of them are really good...but none like the original. Think hard on this because AD's are often times more entertaining than you think and once broken, the end of the excitement. But every morning when you're slathering on the SJ's, you'll be shaking your head at all the rest.

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Due to this post, I bought a bottle of St. John's.
I called the St. John's 800 number and spoke with a gent on the island. He looked up distributors and said the closest was in the Detroit area or Indy.
Since we were going to Indy yesterday, called the phone number given me; Moorman's Perfume. I found a B&M address on Google, dropped off swmbo at the statehouse and headed for the address. Drove around the Fashion Mall for an hour. No luck. Couldn't find the store.
The owner returned my call. The B&M shut down a few years ago but if I were still in the area, she had a delivery to make nearby and could meet me at Starbucks with a bottle.
Mrs. Moorman arrived I took delivery of an 8 oz. bottle! She does still have an online business. We had a nice chat about wet shaving (her husband had been a wet shaver) .

I passed on info about Badger and Blade in general and the sub-forums in particular for her to browse through to get a feel for what folks like. I also told her there are some artisan soap makers doing work as good as anything else you'll find, and better than a lot of it.
Let's see, what else.....Weber razors, Captain's Choice, brushes....
We said our good-byes and I now have some St. John's!
Absolutely no burn! I personally don't care for high octane, set-your-face-on-fire aftershaves. Very nice, pleasant scent. Not in your face, nor faint.
I'm going to split the bottle with my dad. He likes bay rum also.

So after all this.....St. John's.......yeah!

What is a good vendor for the Layite no 9? PM me if you know
Thanks in advance

You can find Layrite on Amazon or eBay.

Great write up & thx for doing so. I love the Clubman but now want to try the Stephan

anyone like Strop Shoppe Bay Rum?