I have found what I will be judging all Bay Rums against

I received sample packs from numerous companies a few days ago. I have smelled them all and couldn't and can't wait to try them all. So I have randomly picked which one I would try each morning.

Fine's Snake Bite was the first day, Holy Hell Batman, I did learn that morning that I might be applying a bit too much pressure when I shave. I like my shave, and thought I was using just the weight of the razor, but Snake Bite showed me I was wrong. Man, lesson learned.

Second day, I tried Lucky Tiger Bay Rum that I picked up at my Barber (yes the day after I received 30,000 samples), it did smell good, had a similar burn as my Osage Rub. Nothing unexpected, nothing special, I will be using it in the future.

On the third day, this morning, I closed my eyes and reached over, the first thing I grabbed was the Ogallala Bay Rum aftershave. Gave it a little shake and opened the bottle, poured a little bit in my hand and WOW! This stuff smelled great. Followed up with the Ogallala Cologne and instantly fell in love with both. This will forever be what Bay Rum is suppose to smell like, at least to me. Slight burn, dried fast, aroma lasted for a little while probably an hour or so, not really sure if it goes away or if I became immune to it. But I would get whiffs of it through out the day, another pleasant surprise. My only complaint is I have a metric-****-ton of other aftershaves to try before the Ogalla becomes my daily go to aftershave. I think all others will have a hard time measuring up to this, but I am excited that I have so many samples one of them may prove me wrong.

To all those that recommend Ogallala somewhere on B&B, thank you, without your recommendations I would have never tried it. Keep the recommendations and reviews coming.

Which other aftershaves do you like, and which do you not like? If similar to my tastes, then guess who's going shopping!

Been shaving for around 35 years and never really had a favorite aftershave, in fact most of that time I bet I've only had about 3 or 4 in my life. Most everything smelled either too medicinal or were way to common for me, the other thing was I worked on ships with nothing but men, so I wasn't going to put perfume on to impress them. Old spice wasn't for me, not brute, I do like osage rub I've been using that about 6 months now and lucky tiger bay rum.

FWIW Drakkar smelled like mosquito repellent on me, had Stetson when I was a younger, but that's about it.

I don't like pepper or patchouli, kinda like sandlewood, don't like flowery scents do like talc.

OK, I tried Captains Choice Cat O'Nine tails this morning, stung like a son-of-a gun, slapped it on and the sting was mild but grew in intensity until it got to the point it was painful. I would compare it in sting to Fine's Snake Bite but not instantly like Snake Bite. I also now know what "Too much Clove" smells like to me. Remember when you were a kid and would push cloves into a green apple and hang it on a string, CO9T's instantly brought me back to those days.

If you like Cloves and Sting this is for you, a bit too much for me.



Shawnboy said:

OK, I tried Captains Choice Cat O'Nine tails this morning, stung like a son-of-a gun, slapped it on and the sting was mild but grew in intensity until it got to the point it was painful. I would compare it in sting to Fine's Snake Bite but not instantly like Snake Bite. I also now know what "Too much Clove" smells like to me. Remember when you were a kid and would push cloves into a green apple and hang it on a string, CO9T's instantly brought me back to those days.

If you like Cloves and Sting this is for you, a bit too much for me.

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Direct from the Captain's website:

After being applied to a freshly shaven face The Cat will give you an experience that you won't forget. Think bay rum extreme. Once it hits your cheeks a slow warmth builds and BUILDS and BUILDS until it plateaus with a sensational warming of the face. Following the dry down the aroma remains and your skin will be moisturized all day long - ideal! We saved the best for last - there are no cloves used in our formula.

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http://www.captainschoicestore.com/shop/cat-o-nine-tails-aftershave

Per Mr. Shave Rat in another thread:

Shave_Rat said:

So... the bay tree is related to the clove plant, so they both shave some clove scent, with the bay being much lighter in clove notes than actual clove. That is how many catch the clove in Captain's Choice. His is one of the few that does not add any actual clove scent/oil to the mix. It just has the naturally occurring clove notes from the bay portion.

I've heard of some others running into the Cat'O Nine being a bit too... warm for their tastes, so you aren't alone. I'm one of those that personally loves it, especially in the cold Winter. lol

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Shave_Rat said:

It definitely kicks up the burn a notch or two... but if you get lots of clove from any of the CC bay rums, sample the Ogallalla bay rum... since that one actually has clove in it, where the CC stuff doesn't have any clove added at all. lol

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As far as sting/burn goes, I personally don't find it to be uncomfortable. If I don't have existing razor burn, nicks, etc. nine tails just warms on the skin. To each their own though.

Paintflinger, I didn't realize that the bay tree and clove smell so much alike and since Cat'O Nine is bay rum extreme, that may be why I smell it so strongly. I've read on other threads here that Osage Rub should have a similar burn as Cat'O Nine, but I find the Osage Rub nice on my face, CO9 did warm up, just a whole lot more than I expected. I would try it again to see about the sting being caused from a poor shave, but for me it has a scent that just doesn't fit me. If I had bought more than a sampler I would send it to you.

This morning I tried Captains Choice North, the scent started off with a strong Pine Scent then faded to what I know now is bay tree. It had a light sting and the aroma lasted maybe 30 minutes on me. I will probably use this sampler again in the future, but won't be going after a full size bottle.

I did get a package in the mail today, YAY!, TOBS Avocado and Thayers Cucumber WH. Will be trying that out soon.

Mmm . . . TOBS Avocado is awesome!

I bought a bottle of Ogallala Bay Rum & Sandalwood After Shave-Cologne-Skin Toner and it surprised me. If there is bay rum in there, it's subtle...it just doesn't smell like what I remember as bay rum. It has absolutely no "burn" and has a very distinct vanilla scent, and it lasts quite a while.

All in all, one of my favorites, but not a classic bay rum IMHO.

Any other experiences with this?

Shawnboy said:

Paintflinger, I didn't realize that the bay tree and clove smell so much alike and since Cat'O Nine is bay rum extreme, that may be why I smell it so strongly. I've read on other threads here that Osage Rub should have a similar burn as Cat'O Nine, but I find the Osage Rub nice on my face, CO9 did warm up, just a whole lot more than I expected. I would try it again to see about the sting being caused from a poor shave, but for me it has a scent that just doesn't fit me. If I had bought more than a sampler I would send it to you.

This morning I tried Captains Choice North, the scent started off with a strong Pine Scent then faded to what I know now is bay tree. It had a light sting and the aroma lasted maybe 30 minutes on me. I will probably use this sampler again in the future, but won't be going after a full size bottle.

I did get a package in the mail today, YAY!, TOBS Avocado and Thayers Cucumber WH. Will be trying that out soon.

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For what it is worth, I vastly prefer the scent of CC Bay rum vs. CO9T.

If you like the Ogallala Bay Rum, you owe it to yourself to try the Ogallala Bay Rum with Lime and Peppercorns. THAT one, to me, is just amazing...

Thank you, Ogallala Bay Rum sampler!!!

paintflinger said:



Direct from the Captain's website:

http://www.captainschoicestore.com/shop/cat-o-nine-tails-aftershave

Per Mr. Shave Rat in another thread:




As far as sting/burn goes, I personally don't find it to be uncomfortable. If I don't have existing razor burn, nicks, etc. nine tails just warms on the skin. To each their own though.

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+1

Ogallala is my favorite too...especially bay rum & sandalwood.

Glad you found your sweet spot.

Ogallala is on my wishlist.

UUNetBill said:

If you like the Ogallala Bay Rum, you owe it to yourself to try the Ogallala Bay Rum with Lime and Peppercorns. THAT one, to me, is just amazing...

Thank you, Ogallala Bay Rum sampler!!!

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What he said.

I'm still working through my sampler of Ogallala Samples. They all smell and feel amazing but the original so far is my fav.

There are so many bay rums out there it's hard to keep track sometimes, and they all seem to be different. But I definitely love the bay rum aftershaves. Glad you have found your favorite.....thus far.