Virgin Island Bay Rum

Epic Journey Into the Bottled Yonder, 005 ------------------------------------------------------- Purchased November 2013 This was the first serious business scent I had purchased with my own cash in 2013. Everything before that was gifted to me. It had become that ridiculous the gifts became shitter and shitter. I had to grow up some more, become the man I wanted to be and use my inspiration to smell better than everybody else. Being a wet shaver now with the double edge blades and soap mug I had begun to figure it out. This is the scent that threw me into the hobby, that I can have more than one scent for regular use. Enter Pinaud Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum. Holy shit does this thing transform, especially over the years. A hell of a lot of cinnamon to my untrained, at the time, nose. But I've always had a nose for good scents, instantly can pick out what's good. To me, scents smell like what's in the bottle. I don't smell "notes". My mind instantly clings to a picture of the bottle as I smell a respective scent. But this one was spice loaded and heavy on the cinnamon. But years later I finally figured out that this actually smells like the beach and/or ocean, like a true epiphany I was able to throw away my outdated mental association and smell what the fluid was really made of. A truly intense vibe of the beach; it's slightly salty and sandy, it's boozy with the rum, and hello clove. While I did prefer Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements' Atomic Age Bay Rum for a while and it's superb to many other fresh-ish, challenging marine frags, I ended up coming back to the original from Pinaud Clubman and further appreciated what's in it. Folks, Virgin Island Bay Rum is not for the winter nearly at all, it's a summer powerhouse when the mood strikes for maximum marine effect. Not a blue scent at all, it invented blue scents decades before the first one. People will hate you for over splashing this one. What you need to do here is do quick pour motions around your face and all around your neck. Do not focus on one area and over-saturate the fuck out of that spot, spread it out using the bottle without dabbing it much and let it run down your face and neck so it's evenly applied around your head and not concentrated in one place. That's how the clove/cinnamon/spice builds up. There's no cinnamon in this, but certain people will think it's what you've got on if you do it wrong. Nothing worse you can do than to misrepresent yourself and the bottle.

This aftershave/cologne has a very long history going back over a century in the West Indies. People in the Carribean routinely used (and still use) it. Apparently it was first created when sailors and pirates in the Carribean would mix bay leaves with rum (which they already had in abundance) and pour that over themselves as a cologne, to hide body odour due to being away at sea for months at a time. So this is technically as authentic as it gets if you want to smell like a pirate. To my nose, the opening smells a lot like bay leaves mixed with rum, lots of cloves, and a hint of cinnamon. Out of these, the rum and cloves in particular are pretty noticeable in the opening - and I enjoy the scent of both. As it dries down, the rum is dominant along with bay leaves (the cloves and cinnamon become more subdued). It's very old-fashioned and masculine, and suited more for winters than summers in my opinion. Sillage is moderate but leaning light (resembles the sillage of any eau de cologne), while longevity is pretty amazing for this type of fragrance on my skin at over 6 hours, and then as a skin scent for around 4 more hours. If using this right after shaving, it provides a very nice burning sensation to the face as well; in fact more than my other aftershaves. Overall this is quite enjoyable as an cologne and aftershave with quite a decent amount of lasting power (in fact it's basically a cologne; it lasts far more than my other aftershaves) and more old-fashioned (in a good way) than the modern "sport" aftershaves that all smell the same. The scent of this is so unique and it has a long heritage going back over 200 years, and a large bottle of this will cost you very little money. For these reasons this is one of my favourite colognes. 5/5 P.S. Word of advice: add a few drops of lime essential oil to this and the scent goes from good to INCREDIBLE.

Rum? Check. Bay leaves? Check. Spices? CLOVES CLOVES CLOVES!!!!! Now I'm a big fan of the warm spicy scents so I knew I was going to love this; but it's even funkier than I imagined. Let's get the negative out the way of first. Longevity is poor. You might get an hour if you're lucky; and that's if you soak yourself in a good few handfulls. But that's to be expected. It's a traditional gent's splash on. Sillage is just moderate, get your timing right and everyone will know what you're wearing. Anyway, at about £5 for 50ml you can afford to chuck it on. Back to the smell though, and it's a winner. The first big hit is the rum, unmistakable thick and heavy old rum. Big sniffs and you can also pick out the bay leaf swimming around. You have to be quick though, because in no time them cloves pounce. This is seriously spicy. Nutmeg, pepper, cinnamon, they're all there acting as understudy to those killer cloves. Apparently there's oakmoss in here as well but I think it must have drowned. Pinaud Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum - a cheapie masterpiece.

To my nose this is the best bay rum; it's about as cheap as you can get as far aftershave goes; and, most importantly, my wife loves it. It's pretty linear, which can be said about pretty much all bay rums. What differentiates Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum from the rest is that it's heavy on the clove and has a soapy musk-y note in the base (musk isn't listed, but I definitely get consistently), which makes this bay rum the longest lasting bay rum, hands down. In a world of short-lived bay rums V.I.B.R. is the exception to the rule. It's great, it's cheap, and it's an excellent fall to early spring scent. I highly recommend it.

Captain Jack Sparrow at your service...How have I not reviewed this? Before designer fragrance became an influence, this wet shaving classic was my go to staple. Spicy clove, bay leaves and rum, heavy on a clove and cinnamon notes. At one point this would frequently draw compliments, and it costs next to nothing to pick up. After a shave, slap this on, let the tears run on high (this burns like no one’s business) and enjoy the bold manliness that is Bay Rum. Their are many alternative Bay Rum takes out there, all thus far being pretty good, but this for me is a classic staple, highly recommend this timeless classic.