Bay Rum Bay Rum Bay Rum

I have had a myriad of Bay Rums. Sold two almost full bottles of Dominica (Reg/Lime)   
These remain in the den.

The newly acquired product, West Indies Bay Rum arrived today and I splashed some on after today's shave. There's definitely Bay Oil, but it's in a fairly light concentration, so the scent quickly becomes a skin scent. Still, for the price, it was a nice find. I questioned including the Small Batch Shave Tonic, as it's really more of a "whiskey" aftershave, however, it does have the Bay Rum DNA.

I have had a myriad of Bay Rums. Sold two almost full bottles of Dominica (Reg/Lime)   
These remain in the den.

The newly acquired product, West Indies Bay Rum arrived today and I splashed some on after today's shave. There's definitely Bay Oil, but it's in a fairly light concentration, so the scent quickly becomes a skin scent. Still, for the price, it was a nice find. I questioned including the Small Batch Shave Tonic, as it's really more of a "whiskey" aftershave, however, it does have the Bay Rum DNA.

Nice lineup - I'll try to get a family picture of mine at some point.  I like the Ogallala Bay Rum.  Where did you get it in spray bottles?  I'd sure like it if a soap maker like MacDuff's would do a dupe Ogallala Bay Rum in their soap base.  The Holy Black used to do a Bay Whiskey Lime soap and splash but they stopped making it years ago.  I still have some but I think it's lost some of its strength.  I could never figure those boys out - more of a lifestyle marketer I think

If you go to the first post in this thread that I posted about 4 years ago, I was challenging top tier artisan soap makers to wade into the bay rum waters and put their mark on the bay rum world.  In that time just three actually did, T+S Indian Bay, Sir Henry Island Estate dominicr  and now Ethos Grooming Essentials Dragonsbeard  with Frank's Island Collection Bay Rum and Tortola Skin Food Splash. I went back through the thread and can see the exact moment two years ago when Frank was bitten by the bay rum bug and after two years he has brought his bay rum to market and man its been worth the wait.  I want to thank you Frank for your dedication to your work and your creativity and persistence and also for your fantastic customer service in helping me out to make sure that I was able to buy this release.  Very much appreciated     I'm not going to do a detailed "review" of the Bay Rum and Tortola because thats not my area of expertise.  I'm a like - don't like guy and I have to say, I like this Bay Rum.  The products themselves are amazing and so nice on the skin so if you haven't tried any Ethos Grooming products you're missing out on one of the best in the business.  

It’s interesting because I have such a broad base of bay rums I own, I’ll always scan and process a new one against the inventory of experience. First pass will be is it original or not, ie not a pre-made blend, and even if it is, it can be blended with other fragrances and still be ok. Obviously the Ethos Bay Rum and Tortola are original. Next I’ll pick out notes and compare it, mentally at first to other originals. This of course is in the broad do I like it context. So this Bay Rum I like, it’s original and so far I can detect similar bay notes to some other top notch bay rums. To be clear, it doesn’t smell the same as those but just has notes that are similar or reminiscent of them. On the one hand that’s not necessarily surprising because bay is a common note in all bay rums or it should be but on the other hand there is a significant variation in bay fragrances depending on the type, quality, quantity etc of product used. Skill in blending is important as well as the goal of the blender. There will even be seasonal variations from batch to batch of the bay leaves. How it’s grown, harvested, shipped, handled and stored will all influence the final product. That said, I think Frank has done an excellent job and not least, given bay rum the respect that it’s due.  The bay rum soap has a mild scent off the puck and in the lather but the scent is much stronger in the post shave products.  You will also get a little of the bay rum burn from the post shave products which is normal but if you are super sensitive and have had bad reactions to bay rum in the past you might want to stay on the side lines.  Personally I've always enjoyed the warming sensation that I get from almost all bay rums.  Regarding the scent of the soap - I've always wondered how the artisan translates the scent of a true hand brewed bay rum into the soap medium.  I can't imagine they just pour some bay rum aftershave into the soap pot.  There's different stuff going on in the soap making process from both a chemical and a temperature level.  This is partly why matching soaps and splashes don't always smell identical.  In any case, this Ethos bay rum smells beautiful.  It could easily be my everyday shave products, my wife even commented favourably on it.  The Tortola is on a whole different level.  It's a very tropical, citrus, fruity bay rum on first application but drys down to a more floral bay rum.  My wife and I both love Tortola.  

Thank you Frank for taking up the challenge and making the Island Collection Bay Rum and Tortola and thank you for your dedication to your craft (art). I've always said that the best things come from people who are driven a little more (sometimes a lot more) than the average person and you clearly are driven to achieve the best.  

I’ll provide more feedback over time as with all things fragrance, my nose brain evolves over time and exposure.

If you go to the first post in this thread that I posted about 4 years ago, I was challenging top tier artisan soap makers to wade into the bay rum waters and put their mark on the bay rum world.  In that time just three actually did, T+S Indian Bay, Sir Henry Island Estate dominicr  and now Ethos Grooming Essentials Dragonsbeard  with Frank's Island Collection Bay Rum and Tortola Skin Food Splash. I went back through the thread and can see the exact moment two years ago when Frank was bitten by the bay rum bug and after two years he has brought his bay rum to market and man its been worth the wait.  I want to thank you Frank for your dedication to your work and your creativity and persistence and also for your fantastic customer service in helping me out to make sure that I was able to buy this release.  Very much appreciated     I'm not going to do a detailed "review" of the Bay Rum and Tortola because thats not my area of expertise.  I'm a like - don't like guy and I have to say, I like this Bay Rum.  The products themselves are amazing and so nice on the skin so if you haven't tried any Ethos Grooming products you're missing out on one of the best in the business.  

It’s interesting because I have such a broad base of bay rums I own, I’ll always scan and process a new one against the inventory of experience. First pass will be is it original or not, ie not a pre-made blend, and even if it is, it can be blended with other fragrances and still be ok. Obviously the Ethos Bay Rum and Tortola are original. Next I’ll pick out notes and compare it, mentally at first to other originals. This of course is in the broad do I like it context. So this Bay Rum I like, it’s original and so far I can detect similar bay notes to some other top notch bay rums. To be clear, it doesn’t smell the same as those but just has notes that are similar or reminiscent of them. On the one hand that’s not necessarily surprising because bay is a common note in all bay rums or it should be but on the other hand there is a significant variation in bay fragrances depending on the type, quality, quantity etc of product used. Skill in blending is important as well as the goal of the blender. There will even be seasonal variations from batch to batch of the bay leaves. How it’s grown, harvested, shipped, handled and stored will all influence the final product. That said, I think Frank has done an excellent job and not least, given bay rum the respect that it’s due.  The bay rum soap has a mild scent off the puck and in the lather but the scent is much stronger in the post shave products.  You will also get a little of the bay rum burn from the post shave products which is normal but if you are super sensitive and have had bad reactions to bay rum in the past you might want to stay on the side lines.  Personally I've always enjoyed the warming sensation that I get from almost all bay rums.  Regarding the scent of the soap - I've always wondered how the artisan translates the scent of a true hand brewed bay rum into the soap medium.  I can't imagine they just pour some bay rum aftershave into the soap pot.  There's different stuff going on in the soap making process from both a chemical and a temperature level.  This is partly why matching soaps and splashes don't always smell identical.  In any case, this Ethos bay rum smells beautiful.  It could easily be my everyday shave products, my wife even commented favourably on it.  The Tortola is on a whole different level.  It's a very tropical, citrus, fruity bay rum on first application but drys down to a more floral bay rum.  My wife and I both love Tortola.  

Thank you Frank for taking up the challenge and making the Island Collection Bay Rum and Tortola and thank you for your dedication to your craft (art). I've always said that the best things come from people who are driven a little more (sometimes a lot more) than the average person and you clearly are driven to achieve the best.  

I’ll provide more feedback over time as with all things fragrance, my nose brain evolves over time and exposure.

Wow, just wow Mark. Well done !

If you go to the first post in this thread that I posted about 4 years ago, I was challenging top tier artisan soap makers to wade into the bay rum waters and put their mark on the bay rum world.  In that time just three actually did, T+S Indian Bay, Sir Henry Island Estate dominicr  and now Ethos Grooming Essentials Dragonsbeard  with Frank's Island Collection Bay Rum and Tortola Skin Food Splash. I went back through the thread and can see the exact moment two years ago when Frank was bitten by the bay rum bug and after two years he has brought his bay rum to market and man its been worth the wait.  I want to thank you Frank for your dedication to your work and your creativity and persistence and also for your fantastic customer service in helping me out to make sure that I was able to buy this release.  Very much appreciated     I'm not going to do a detailed "review" of the Bay Rum and Tortola because thats not my area of expertise.  I'm a like - don't like guy and I have to say, I like this Bay Rum.  The products themselves are amazing and so nice on the skin so if you haven't tried any Ethos Grooming products you're missing out on one of the best in the business.  

It’s interesting because I have such a broad base of bay rums I own, I’ll always scan and process a new one against the inventory of experience. First pass will be is it original or not, ie not a pre-made blend, and even if it is, it can be blended with other fragrances and still be ok. Obviously the Ethos Bay Rum and Tortola are original. Next I’ll pick out notes and compare it, mentally at first to other originals. This of course is in the broad do I like it context. So this Bay Rum I like, it’s original and so far I can detect similar bay notes to some other top notch bay rums. To be clear, it doesn’t smell the same as those but just has notes that are similar or reminiscent of them. On the one hand that’s not necessarily surprising because bay is a common note in all bay rums or it should be but on the other hand there is a significant variation in bay fragrances depending on the type, quality, quantity etc of product used. Skill in blending is important as well as the goal of the blender. There will even be seasonal variations from batch to batch of the bay leaves. How it’s grown, harvested, shipped, handled and stored will all influence the final product. That said, I think Frank has done an excellent job and not least, given bay rum the respect that it’s due.  The bay rum soap has a mild scent off the puck and in the lather but the scent is much stronger in the post shave products.  You will also get a little of the bay rum burn from the post shave products which is normal but if you are super sensitive and have had bad reactions to bay rum in the past you might want to stay on the side lines.  Personally I've always enjoyed the warming sensation that I get from almost all bay rums.  Regarding the scent of the soap - I've always wondered how the artisan translates the scent of a true hand brewed bay rum into the soap medium.  I can't imagine they just pour some bay rum aftershave into the soap pot.  There's different stuff going on in the soap making process from both a chemical and a temperature level.  This is partly why matching soaps and splashes don't always smell identical.  In any case, this Ethos bay rum smells beautiful.  It could easily be my everyday shave products, my wife even commented favourably on it.  The Tortola is on a whole different level.  It's a very tropical, citrus, fruity bay rum on first application but drys down to a more floral bay rum.  My wife and I both love Tortola.  

Thank you Frank for taking up the challenge and making the Island Collection Bay Rum and Tortola and thank you for your dedication to your craft (art). I've always said that the best things come from people who are driven a little more (sometimes a lot more) than the average person and you clearly are driven to achieve the best.  

I’ll provide more feedback over time as with all things fragrance, my nose brain evolves over time and exposure.

Hi Marko

I've been meaning to respond to your very encouraging words you wrote here. All I can say is WOW and thank you as It's words like these that make this all worth while as there are times when you wonder can I make this a little easier on myself and take the path of less resistance and use the pre -made stuff but unfortunately that is not me. I very much enjoy a challenge and this certainly was one as being a new kid on the block when it comes to making a Bay Rum and if it wasn't for andrewjs18 putting the Bay Rum bug in my ear along with this thread of your's grabbing my attention I may have not have even tried making a Bay Rum. Who knows. Anyways, I knew that if I was going to make one it would be from scratch or not at all. Looking back there are some things I'll do different when making the next Bay Rum Shave Soap because as you noted you can't be dumping a Alcohol based Aroma Infusion into the soap making process. Doesn't work like that so scent strength is totally dependent on the use of an Essential oil ( Bay Rum Essential Oil ) and then add in all the other Aroma ingredients. Or like you mentioned someone could just use a Bay Rum synthetic fragrance oil. That would be the soap makers choice. I took the Essential Oil path which is usually the way I roll if given the choice between the two. Anyway I"ve got some ideas on how to infuse an oil with the same natural ingredients that went into the liquid infusion that the Bay Rum Splashes are made from obviously without the Alcohol. I'm also going to try brewing some Bay Rum leafs like a Tea and using that in the water phase as I believe that those two additions along with the Essential Oil blend will give the scent strength some more legs and kick things up a bit without going the Aroma Chemical way for increasing scent strength.

You mentioned Tortola and I'm noticing that the longer it sits in the bottle it seems to be maturing really nicely. Not something I thought would happen but after talking with a spice expert up in Canada about Bay Rum she mentioned to me that Bay Rum does age well. So I was happy to hear I wasn't just imagining it. I'm almost all out of all the Bay Rum Skin Food Splashes and way down on the Shave Soap so I've ordered all the ingredients I will need to make another couple of batches of both the Traditional and the Tortola again. I'm also going to try a 3rd batch where I want to try and Oak Barrel age a Bay Rum. Not sure if it will work but in theory I think it will so worth a try. I'm very happy to hear you and the misses enjoy the Tortola and look forward to any other thoughts you may have. An I"m always around for a chat if you'd like.

Thanks again and all the best.

Frank

If you go to the first post in this thread that I posted about 4 years ago, I was challenging top tier artisan soap makers to wade into the bay rum waters and put their mark on the bay rum world.  In that time just three actually did, T+S Indian Bay, Sir Henry Island Estate dominicr  and now Ethos Grooming Essentials Dragonsbeard  with Frank's Island Collection Bay Rum and Tortola Skin Food Splash. I went back through the thread and can see the exact moment two years ago when Frank was bitten by the bay rum bug and after two years he has brought his bay rum to market and man its been worth the wait.  I want to thank you Frank for your dedication to your work and your creativity and persistence and also for your fantastic customer service in helping me out to make sure that I was able to buy this release.  Very much appreciated     I'm not going to do a detailed "review" of the Bay Rum and Tortola because thats not my area of expertise.  I'm a like - don't like guy and I have to say, I like this Bay Rum.  The products themselves are amazing and so nice on the skin so if you haven't tried any Ethos Grooming products you're missing out on one of the best in the business.  

It’s interesting because I have such a broad base of bay rums I own, I’ll always scan and process a new one against the inventory of experience. First pass will be is it original or not, ie not a pre-made blend, and even if it is, it can be blended with other fragrances and still be ok. Obviously the Ethos Bay Rum and Tortola are original. Next I’ll pick out notes and compare it, mentally at first to other originals. This of course is in the broad do I like it context. So this Bay Rum I like, it’s original and so far I can detect similar bay notes to some other top notch bay rums. To be clear, it doesn’t smell the same as those but just has notes that are similar or reminiscent of them. On the one hand that’s not necessarily surprising because bay is a common note in all bay rums or it should be but on the other hand there is a significant variation in bay fragrances depending on the type, quality, quantity etc of product used. Skill in blending is important as well as the goal of the blender. There will even be seasonal variations from batch to batch of the bay leaves. How it’s grown, harvested, shipped, handled and stored will all influence the final product. That said, I think Frank has done an excellent job and not least, given bay rum the respect that it’s due.  The bay rum soap has a mild scent off the puck and in the lather but the scent is much stronger in the post shave products.  You will also get a little of the bay rum burn from the post shave products which is normal but if you are super sensitive and have had bad reactions to bay rum in the past you might want to stay on the side lines.  Personally I've always enjoyed the warming sensation that I get from almost all bay rums.  Regarding the scent of the soap - I've always wondered how the artisan translates the scent of a true hand brewed bay rum into the soap medium.  I can't imagine they just pour some bay rum aftershave into the soap pot.  There's different stuff going on in the soap making process from both a chemical and a temperature level.  This is partly why matching soaps and splashes don't always smell identical.  In any case, this Ethos bay rum smells beautiful.  It could easily be my everyday shave products, my wife even commented favourably on it.  The Tortola is on a whole different level.  It's a very tropical, citrus, fruity bay rum on first application but drys down to a more floral bay rum.  My wife and I both love Tortola.  

Thank you Frank for taking up the challenge and making the Island Collection Bay Rum and Tortola and thank you for your dedication to your craft (art). I've always said that the best things come from people who are driven a little more (sometimes a lot more) than the average person and you clearly are driven to achieve the best.  

I’ll provide more feedback over time as with all things fragrance, my nose brain evolves over time and exposure.

Hi Marko

I've been meaning to respond to your very encouraging words you wrote here. All I can say is WOW and thank you as It's words like these that make this all worth while as there are times when you wonder can I make this a little easier on myself and take the path of less resistance and use the pre -made stuff but unfortunately that is not me.  I very much enjoy a challenge and this certainly was one as being a new kid on the block when it comes to making a Bay Rum and if it wasn't for andrewjs18 putting the Bay Rum  bug in my ear along with this thread of your's grabbing my attention I may have not have even tried making a Bay Rum. Who knows. Anyways, I knew that if I was going to make one it would be from scratch or not at all. Looking back there are some things I'll do different when making the next Bay Rum Shave Soap because as you noted you can't be dumping a Alcohol based Aroma Infusion into the soap making process. Doesn't work like that so scent strength is totally dependent on the use of an Essential oil ( Bay Rum Essential Oil ) and then add in all the other Aroma ingredients. Or like you mentioned someone could just use a Bay Rum synthetic fragrance oil. That would be the soap makers  choice. I took the Essential Oil path which is usually the way I roll if given the choice between the two.  Anyway I"ve got some ideas on how to infuse an oil with the same natural ingredients that went into the liquid infusion that the Bay Rum Splashes are made from obviously without the Alcohol. I'm also going to try brewing some Bay Rum leafs like a Tea and using that in the water phase as I believe that those two additions along with the Essential Oil blend will give the scent strength some more legs and kick things up a bit without going the Aroma Chemical way for increasing scent strength. 

You mentioned Tortola and I'm noticing that the longer it sits in the bottle it seems to be maturing really nicely. Not something I thought would happen but after talking with a spice expert up in Canada about Bay Rum she mentioned to me that Bay Rum does age well. So I was happy to hear I wasn't just imagining it.  I'm almost all out of all the Bay Rum Skin Food Splashes and way down on the Shave Soap so I've ordered all the ingredients I will need to make another couple of batches of both the Traditional and the Tortola again. I'm also going to try a 3rd batch where I want to try and Oak Barrel age a Bay Rum. Not sure if it will work but in theory I think it will so worth a try.  I'm very happy to hear you and the misses enjoy the Tortola and look forward to any other thoughts you may have. An I"m always around for a chat if you'd like.

Thanks again and all the best.

Frank

I think that oak barrel aged bay rum will be incredible - you might even want to try getting hold of used rum or bourbon barrels.  It'll be charred and infused with booze which might make for some interesting interactions.  PAA did an oak barrel aged bay rum a number of years ago but I dont think Ive ever seen or even heard of any of it turning up in the wild - I think it was fairly limited.  He's also played around with bay leaves as well - every bottle of Kiritimati aftershave has a bay leaf inside it.  Kiritimati isn't a bay rum but rather a bay inspired scent.  

One of the beautiful things about bay rum is that despite there being some "rules" or parameters around what's a bay rum, there is quite a lot of creative latitude that results in all kinds of good things happening.  If all bay rums smelled the same then you'd only ever need one right?  And that is not the case!  I'm looking forward to experiencing your future bay rum endeavours.

Happy dance

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I32vblmQ714

Happy dance

Love that photo Marko ! 

Ingredients are all in and I'll be starting the next batch soon. I'm really considering doing a Tortola Shave Soap for the Summer. 

That video below is hilarious but it sure can get ya moving... Happy Dance! 

Happy dance

Love that photo Marko ! 

Ingredients are all in and I'll be starting the next batch soon. I'm really considering doing a Tortola Shave Soap for the Summer. 

That video below is hilarious but it sure can get ya moving... Happy Dance! 

That gives me even more reason to do a Happy Dance!