New, non-tallow Tabac reviews go in here

[Luc]

While everyone argues about the ingredients, maurer & wirtz is currently having the best sales in 10 years.

i mean, a lot of the old stuff is flying off the shelves. A good chunk of the new one is too(or is it?). While M&W are testing their sales, hopefully we get more reviews.

I believe it’s important to have different reviews from different levels. It’s better if a side by side can be done. But…. At this stage, anything is good.

I’m still waiting on my spare puck(Canada post says next week). If it’s the new formulation, I will be happy to review it here. If not, I might buy a puck of the new formula and do like I usually do, test it for 30 days to have an understanding on how it works.

 

[RussellR5555]

OK, I’ll order a non-tallow version since I have a puck of the okd tallow version. Anyone got a link for the non-tallow soap?

I should be a decent reviewer since I’m not a Tabac fanatic,

I would be very interested to get your view Steve , mine came from Connaught in the UK , but guess some of the US Suppliers have the new version , if you have trouble getting let me know and I will get one for you and send it over.

 

[Steve56]

Thank you Russ, I think that I should be able to get one here. Everyone here seems to be getting the new version unless they try for the old.

 

[kingfisher]

I have offered in the other thread to be a completely blinded and non-biased reviewer, given that I have never tried Tabac and have no dog in this hunt. Unfortunately, I am still waiting for somebody to PM me who is willing to send me two small samples, one of the original and one of the new formulation, in small plastic bags labelled 1 and 2 or A and B, so I can do a side-by-side, back-to-back comparison without any preconceived notions and post a thorough review in this thread.
If you are willing to share a small sample of each, please PM me so I can get started.

 

[shavefan]

I haven't used Tabac in years and am impartial too. If someone wants to send me a sample of both old and new, I'd be happy to review them and post my thoughts here. I'll cover the shipping too.

 

[VerbaVolant]

Just wait a week or two and all subsequent PIFs will contain a vegan TABAC "ORIGINAL".

 

[SharpieB]

My wife just asked me what I was reading and I told her. Now she thinks I am nuts. Thanks guys!

 

[Ivo4u2]

Contemplating to look in a pharmacy if I can find some of the old and new still got some left of a stick which should be old. Hmmm all would be for curiosity since I rarely shave with it. Grin those pif expectations could be true

 

[StratMan]

McD

MdC apologies

 

[kingfisher]

Just found someone willing to send me the two samples, unlabelled, so I can test them out. I will be back on this thread with a thorough comparison once I have had a chance to put them through their paces.

 

[Messygoon]

Shaved with the reformulated Tabac-non-tallow this morning. Observations:

• Much whiter than the tallow version.
• Lather density and longevity the same. But the polarizing mama’s purse smell is gone, which I miss, but others will rejoice.
• No tallow sheen remained on sink, which made me dry heave thinking about rubbing rendered animal fat on my face in past shaves. It’s a texture thing.
• Razor and brush rinsed more cleanly.

Overall, I found the new formulation a good alternative to the old. Still prefer the old version for its scent… as long as I don’t think about what tallow really is (oops, just retched again).

I intend to create a Frankensoap tonight by grating old and new Tabac, along with other orphaned pucks.

 

[tyoung]

Hmm, so even the scent is different? What does the new one smell like? Since it is based off the Tabac Original scent, that is really surprising, and disappointing.

 

[SterFry]

Can we move the arguing and other dilution back to "Where's the tallow", please? The thread was created so people wouldn't have to scroll through pages of filler before finding a review.

Isn't adherence to the topic a forum rule?

 

[Messygoon]

Hmm, so even the scent is different? What does the new one smell like? Since it is based off the Tabac Original scent, that is really surprising, and disappointing.

In rank ordering my senses top to bottom, smell comes in at #5, common sense #6. So take this with a grain of salt. When unwrapping the new "original," I was hit with a chemical smell reminiscent of cheap dish soap. But it dissipated quickly. At the end of the shave, I took one more big whiff, and the chemical smell was gone, only a light soapy smell remained.

My initial reaction was, "Oh no, they've messed with my go-to soap, and I'm going to hate this." But by shave's end I concluded the new scent will be less polarizing because it's neutral... or perhaps a better word is "common." It's still a good puck, but I'm now more likely to branch out and try other soaps.

 

[tyoung]

Ah, thank you for that. I am all for nice, clean scented soap like MWF. But wow, taking away the true Tabac scent just seems crazy to me!

 

[Trem]

Okay, I'll add my own preliminary observations. I ordered Tabac from two vendors last week hoping to get at least one more puck of the old tallow formula. The first of these arrived and turned out to be the new non-tallow formula. Oh well. Decided to keep it anyway.

I did a quick test lather today (just a hand lather, did not shave), using a synthetic brush. The texture of the soap initially felt quite different to me off the puck, but after adding water gradually and building the lather, I was actually quite pleased with the result.

Potentially relevant: I live in a region with *very* hard water -- 18-20 grains of hardness per gallon according to my municipal water utility's webpage.

Observations on the lather:
- This isn't a terribly fussy soap to lather in general, I don't anticipate struggling with it in the future
- Easy to load
- Hard water does not seem to be an issue with this soap (see above)
- Lather initially felt quite thin, but thickened up nicely with added water and minimal elbow grease
- The slickness was definitely still there
- Harder to comment on cushion without shaving, but I can see this soap offering good protection
- Perhaps not quite the same creamy consistency as the old Tabac

As others have noted, the scent is NOT the same. To my nose, it just seems safer and more generic somehow. I've never subscribed to the "old lady purse" characterization of the original, but the powdery/musky floral quality that gave Tabac its "soul" and sophistication is gone. I sincerely miss that.

Overall, I am cautiously optimistic that this could be a great product. To wit, I don't think this is a case of M&W entirely screwing the pooch by releasing an objectively inferior product from the old formulation. I was able to build a very nice lather with minimal effort; spending some time to learn how to fully dial it in will likely lead to even better results. Of course I'll need to shave with it to be sure. Important to note: this feels like a distinctly different product from the tallow version. It would have been more honest of M&W to indicate this somehow in their branding, rather than quietly swapping things out and pretending its the same.

 

[FarmerTan]

Okay, I'll add my own preliminary observations. I ordered Tabac from two vendors last week hoping to get at least one more puck of the old tallow formula. The first of these arrived and turned out to be the new non-tallow formula. Oh well. Decided to keep it anyway.

I did a quick test lather today (just a hand lather, did not shave), using a synthetic brush. The texture of the soap initially felt quite different to me off the puck, but after adding water gradually and building the lather, I was actually quite pleased with the result.

Potentially relevant: I live in a region with *very* hard water -- 18-20 grains of hardness per gallon according to my municipal water utility's webpage.

Observations on the lather:
- This isn't a terribly fussy soap to lather in general, I don't anticipate struggling with it in the future
- Easy to load
- Hard water does not seem to be an issue with this soap (see above)
- Lather initially felt quite thin, but thickened up nicely with added water and minimal elbow grease
- The slickness was definitely still there
- Harder to comment on cushion without shaving, but I can see this soap offering good protection
- Perhaps not quite the same creamy consistency as the old Tabac

As others have noted, the scent is NOT the same. To my nose, it just seems safer and more generic somehow. I've never subscribed to the "old lady purse" characterization of the original, but the powdery/musky floral quality that gave Tabac its "soul" and sophistication is gone. I sincerely miss that.

Overall, I am cautiously optimistic that this could be a great product. To wit, I don't think this is a case of M&W entirely screwing the pooch by releasing an objectively inferior product from the old formulation. I was able to build a very nice lather with minimal effort; spending some time to learn how to fully dial it in will likely lead to even better results. Of course I'll need to shave with it to be sure. Important to note: this feels like a distinctly different product from the tallow version. It would have been more honest of M&W to indicate this somehow in their branding, rather than quietly swapping things out and pretending its the same.

EXCELLENT review. It makes me want to buy it to try myself.

Especially love your last sentence my friend.

 

[sneefy]

many wet shavers are worried

Wet-shavers are making the choice

many threads across multiple forums

Argumentum ad populum.

 

[VerbaVolant]

It seems to me that the improvement brought by the non-tallow TABAC ORIGINAL is not in performance but scent. If you catch my drift.
Now, how can I get rid of my tallow stash with the "not so popular" scent and get no-tallow soap with, let's say, different scent?
Just another rhetorical question. And no, I didn't post here with the purpose of annoying @SterFry.

 

[Trem]

It seems to me that the improvement brought by the non-tallow TABAC ORIGINAL is not in performance but scent. If you catch my drift.

Haha, we'll have to agree to disagree on that one. I love the original scent.