Noble Otter Monarch...am I scent blind?

[GMM]

Hello all. I've been a lurker on the forum for a couple of months now after getting back to double edge shaving after a 40 + year absence.
I've been exploring the universe of shaving soaps available today and have been very impressed with what I've been able to sample of Noble Otter's offerings. Given what I've read here I was really looking forward to NO's Monarch (sample obtained from Maggard's), and was surprised to find I could barely detect any scent whatsoever. I'm wondering if I just received a bad batch or if I may be "scent blind" to this scent.
I have not had this problem with any of the other 20 + various other soaps I've tried to date.
Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[Balthier]

Monarch was my favorite one I have sampled maybe rawr is right below it. It wasn't weak to me stronger than two kings and rawr imo, maybe about medium about. It's got some floral notes so perhaps you could be partially scent blind to it or they left it out with lid open, or an old sample?

 

[GMM]

Thanks for the comparison with other scent strengths. I've tried Noir et Vanille, Bar Bar and Lonestar. Loved them all. Scent strength was medium for me with all those.
The Monarch sampler I received could have passed for "Unscented" before and during shaving. Post shave scent strength was 1/10.
Given the reviews I've read and the fact that I liked what I COULD detect I suspect I'll just go ahead and buy a tub and keep my fingers crossed. Even it's a sensory problem on my end I can still act as a nice "unscented" soap.

 

[RayClem]

I rated in strength of Monarch as medium. It is certainly not overpowering, but the scent is not absent, either.

Over time, the strength of a soap scent will subside. The top notes of the scent are the most volatile, so they will be the ones to evaporate first. Those are the scent notes we detect when first removing the top from the container. The middle and base notes only emerge once the soap is lathered.

If the sample has been in inventory at Maggard for a while, the sample might well have lost some of its top notes making it seem weak. Try lathering the samples and see if the scent emerges.

Although Noble Otter is not one of the top soap bases in my collection, I do like the scent of Monarch rating it 9/10.

 

[Heron]

Mine smelled quite strong

 

[Slock]

Hello all. I've been a lurker on the forum for a couple of months now after getting back to double edge shaving after a 40 + year absence.
I've been exploring the universe of shaving soaps available today and have been very impressed with what I've been able to sample of Noble Otter's offerings. Given what I've read here I was really looking forward to NO's Monarch (sample obtained from Maggard's), and was surprised to find I could barely detect any scent whatsoever. I'm wondering if I just received a bad batch or if I may be "scent blind" to this scent.
I have not had this problem with any of the other 20 + various other soaps I've tried to date.
Any thoughts? Thanks.

I have also received samples from Maggard's that didn't have any scent. If its any consolation you can still evaluate the performance of the soap base.

 

[SydneyShaver]

I think NO's soap formulation is not particularly stable for their scents. I got a tub of two kings that was basically unscented and then a replacement which was at most a 2/10. The dry-down was a bit stronger but ultimately, all I could smell was a hint of artificial oud and a sweet rose tail. I have had members here vividly describe the scent and certain pieces or notes of it that I am convinced are not in the soap I used. Like they must have evaporated away or degenerated due to shipping conditions etc. I don't have a bad nose, I've never had covid, I can smell everything in every other soap/cream/gel I've ever used. NO on the otherhand....not really. I don't know whether to chalk it up to the soap itself, NO potentially underscenting a significant portion of their soaps and me just being super unlucky, or storage and shipping conditions of the soap somehow being the worst possible.

 

[GMM]

Thanks all. I suspect I got a sample that lost it’s scent. How common of an occurrence is this for a new soap? Do some brands seem more susceptible than others?

 

[SydneyShaver]

Thanks all. I suspect I got a sample that lost it’s scent. How common of an occurrence is this for a new soap? Do some brands seem more susceptible than others?

Not common at all from my experience. NO was the first time it had ever happened to me. Typically, if a product is old and dried up, re-hyrdrating it solves most issues (including scent strength). Personally, I don't know if any brands are susceptible more than others but people have soaps that are 10 years old and can still smell the scent. I mean who knows how old some of the mass produced soaps/creams are when we buy them? We're probably both just unlucky and got the weakly scented tubs.

 

[Anomaly1985]

It pretty lightly scented or extremely well blended.

 

[frbock]

Hello all. I've been a lurker on the forum for a couple of months now after getting back to double edge shaving after a 40 + year absence.
I've been exploring the universe of shaving soaps available today and have been very impressed with what I've been able to sample of Noble Otter's offerings. Given what I've read here I was really looking forward to NO's Monarch (sample obtained from Maggard's), and was surprised to find I could barely detect any scent whatsoever. I'm wondering if I just received a bad batch or if I may be "scent blind" to this scent.
I have not had this problem with any of the other 20 + various other soaps I've tried to date.
Any thoughts? Thanks.

I did a batch of NO samples (from Maggard), and the scents are very muted. I had 4 samples and it was hard to get a good reading. I liked Lonestar, and ordered it. The aroma is the same, just a lot more intense (and that's good).