Al's Casablanca

[macdude357]

I ordered this scent semi-blind because it sounded close to Mike's Orange, Cedar and Pepper. All I can say is Wow! This scent is awesome. So much so, I might have to change my signature. It's also a great performer. Some of the most irritation free shaves I've had. I highly recommend it.

 

[Chris H]

What did you get from the scent, because I was rather underwhelmed by it. I do think the performance of the cream was top notch, but I was just disappointed with the scent. I guess with a name like Casablanca, I was expecting something classy and substantial. I found it rather weak and smelling like a forest from far away.

 

[explodyii]

I actually made an account for the express purpose of responding to this. Full disclosure: Casablanca is probably my #1 scent right now, and I have a somewhat different "palate" from most other wetshavers.

As far as the performance goes, it's what you would expect from Al's, so you're getting a somewhat thirsty soap that performs very well with minimal irritation and an easy lather build-up. As far as the scent goes, you're getting something very different from a lot of other products. It's sort of cedar-ish, with a strong orange-ish backbone, that kind of rounds out to something faintly like anise... kind of. Clearly scent descriptions are my strong suit, but suffice to say it is more of a "mouth-watering" scent to me a la Jermyn St, as opposed to the "punch you out" style of Calypso or other Bay Rums.

For me, the scent strength is right on the money, but I also prefer scents that aren't too potent, and instead just have that nice waft every so often, as I work with a lot of people all day and pungent scents are generally a no-no. It is not a weak scent, and sticks with you through the full shave, but it doesn't keep your face in a cloud of perfume the way that other soaps and creams do, that is all. For what it's worth, the only complaints I have ever heard from others about this scent lies in the strength of it, but in terms of the smell itself, everybody I've spoken to loves it.

I actually want to see if I can find some little containers somewhere to load some samples from my tub into for people that I send out razors to, because I am very invested in making sure this scent moves off of Al's Scent of the Month line and into permanent stock, so the more exposure this one gets, the better (for me, selfless as I am). It's one of those scents I think would do really quite well among most shavers, but to me it does stand apart from the other scents offered by Al, so it might take some aback at the subtler approach who love the raw potency of some of his other soaps. As always, your mileage may vary, but to me it was the best impulse buy I've done since starting wetshaving about ten months ago (close second is my Hart Steel purchase from my bonus last quarter), and really revitalized my use of Als soaps, as I'm on a bit of Bay Rum burnout currently.

 

[macdude357]

explodyii's description of the scent pretty much hits the nail on the head; Cedar and Orange. Somewhat similar to Mike's OCP so if you like OCP, you should give Casablanca a try.