Thanks MtView. That's a good useful description. I'm just running out of the soap, so I'll re-order and include he AS as well. I'm with you on the fragrancy illiteracy. I get the main jist of it, but could never identify even a fraction of the elements.
Barrister and Mann: Seville (Excelsior)
- Thread starter fistfullofbeer
- Start date
One of my favorite scents in all of soap shavedom. Excellent performers in both bases with superb after shaves to boot. The edt is a must have for Seville scent lovers......
Thanks for the correction...got the bases mixed up. I was under the impression that the Reserve Spice was in their more recent base.
Must be the Bay Rum is in the older Excelsior base. I'll check their website.
From oldest to newest (as I understand it) the last several bases are Glissant, Reserve, Excelsior and Soft Heart in that order. Soft Heart is only offered in an ongoing basis on a few limited releases and was one iteration of the bases used in developing Excelsior. I have not used Soft Heart but that is supposed to be the best of all.
So the latest bases are Excelsior and Soft Heart--Reserve came before them. I believe Bay Rum is now transitioned to Excelsior. You might still find some old stock Glissant Bay Rum kicking around.
To confuse you even more (I am great at that), I actually have Seville in Reserve and in Glissant. If you look at the website it is now in Excelsior. Seville in Reserve is a very rare bird, produced for Reddit on a one-time only basis. You can see a picture of it in the post by @GlazedBoker above #22. It is the only Reserve soap I have. I used it the other day and could not believe how high a quality lather it produced.
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Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
I believe it. I prefer the Reserve base over Excelsior by a wide margin. I wish Will would bring out more scents in Reserve. And the Soft Heart base is amaaaaaaazing.
Ah! That's it! I have the Bay Rum in the older base...before Excelsior. Soon after I bought it, the Excelsior came out. Thanks for the education. LOL! I didn't realize they had so many bases.
I’ve only tried the excelsior base, and I love the slickness, cushion, post feel, and insensitivity to water. I like the Seville because its fresh scent is smooth on the nostrils. Definitely going to pick up the aftershave.
I consider Excelsior to be just slightly better than Reserve. I find the residual slickness and post shave feel to be slightly improved in the Excelsior base. Excelsior includes lanolin, which is absent in Reserve.
If residual slickness and post shave conditioning are not critical for you, I can see how you might like Reserve as well as Excelsior, but it really surprises me that you prefer Reserve by a "wide margin." It is my understanding that Reserve was specifically designed to work well with hard water, so if you have hard water, you might find it easier to lather.
All of the Reserve scents were designed to be reminiscent of some older fragrances like Old Spice, Gillette Sunup and others, so I doubt you will see Seville released in the Reserve base, unless it is as a limited release.
I think the Bay Rum I have isn't even the Excelsior...it's the Glissant. I have an easier time with the Bay Rum than I do with the Reserve Spice. Again...got the bases mixed up.
Just ordered Seville, Cool and Soft heart diamond soaps and aftershaves along with a bottle of classic aftershave as well.
Will has been developing his nose from the beginning. He has had the good sense to work with professional noses who have done very well indeed overcoming the requirements, the differences, between aftershave bases and soap bases. Add because he appreciates the perfumer's alchemy his efforts in EDT, and EDPs have been quite successful. Barrister & Mann has been my touchstone since I started down the rabbit hole, and with them, I have been well served by their efforts to improve the shaving experience.
If you are comparing the older Glissant base to Reserve, then I agree that Reserve is the better base, but Gilssant is still very good.
I used Seville today in the very first base offered, and I have news for you: I truly like it better than any of the new ones...
Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
White Labels were awesome!
Are you talking about the Latha line of soaps?
Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
No, the White Label base was, as far as I recall, Will’s very first base for his premium soaps. The Latha line was the ‘discount’ base in a few scents.
I never had the pleasure of trying the white label line. I am also still trying to get my hands on a tub of SoftHeart. It always sells out before I know about the release.
Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
Sometimes artisans tinker too much, IMHO, and they eschew greatness for marketing. The White Label soaps were highly regarded.
I felt lucky to acquire Diamond in the Soft Heart base. It’s one of my favorite scents ever created. I can actually small the ballpark — grass, dirt, popcorn, leather and beer. Did you know that beer is the first listed ingredient?! Simply awesome.
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