Hi everyone!
I’ve recently mixed together some Bootlegger’s Bay rum, and I’ve really fallen in love with it. There’s been a hundred and one posts about it, but not many dedicated to breaking down and describing the resulting scent. Although I’m no expert, I thought I’d give it a shot for anyone wanting to know what it smells like.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Bootlegger’s Bay Rum is a B&B born mix of three commercial aftershaves:
• 1 part Pinaud Virgin Island Bay Rum
• 1 part Superior 70 Alcoholado
• 1 part Master Bay Rum
Naturally, the resulting mix has scent elements of all three, so let me lay out the primary profiles of each.
Pinaud VIBR: Off the bat, you get a nose full of clove. Once that settles, you’re greeted with warm holiday-like spices and cinnamon. There’s also a sweetness that underpins it all; not quite vanilla, but sweet and light in the same way.
Superior 70: this stuff is straight alcohol and West Indian bay extract, and that’s exactly what it smells like. Most describe West Indian bay as clove-y, and that’s mostly true. But it’s as if you took cloves and made it into a fresh, green, and very slightly herbal scent. That’s what real bay smells like. Honestly, it’s amazing how this stuff smells both warm and green/leafy at the same time.
Master: This also is mainly scented with West Indian bay extract, so it smells sort of similar to Superior 70. It loses that fresh leafy note, however, and replaces it with a sweet mellow undertone. As though you let Superior 70 caramelize and darken. The scent is mild — however, Master’s main purpose in the mix is its absurd amount of glycerin. This helps moisturize the resulting concoction.
So, what do you get when you mix these three? The new scent opens up with Superior 70: fresh, leafy, clove-y, bay; there’s no mistaking it. Underneath all this lie the spice and sweetness of VIBR: a sweeter and warmer clove, cinnamon, and vanilla-like sweetness. The Master’s doesn’t really present strongly — maybe a bit in the overall mellow sweetness as it dries down. But man can you feel it’s glycerin.
Overall, Bootlegger’s smells like real bay leaves wrapped in sweet and warm spices; i.e. it smells exactly how a bay rum should. It’s almost amazing how a 1:1:1 mix can make such a complex and well behaved aftershave.
If you’ve made Bootlegger’s before, how would you describe the scent? Agree, disagree? Everyone’s nose is different, but this is what mine tells me!
I’ve recently mixed together some Bootlegger’s Bay rum, and I’ve really fallen in love with it. There’s been a hundred and one posts about it, but not many dedicated to breaking down and describing the resulting scent. Although I’m no expert, I thought I’d give it a shot for anyone wanting to know what it smells like.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Bootlegger’s Bay Rum is a B&B born mix of three commercial aftershaves:
• 1 part Pinaud Virgin Island Bay Rum
• 1 part Superior 70 Alcoholado
• 1 part Master Bay Rum
Naturally, the resulting mix has scent elements of all three, so let me lay out the primary profiles of each.
Pinaud VIBR: Off the bat, you get a nose full of clove. Once that settles, you’re greeted with warm holiday-like spices and cinnamon. There’s also a sweetness that underpins it all; not quite vanilla, but sweet and light in the same way.
Superior 70: this stuff is straight alcohol and West Indian bay extract, and that’s exactly what it smells like. Most describe West Indian bay as clove-y, and that’s mostly true. But it’s as if you took cloves and made it into a fresh, green, and very slightly herbal scent. That’s what real bay smells like. Honestly, it’s amazing how this stuff smells both warm and green/leafy at the same time.
Master: This also is mainly scented with West Indian bay extract, so it smells sort of similar to Superior 70. It loses that fresh leafy note, however, and replaces it with a sweet mellow undertone. As though you let Superior 70 caramelize and darken. The scent is mild — however, Master’s main purpose in the mix is its absurd amount of glycerin. This helps moisturize the resulting concoction.
So, what do you get when you mix these three? The new scent opens up with Superior 70: fresh, leafy, clove-y, bay; there’s no mistaking it. Underneath all this lie the spice and sweetness of VIBR: a sweeter and warmer clove, cinnamon, and vanilla-like sweetness. The Master’s doesn’t really present strongly — maybe a bit in the overall mellow sweetness as it dries down. But man can you feel it’s glycerin.
Overall, Bootlegger’s smells like real bay leaves wrapped in sweet and warm spices; i.e. it smells exactly how a bay rum should. It’s almost amazing how a 1:1:1 mix can make such a complex and well behaved aftershave.
If you’ve made Bootlegger’s before, how would you describe the scent? Agree, disagree? Everyone’s nose is different, but this is what mine tells me!
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