Noble Otter...I am in love.

[steffenapelz]

First review like this that I've seen out of many. YMMV sums it up perfectly as I use all the soaps you mention and Noble Otter is right there with them for me. YMMV.

I think I agree that the base is not in the same league as WK, DG and GD. I agree with Frenchy on that. When it comes to scents, our likes and preferences are vastly different though. I LOVE the 5 NO scents and the WK and GD scents are just 'meh'. I DO like the DG scents though...so it is a bit of a mixed bag.

 

[steffenapelz]

All that said, if you like the scents and have decent technique, the slight underperformance of the NO base won't keep you from using NO and loving it. And as a weird comparison...I used GD Neroli yesterday and NO The Noir this morning (otherwise identical setup) and I got a much better shave with the NO soap...that said, not a scientific test.

 

[Southsider]

I agree with @steffenapelz on this. For me, Wholly Kaw is the best base and I have several of their soaps. Only one WK scent is in my top scent tier, however, and that would be Lav Sublime. The Thé Noir et Vanille Shaving Soap scent is also in my top scent tier and the base is fine, just not on the level of WK. Put another way, I would choose to use Thé Noir et Vanille Shaving Soap over some Wholly Kaw soaps because the scent is just that good for me.

 

[frenchy]

All that said, if you like the scents and have decent technique, the slight underperformance of the NO base won't keep you from using NO and loving it. And as a weird comparison...I used GD Neroli yesterday and NO The Noir this morning (otherwise identical setup) and I got a much better shave with the NO soap...that said, not a scientific test.

At this point Neroli is an old base though. NO is the latest and greatest. So...in a way....not a great test..That’s how fast things are moving nowadays.

 

[steffenapelz]

At this point Neroli is an old base though. NO is the latest and greatest. So...in a way....not a great test..That’s how fast things are moving nowadays.

You really love WK DM. No biggie. I personally like NO better when considering scent and performance. Again no biggie. The good news is that we won't compete for these soaps!

 

[DEdestroyer77]

I've stopped breaking soaps into tiers, there's just what I will or won't use. NO is very much a I will use soap, the original scents didnt do much for me though. I am however going to break my soap buying hiatus because I want to give the Noir Vanille thing a shot, and Nectar Amissa will supposedly be released full time soon, that I liked

 

[Anomaly1985]

They make safe scents.

The trail & Lonestar my personal picks.
Noir et vanille remind me of Vetiver fatal from Atelier Cologne
Barrbarr old baby powder

 

[hamleto]

Getting now some information about Noble Otter, looks interesting product, even if not top tier worth trust.

As far as scents, which you can suggest as easy go? Nectar Armisia is it kind of "girly" or floral?

I seek something for spring season lets say...

 

[DEdestroyer77]

Getting now some information about Noble Otter, looks interesting product, even if not top tier worth trust.

As far as scents, which you can suggest as easy go? Nectar Armisia is it kind of "girly" or floral?

I seek something for spring season lets say...

Noir et Vanille, excellent stuff

 

[bluesman 7]

Disclaimer: I'm in the Cult of Arko.

I was pretty much using Arko full time and perfectly happy. I recently was able to try several of the high end soaps because of the generosity of @RayClem at the Wisconsin meet. Of all of the soaps I was most impressed with Noble Otter. I saw that they were in Texas and even checked to see if I would be anywhere close when I go to Texas next month. I really liked the lather quality and especially liked the two scents that I tried Barrbarr and Nectar Armisia. I don't like cologne scents in general and though I feel that Nectar Armisia leans that way, I still like it. I especially like the strength level of the scents

 

[Frozenshades]

Noble Otter's soap is a fantastic performer, but as much as I've tried I've to love them, I've found the scents lack luster.

Flying Hide was nice, but I didn't enjoy it enough to want to make a purchase.

The Trail and Lonestar were okay to my nose.

I'm indifferent about Monarch. There are aspects of the scent I like very much, but I find it to have an overpowering sweetness.

I didn't particularly enjoy Nectar Amissa or Noir Et Vanille.

I sold my set of Texaus a few weeks ago because the scent just didn't jive with me again.

However, I recently got a sample of Barrbarr and this is the first one that I can say I strongly liked at first sniff. I haven't used it yet, but will soon. Hoping it will be a winner!

 

[Rhody]

What is the scent description for wowzers? And why do you need a password to access that soap?

 

[CJB3]

Thanks for the thoughtful review.

 

[RayClem]

There are a lot of great posts in this thread. For me (my face, my beard, my nose), Noble Otter ranks just slightly behind the elite level soaps. It has great primary slickness, but the residual slickness is not quite as good as the elite soaps. the post shave is great, but again, slightly below elite level in moisturizing/conditioning.

My favorite scents are Noir et Vanille, Lonestar and the new Monarch scent. The new scent is reminds me of putting Grand Marnier into a cup of coffee.

When smelling Lonestar, my nose picks up a slight aroma of chlorine like swimming pool water. I am not sure where that is coming from in the accord. That detracts slightly, but it is still quite nice.

To my nose, the Barrbarr scent could be stronger.

When smelling Nectar Amissa, I detect the scent of Ammen's baby powder. It is not the typical smell of Johnson's baby powder; it is clean and fresh, but has a slightly medicinal/camphorus aroma.

I had samples of Flying Hide and The Trail, but did not like them well enough to purchase them. I preferred the Lonestar leather scent to the heavier Flying Hide. The Trail reminded me somewhat of gin; James Bond would love it.

 

[Frozenshades]

What is the scent description for wowzers? And why do you need a password to access that soap?

I saw a comment on reddit saying it's some limited edition offering that so far is only available to a small group. Not sure who or how is getting that, or what the plan is.

This also went live from NO this morning: 24KT (Shaving Soap + Aftershave)

 

[Rhody]

I saw a comment on reddit saying it's some limited edition offering that so far is only available to a small group. Not sure who or how is getting that, or what the plan is.

This also went live from NO this morning: 24KT (Shaving Soap + Aftershave)

im not in the "in group" to spend money clearly lol
Seems from the scent descriptions they are in the complex esoteric category. I wont buy unless i can sniff it out first at Pasteur otherwise its too risky

 

[steffenapelz]

Looks like you can just order it on their website....or am I missing something?

 

[steffenapelz]

That said...I am not a fan IN GENERAL (not specific to Noble Otter) of cologne clone scents. Even though Cody does it REALLY well normally, I find that soapmakers in general can only approximate cologne scents by using fragrance oils, and that usually makes them smell very artificial to my nose. There is a litany of past cologne scent purchases that I felt to be "artificial":

- Stirling Sharp-dressed Man + Executive Man (both uber-artificial)
- Oleo Shiloh + Rush Street (not quite as artificial as Stirling, but way too much so for me)
- Siliski Sea Spice (very mildly artificial, but IMO unmistakeably so)
- Ariana & Evans Vetiver Magnifique (minimally artificial smelling, but it is still noticeable)

Since I mostly despise modern cologne scents (I wear mostly classic colognes like Floris, Penhaligon's, Givenchy, Diptyque that were mostly originally conceived before 1970 etc), I would never buy a soap that clones Versace Eros. But if I did, I would be clear that there's an excellent chance the soap would be artificial smelling.

 

[Rhody]

Looks like you can just order it on their website....or am I missing something?

Not going to waste more time on checking again but that soap as combo required a password to go further to order it. A company that will never see my money

 

[Frozenshades]

Looks like you can just order it on their website....or am I missing something?

Not going to waste more time on checking again but that soap as combo required a password to go further to order it. A company that will never see my money

I think he's talking about the 24KT which is available. Wowzers isn't listed with the other soaps, but you can find it if you search for it. And yes, still locked behind a password.