Noble Otter Two Kings - a review

[JCinPA]

Wow! Just had a fantastic shave with a brand new soap to me, and my first Noble Otter (NO) experience. In a word, outstanding! I won't categorize a soap after first use, normally, I like to use it a few times first, but if this doesn't make my very top tier, I'll eat my hat.

As has been noted before, NO artwork is superb, both in the imagination and cuteness of the otters and in the quality of the labels. Hopefully some of the nearly iridescent quality of the label comes out in this shot. I'm no @sarimento1 that's for sure.

I also have no nose for describing scents. I love this is not very helpful. Luckily, NO puts some scent descriptive notes on their labeling.

By the way, I DO LOVE THIS! In case you were wondering.

Now the lather. Wow! Very easy to lather. I bloomed it a bit while showering, used the bloom water as a pre-shave, then used a shook out boar brush to load. Face lathered adding water gradually and nailed a gorgeous, dense and slick lather. I did not try to overhydrate this, so I am not sure how wide the window is, but this is an easy soap to lather, indeed.

The shave:

And let me tell you, it was an Accidental BBS (means I was not stiving for it, it just kinda happened). Believe it or not, that was on the 10th shave on the vintage NOS Schick Plus Platinum blade, too. B&B Anniversary boar, and the Merkur slant.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

 

[SterFry]

Noble Otter is superb. One of my favorites with the best smelling soaps in the business. Monarch is an olfactory masterpiece. I don't think there's a more skilled scentmeister out there. Ymmv, etc.

 

[Flanders]

Taking a break from The Fat eh
I am surprised to see a review of this one, it was on my buy list after getting a sample. Then I bought more DG because I didn't want to miss out. Hopefully I will be able to get this in a few months.

 

[JCinPA]

Taking a break from The Fat eh
I am surprised to see a review of this one, it was on my buy list after getting a sample. Then I bought more DG because I didn't want to miss out. Hopefully I will be able to get this in a few months.

Hahahaha! I've gotten so many new soaps lately, I've only used each twice. PdP Bergamot Thyme, Haslinger, The Fat, now this one. I have to get into GRUME tomorrow just so I can relax and have fun with some of these.

I WAS in GRUME in September, then found a collector item I needed for my birthday razor collection and broke it. Figuring I would try GRUME in October, I kinda went ...

On the purchases after that. lol

 

[Flanders]

In all seriousness, you can't go wrong with Noble Otter for the very modest cost. I think it gives even Stirling a run for it's money in the budget category. Now buying SV, that's another story...

 

[Flanders]

Oh by the way, the DG that I got is Rose Santal. I thought it would sell out, but he has been keeping it stocked for now. That one you want to get the aftershave for because it might sell out and not come back.

 

[Marco]

Very nicely written John @JCinPA ! Let's see how I will evaluate it when your sample is here with me. In the meantime, thank you very much, my friend.

 

[Marco]

By the way, at the moment in my den there's only one king...

 

[JCinPA]

Noble Otter is superb. One of my favorites with the best smelling soaps in the business. Monarch is an olfactory masterpiece. I don't think there's a more skilled scentmeister out there. Ymmv, etc.

I wish you hadn't mentioned Monarch! I just looked up the scent notes, and I want. Thank God tomorrow I go into GRUME for October! I gotta lay off the soap purchases for a bit. But that does sound awesome.

 

[SterFry]

I wish you hadn't mentioned Monarch! I just looked up the scent notes, and I want. Thank God tomorrow I go into GRUME for October! I gotta lay off the soap purchases for a bit. But that does sound awesome.

Maggards has Noble Otter samples

 

[SharpieB]

I have had a tub of Two Kings for a year and I really didn’t like it at first. Great performance like all NO soaps, but I found it had way too much of a rose scent initially. But after a few shaves, it grew on me. After a few more, I bought the AS splash. Now it is in my main rotation for fall/winter. Really nice soap and the AS is even better IMO.

Rawr I’d the best NO scent by far IMO and Orbit is a close second. More summer scents though.

 

[Scaramouche]

Great review, and now inspired to try the other royalty in their lineup! Monarch is one of my favorites as well, among any soaps, fragrance and performance, at any price. NO has been universally top-notch for me. Like most of their fragrances, a complex blend of many scent notes - on the label: lavender, powder, cognac, coffee, orange, neroli, hyacinth, sandalwood, vanilla. None of them distinct, but all combined into a very pleasant, not quite floral, not quite citrus, not quite woodsy, but yes, "royal"blend. Like all of NO's creations, to me, on the mild side for longevity, but very office friendly (a 3 or 4 out of 10 on the SSNS - Scaramouche Spouse's Nose Scale). Thanks!

 

[Messygoon]

Brilliant review @JCinPA. Your glowing praise has me yearning for Noble Otter - a maker I haven’t yet tried, but will now.

Thank you for the gift of a well written post!

 

[JCinPA]

Second Shave evaluation confirmation

As I said in the OP, I don't categorize a soap until after a couple, maybe three uses. There are several reasons for that. I may not have gotten the best lather the soap can produce. I may have been unduly influenced by scent, which skews my reaction to it. I may have been impressed by something else in the shave that day that made me feel better/worse about the soap. Sometimes my impression just changes for no obvious reason, with further usage of the product. I want to feel like I really know a soap before I pass the final judgement on it. For example, I did not post how I felt about B&M's Reserve Lavender until I had about ten shaves with it.

This one is easy. Straightforward to lather, no surprises, I can evaluate it now after two shaves, IMNSHO, and I'm going to go out on a limb. I do not do this often. But I am putting this soap in my very top tier of soaps performance-wise, the tier with Cella original, Tabac, and now Mitchell's Wool Fat in it. I have lots of soaps that are oh-so-close to those that I am blissfully happy using, but rarely does something actually rise into those ranks for me. This one does.

I played with the hydration window a bit today, and pushed it a little further than yesterday. I did not push to the far end of the window where it becomes unstable, but I can tell you that this soap's hydration window is wide enough that nobody should find this soap 'finicky' in the least. Tomorrow I will come off my usual approach to new soaps and load with a damper brush, more confident I know how this behaves now. But in terms of latherability, slickness, density, reasonably wide hydration window (meaning lower probability of goofing the lather), longevity (my photo was pretty long after the first pass), this is in the top tier, for me, and I love the scent, which is a very YMMV subjective thing.

This is one like Tabac, Cella red, and The Fat, that will always be in stock in my den, no "rotations" out for this soap.

Super highly recommended. Although you may want to peruse the scent profiles before pulling the trigger, I urge you to try a Noble Otter Soap.

 

[Lefonque]

Noble Otter Monarch is a really good soap. You have a great lather going. First class. Thanks for the review.

 

[JCinPA]

Several people have mentioned Monarch, and think I got into the GRUME for October just in time. Marco is tempting me to buy SV, too.

Must.
Resist.

I tend to not have several scents of one maker, but I may reload with Monarch after Two Kings is gone.

 

[SterFry]

Several people have mentioned Monarch, and think I got into the GRUME for October just in time. Marco is tempting me to buy SV, too.

Must.
Resist.

I tend to not have several scents of one maker, but I may reload with Monarch after Two Kings is gone.

Monarch is my favorite smelling soap of all time and it's totally unique.

 

[Flanders]

I tend to not have several scents of one maker, but I may reload with Monarch after Two Kings is gone.

Although that may sound rational, eventually you will realize you need one scent for every season.
Then one for each month, when you finally fall off the GRUME wagon!
You see, there are 30 days in a month and if you use one every three days you can have 10 soaps for each month. Plenty of room to grow!

I admit, I just did an inventory and have 8-12 years of soap inclusive of the 3 on order. I have a slot for two in Spring and I pretty much have to stop until at least next Fall.

 

[JCinPA]

Although that may sound rational, eventually you will realize you need one scent for every season.
Then one for each month, when you finally fall off the GRUME wagon!
You see, there are 30 days in a month and if you use one every three days you can have 10 soaps for each month. Plenty of room to grow!

I admit, I just did an inventory and have 8-12 years of soap inclusive of the 3 on order. I have a slot for two in Spring and I pretty much have to stop until at least next Fall.

@APBinNCA I will pray for you, my friend.

The rest of us here on the B&B, if you are so inclined, offer your prayers for him as well. He clearly needs it!

P.S. So do I.

 

[Flanders]

The rest of us here on the B&B, if you are so inclined, offer your prayers for him as well. He clearly needs it!

Bring out your soap, bring out your soap! I can't die right now, I have too much soap sir.