Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum
Pinaud

Love it. It's a real trip into the 40s or 50s- out of the shower with a close shave.
Doesn't last like any kind of EdT (all bay rum is pretty fleeting), BUT it's got a lot more legs than many aftershaves. Could fight with an EdT so I have be careful what I wear it with.

Heavy duty dose of cinnamon and especially cloves. Heavy on the cloves.

A very good way to start off grumpy old "get off my lawn" kind of days.

Whenever I hear some referenced as "smelling like aftershave" this is the exact aftershave I think of.

Another Clubman Pinaud scent I love. It's not for everyone.
Being a somewhat older chap, I don't feel the need to be trendy or chic. This scent is full of bay rum and as well as loads of clove which dies down a bit after awhile. This one makes me feel like a solitary yachtsman on his adventures sailing between Caribbean islands. We all need to feel some adventure in our lives and this particular adventure doesn't cost an arm and a leg. These products are fun.

Boozy spicy bay rum. That's about it!! Overwhelming to start with. settles down after 30 minutes. Not my style.

This aftershave/cologne has a very long history going back over a century in the West Indies. People in the Carribean routinely used (and still use) it. Apparently it was first created when sailors and pirates in the Carribean would mix bay leaves with rum (which they already had in abundance) and pour that over themselves as a cologne, to hide body odour due to being away at sea for months at a time. So this is technically as authentic as it gets if you want to smell like a pirate. To my nose, the opening smells a lot like bay leaves mixed with rum, lots of cloves, and a hint of cinnamon. Out of these, the rum and cloves in particular are pretty noticeable in the opening - and I enjoy the scent of both. As it dries down, the rum is dominant along with bay leaves (the cloves and cinnamon become more subdued). It's very old-fashioned and masculine, and suited more for winters than summers in my opinion. Sillage is moderate but leaning light (resembles the sillage of any eau de cologne), while longevity is pretty amazing for this type of fragrance on my skin at over 6 hours, and then as a skin scent for around 4 more hours. If using this right after shaving, it provides a very nice burning sensation to the face as well; in fact more than my other aftershaves. Overall this is quite enjoyable as an cologne and aftershave with quite a decent amount of lasting power (in fact it's basically a cologne; it lasts far more than my other aftershaves) and more old-fashioned (in a good way) than the modern "sport" aftershaves that all smell the same. The scent of this is so unique and it has a long heritage going back over 200 years, and a large bottle of this will cost you very little money. For these reasons this is one of my favourite colognes.

5/5

Those who know their Pinaud history will know that Édouard Pinaud himself never really made any of the Clubman line products that bear his name, and that those now plastic-bottled scents are typically favored in the US where they were originally created and marketed by the US branch of the original Ed Pinaud company out of NYC until it fell into the hands of American International Beauty Group, who holds it now. Lilac Vegetal is the only variety with a bona fide date (1880), but it's presumed this came out sometime in mid 20th century as an entry-level spin on the long-held bay rum tradition, as the real stuff imported from St. Thomas under various names was approaching designer prices post-WWII. It supposedly still contains "essence of bay tree and spices" but how authentic this is remains a mystery really, and for the asking price is doubtful. Outside of all this, it's a rather standard-smelling bay rum scent, fairly "reference" in regard to the usual cinnamon and clove that ends up in these kind of things, and is quite a respectful choice if all one wants is an after-shave splash or a few hours tops of scent projection. Everyone that knows bay rum who isn't a perfume hobbyist typically points to this stuff, so it succeeded in becoming the standard by which all others are judged, and most fondly remembered variety.

Much of Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum's sales are probably general Pinaud nostalgia, with a bit of curiosity for the younger folks that have began exploring antiquated toiletries in recent years; hipsters in particular being a boon to old products such as this remaining on the market. It's the prefect low-risk introduction to bay rum, the gateway so to speak, especially due to price. The scent itself opens with tons of thick cinnamon, clove, and only settles into the actual bay leaf upon dry down, meaning that it won't scare with too much bay out the gate like more niche varieties, or scream old spiced gumdrops with overbearing clove some varieties possess. The "rum" note is disturbingly synthetic as the stuff is made with SD alcohol (hence my suspicion about the bay itself), and when applied, that rubbing alcohol smell really comes through kind of harshly, making me shrivel in horror and wonder what I'm doing to myself. Final stages of this scent provide a pleasant if fleeting bay experience, with the cloves remaining to float off the top here and there until gone. If one layers this with a cadre of other bay rum goodies such as Castobell Porto bay rum soap, and any number of hair tonics, and beard oils found at upscale shaving outlets (for those who have facial hair), this can actually work in tandem to provide a concerted effort of bay rum that lasts the day.

If you're looking for a bay rum experience with longevity closer to an Eau de Toilette or even a cologne, forget it. Pinaud Virgin Island Bay Rum is no more potent than any Pinaud creation in those plastic tuns, and is best left to the bathroom vanity shelf. I've seen more adventurous folks try to bolster this with additional extract of bay tree, but again, that seems pointless for the additional cost and physical effort to make a $5 product smell like a $50 one. All told this is an after shave, despite what the packaging suggests. I really enjoy it, but I realize it's purpose and I don't try to make it into something it's not, although seeking out a more wearable bay rum isn't out of the question, as the note itself tends to end up in more abstract masculines anyway. In conclusion, this is a Pinaud after shave scented like bay rum, but not actual bay rum produced in the Virgin Islands, and not an actual bay rum-inspired fragrance made anywhere to be honest. It has all the hallmarks of a classic bay rum formula, and is only slightly weaker than real bay rum, which was never known to be a powerhouse to begin with, but will let you down if you expect it to stay with you longer than an hour, or be detectable at all longer than two. Four stars are given because it works brilliantly as a skin soother, which is the purpose of any after shave, but this score does not reflect it's merits as a fragrance. That's really all I can say about it. Cheers!

One of the sexiest scents that my hubby wears! Highly recommended gentlemen's scent that I wish more men would splash on in my corner of the universe....LOL!