Thread: Whisky as aftershave- the reviews

Ok first review- Captin Morgans Jamaican Rum as aftershave.Cost: £15 a litre
Alcohol content: 40% by vol ( I think that is equivalent to 80% proof US? )
Brief. Going to shave as normal then use rum as post shave aftershave, giving marks for alcohol burn, eliminating razor burn, 'feel' scent and after effects, clearly scent and feel are highly subjective but I'll include them anyway.


1. Captin Morgans Jamaican Rum
Cold water prep as normal ( I use cold water for everything except oddly to rinse the razor during the shave, the blade edge feels coarser with cold- don't ask me about the science I have no idea )
Soap was D R Harris Almond
Razor was Merkur 34c HD blade an untitled Israeli blade ( part of a sample pack )
Two passes, WTG & ATG
Notes. A damn fine shave this morning, one tiny graze/nick from a prior pimple.
Ok the Rum- used less than a shot, about a tablespoon full like a generous splash of aftershave,
Alcohol burn: low, much lower than my usual AS ( Geo F Trumpers Lime AS )
Eliminating razor burn: good, I usually got some irritation if I don't use some form of astringent, no irritation after.
Feel: pleasant, slightly alcohol warming at first fading to slightly cooling ( evaporation? ) no real sting, not sticky or anything, all gone around the minute mark leaving no scent, according to my nose or wife's.
Scent: as expected Rum! Quite pleasant ( even though I have 5 or 6 glasses last night... ) faded very quickly, surprisingly clear after one minute.
After effects: not overly moisturising, I normally use AS and a skin food but skipped the skin food today. Didn't overly dry my skin either though so no problems.
Thoughts: happy to use this as an AS with two caveats- 1. I don't need a scent or will apply one separately 2. Might continue to use a skin food also as I previous have.

Sounds quite interesting, a little for the face...a little for me, a little more for me.....etc....

5 or 6 glasses?.... Wow.. That is a lot of booze to put away... I would be in bed for two days if I tried that. You must have an amazing tolerance?

Honest officer! It's just my aftershave!

Ok shave number 2. Glenmorangie Single Malt Burgundy Wood Finish Scotch Whisky
cost £39 a litre, alcohol 43%
A delicious single malt matured in Burgundy 'barriques' from Cote D'Or, pretty good for drinking, so whats it like as an aftershave?

The shave: Another cold prep shave, My Dovo Blackstar straight razor, D R Harris Almond soap, Semogue 1305 boar brush, two passes WTG and ATG.

Notes: not my best shave to be honest, I've had near on 20 shaves from the Dovo since it was last honed ( I dont have a hone ) and its edge is suffering and it started to skip and pull a little, time to send it away or buy a hone stone ( any suggestions for an all in one stone?)
anyway a bit rough 2 small nicks and likely some razor burn on the neck area, like I said- not my best shave

As ever i used about a tablespoons worth of Scotch and slapped it on

Feel: bit more sting than the rum but again less than my usual AS, again warming at first fading to gentle cooling, nice.
Scent: scent was pleasant with hints of woody oak, although again faded very quickly ( about 2 mins ) completely gone after 4 minutes or so.
After effects: no razor burn on neck area despite expecting it, so I feel it is good at eliminating razor burn. A touch drying though, slightly more so than the Rum but no worse than my usual AS (Trumpers lime)

Notes: Again I would happily use this as an AS although would want to use a moisturising component also, like skin food etc.

Additional- I thought the biggest issue with these reviews would be scent but there is no issue, as it it completely gone before I even leave the house, I got to the office within 40 mins of shaving yesterday and nobody noticed anything. The main problem is with moisturising- I often used a moisturiser before this test and miss it a bit.
Finally I am going to try to source some white rum to try the suggested Molito receipt! love the sound of mint and lime mmm..

Originally Posted by samda

Honest officer! It's just my aftershave!

No Boss !....I haven't been drinking on the Job ...honest !

Originally Posted by Wintchase

5 or 6 glasses?.... Wow.. That is a lot of booze to put away... I would be in bed for two days if I tried that. You must have an amazing tolerance?

Lol! the trick is to not fill the glass- its more of a sipping thing...
more like an inch in the bottom, although I once saw a fella bet the barman he could drink a pint glass full of rum, and win! I was seriously impressed.

Have you considered putting a couple drops of glycerin into your tablespoon of AS? That might give you a little moisture/skin food.

Good all-around hones: The Norton 4k/8k is the most often prescribed, and the Naniwa 12k is good if you haven't let your edge go too far. A good coticule is also a good solution, but a) you don't always get the right one for you on your first purchase and b) there's a bit of a learning curve even if you do get the right one on your first purchase.

I know we've got a lot of UK members, and I think a few of them would probably swap some honing advice for some samples from your aftershave collection.

Best wishes

Originally Posted by Slaine

Lol! the trick is to not fill the glass- its more of a sipping thing...
more like an inch in the bottom, although I once saw a fella bet the barman he could drink a pint glass full of rum, and win! I was seriously impressed.

My dads like that but with alberta springs rye, it doesnt seem to change him even, you just look at the bottle he just opened and its half empty haha although I wouldnt let him drive haha I tried it with a coffee cup... I drank it over a couple hours, ended up very sick the next day haha

OK shave number 3
Todays Aftershave is Laphroaig Islay a single malt scotch whisky, 10 years old.
£45 a litre, Alcohol 40%
A smoky, oily, peaty monster of a malt, probably the most richly flavoured of all scotch whiskies and a personal favourite.
If you are not familiar with Islay malts then a brief word of explanation is in order- Islay is an island off the coast of Scotland, I guess with only a limited supply of trees, so they burn peat instead, this gives the whisky a very distinct character, which smells phenolic or a bit like TCP to those who don't play with chemicals for a living. The richness of taste puts your there, on the moor, knee deep in black earthy peat, wind in your face, carrying the smell of smoke and the tang of brine...

Anyway I digress, The Shave- cold prep.
Merkur 34c HD, Mitchells Wool Fat Soap (love the smell, struggle to make lather as hard water area?)
horse hair brush, (vie-long, so-so TBH)
A fine shave, smooth, easy and carefree (so carefree in fact I nicked myself)
two passes WTG, XTG.

As usual I slapped on the whisky-
Feel: less sting than anything so far, quite mild, about half that of my normal AS, also pretty much went straight to 'cooling' very pleasant.
Scent: Really different, hint of whisky with shovel-fulls of phenolic peat, wow! stronger than either previous beverages. Also although the whisky scent faded again in under 2 minutes the phenolic peat lingered! still lingering after two hours! note the wife did not identify it as whisky, when asked she said it was a medicinal smell. I liked the scent and like the fact it lingered, leads me to wonder if there really is a bit of oil in it?
After effects: not so drying as the other whisky, quite neutral in fact, although I got hot an hour later walking and got slight tingle on my neck area, as though preceding irritation, but nothing developed.

Notes. A clear winner if you are looking for the scent and low burn, a loser if you don't like the peat smell (you heathen!)
As a personal note, I am not sure I will buy aftershave again given this experience, these are extremely low cost for aftershaves and are more...ah... flexible...