I've been intrigued by the discussions of bay rum aftershaves, and I have to admit I don't know what it smells like, and I'd like to correct that. After reading a few threads on it here, I started on a quest to find it locally - no dice. (Which is weird, since I'm 10 miles from NYC, on the NJ side... you'd think you'd be able to find everything here...) Actually, to be honest, I didn't try the Bath&Body Works - they might have the Bigelow, but it's pricey, and what I really wanted was old-time CHEAP, barbershop, bay rum.

Anyway - In my quest (which involved going to every drugstore within a couple of miles of here - and that's a lot of drugstores - this is a pretty urban area), I also found some Pinaud Clubman aftershave, and some Pinaud Lilac Vegetal. I've had a bottle of Lilac Vegetal for about 35 years, and always loved the smell. Not enough to actually use it - It's more like I loved it from afar... but that's a whole other story.

So, I picked up a bottle of Pinaud Clubman aftershave for about $4.77 at the local Walgreens. It smells familiar, that's for sure. I read that Clubman is a bulk, barbershop version of the aftershave "Canoe" that was popular back in the '70s. Today, I read that Canoe got it's smell from Pimenta Racemosa - the same stuff that's used to make Bay Rum. So, by extension, does that mean that Clubman is actually made with Caribbean bay tree leaf extract?

I know that Pinaud makes another aftershave that they explicitly call Clubman Virgin Island Bay Rum or something like that, which goes for about $10 for the 6 oz bottle online. But is the original Clubman also a bay rum aftershave? Does it smell like other bay rums?

I hate it when something stupid like this starts to become an obsession... sigh. I'd truly whatever light anyone could shed. Also - if anyone knows where I could find bay rum aftershaves in Northeastern NJ, I'd really appreciate it. It sticks in my throat to pay $5 shipping on a $10 item...