Henri et Victoria Cognac and Cuban Cigars - Triple Milled

Gents,

My number one scent is Henri et Victoria Cognac and Cuban Cigars.  It smells exactly as you would imagine, except better.  It is a very masculine scent, and indeed conjures up the idea of downtime with fine spirits, good cigars, and even better friends!  

I loved the fragrance immediately with the first generation shave soap that this company was putting out.  However, in my opinion the performance was not great.  I still kept using it though because I loved how it smelled and figured I could make it work.  I just continued to be frustrated that the performance was nowhere near the scent!  I ended up throwing it in the trashcan in disappointment.

Imagine my surprise last week when I randomly went on the artisan’s website and saw that they are on the third generation, and that this product is now triple milled!  I immediately rolled the dice, and bought a container of it along with the aftershave splash, and the edp.  (I still had balm left.)

The soap arrived today, and I am enamored!  It smells of heaven, and I was keeping my fingers crossed that it would perform!!!

So...onto the tools:

Soap:  Triple Milled Cognac and Cuban Cigars
Brush:  Morris & Forndan
Razor:  RS-10 with Mild Baseplate 
Blade:  Yellow Gillette 7 O’clock Sharp (fresh)

I had a really nice three pass shave, and a fourth for touch ups that led to a smooth weeper/nick/irritation free BBS result.  This triple milled shave soap is HEAD and SHOULDERS above the original, and I will certainly be keeping it in my rotation.  I was quite happy with the glide, slickness, cushion, and residual slickness!

The only negative issue with this soap was that as the passes went on, the stability of the lather was not as good as other soaps and creams that I enjoy using.

It was interesting that as with the Barrister’s Reserve Lavender, there was no soap scum anywhere to be found on the razor or in the lather and rinse bowls.  I kind of like that!

The other thing I really liked was when I dripped water into the bit I pressed into the bottom of my lather bowl, an immediate sheen was present and noticeable.  Good stuff!

My final thought based off my initial impression is that this soap is solidly in the top ten...probably around seven or eight.

I hope that everyone has a nice weekend!

Vr

Matt

I have their Fougere and really like it. The scent and performance are very very good. My skin always feels great after.

Mine is not the triple milled version and DEFINITELY without lanolin

Enjoy!

I love it too...….BUT (Big but) it's one of the soaps that doesn't love me...….  
Haven't used it in months.

(03-02-2019, 03:42 PM)Nero Wrote: I have their Fougere and really like it. The scent and performance are very very good. My skin always feels great after.

Mine is not the triple milled version and DEFINITELY without lanolin

Enjoy!

Hey Matt! Is yours gen 2, or the original?

Vr

Matt

I think all triple milled soaps are hard soaps.
This one looks like soft soap.


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(03-02-2019, 04:26 PM)Ols67 Wrote:

(03-02-2019, 03:42 PM)Nero Wrote: I have their Fougere and really like it. The scent and performance are very very good. My skin always feels great after.

Mine is not the triple milled version and DEFINITELY without lanolin

Enjoy!

Hey Matt! Is yours gen 2, or the original?

Vr

Matt

It's the original.
Also, according to their site, Fougere is only offered in that formula, as of today.

They sell this scent in both regular and triple milled. While it doesn’t look like we’d expect - the OP’s label clearly states: Triple Milled

(03-02-2019, 06:23 PM)s869010 Wrote: I think all triple milled soaps are hard soaps.
This one looks like soft soap.


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I thought the same thing! Looks are deceiving in this case...it is not at all soft! It is actually quite hard, in line with the other triple milled soaps I have used.

Vr

Matt

Most triple milled soaps I've used are pretty darn hard as most of the water has been removed through the milling process.  Not sure what their definition of triple milled is?

Unfortunately they have defined "triple milled" in a different way than we all are used to. They are not referring to triple milled in terms of how many makers produce a fine hard soap.

This is definitely like the artisan croaps out there and the triple milled just refers to some other part of the manufacturing process.

I really hate that they confused things by using a very common term in a totally different way then it has always been used for years.

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(03-02-2019, 07:36 PM)sgrdddy Wrote: Unfortunately they have defined "triple milled" in a different way than we all are used to. They are not referring to triple milled in terms of how many makers produce a fine hard soap.

This is definitely like the artisan croaps out there and the triple milled just refers to some other part of the manufacturing process.

I really hate that they confused things by using a very common term in a totally different way then it has always been used for years.

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My understanding has always been that the 'triple milling' of soaps involves a process using industrial equipment not typically available to an artisan.

The only 'artisan' soap that comes close to this, I think, is Saponificio Varesino.  The caveat here though is that Saponificio Varesino shaving soaps represent a small fraction of what its parent company produces on an industrial scale.  So I guess it's not really an artisan soap after all.

(03-02-2019, 06:50 PM)Ols67 Wrote:

(03-02-2019, 06:23 PM)s869010 Wrote: I think all triple milled soaps are hard soaps.
This one looks like soft soap.


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I thought the same thing! Looks are deceiving in this case...it is not at all soft! It is actually quite hard, in line with the other triple milled soaps I have used.

Vr

Matt

Bump!

(03-02-2019, 07:36 PM)sgrdddy Wrote: Unfortunately they have defined "triple milled" in a different way than we all are used to. They are not referring to triple milled in terms of how many makers produce a fine hard soap.

This is definitely like the artisan croaps out there and the triple milled just refers to some other part of the manufacturing process.

I really hate that they confused things by using a very common term in a totally different way then it has always been used for years.

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This is not a “croap.” It is very hard, and while it looks like a croap, it is difficult to scoop with a metal spoon. It was closer to scraping the soap out of the container.

My understanding is that a croap refers to a soap that is very malleable. One that is soft enough to remind folks of a firm cream or a very soft soap....which is how we got the hybrid term “croap.” This is not that.

I am not passionate one way or the other, but I did want to clarify that it is a hard soap.

Vr

Matt

Gents,

I hope that this picture helps to clear up the confusion between this being a hard vs soft soap.  It is a hard triple milled soap.

I “scoop” most of my products with a clean metal spoon, and then use a lather bowl.

If you look closely at this pic you can see sharp ridges were the spoon sort of scraped the soap as it skid across the top.

Vr

Matt

Gents,

Since this soap is dense and hard I tried lathering on the puck this morning as I do with my other triple milled soaps.  It created a much nicer lather that was more stable throughout the shave.  I was very pleased!

I still rate it at about number 7 or 8 on my top 10 list, but I like it more now.

Vr

Matt

(03-06-2019, 01:20 PM)Ols67 Wrote:

Will the soap hold more water? The lather looks very airy to me, vs. a slick yogurty consistency that I prefer.

(03-06-2019, 09:34 PM)mike_the_kraken Wrote:

(03-06-2019, 01:20 PM)Ols67 Wrote:

Will the soap hold more water? The lather looks very airy to me, vs. a slick yogurty consistency that I prefer.

I agree Mike. All of Matt's lathers and there are a lot, look way to dry and airy. Not that it's wrong, whatever works for him. This is the main reason I don't put any stock into his reviews.

(03-06-2019, 09:34 PM)mike_the_kraken Wrote:

(03-06-2019, 01:20 PM)Ols67 Wrote:

Will the soap hold more water? The lather looks very airy to me, vs. a slick yogurty consistency that I prefer.

Hmmmmm!  I will have to try and max out the water content the next time I whip it up!

Vr

Matt

thanks. I'll give this one a try.