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SIR HENRY’S – KENTUCKY RAIN SHAVE SOAP
First Look - Brand name, shaving soap name, country of manufacture, fragrance notes and the product’s promise, that’s what adorns the cover of Sir Henry’s ‘Kentucky Rain’ shave soap. Simple at first glance but if you look at the colors again, the Blue White and Gold represent the State Flag of Kentucky with only the green missing from the soap tub’s cover. It may be a simple label to look at, but its characteristic branding makes it an easily recognizable product of The Black Tie Razor company and that works for me.
Side note – Sir Henry’s is a brand owned by The Black Tie Razor Company started by three friend’s - Brad, Dominick and Joe over a couple of drinks. The trio were passionate about the joy of old school wet shaving and wanted to share it with other shavers by creating a high quality shaving soap. Trials and tests with their new shaving soap led the trio to develop an entire range of shaving gear with a strong focus on the software.
First Whiff – Dominik, one third of the Black Tie Razor Company partnership and the most active on social media confirmed that the soap was a tribute to all things Kentucky before it was launched. The aim was to capture the ‘Run for the Roses’, the ‘Bourbon’ the state is known for and the ‘leather of a saddle.’ So why roses when the Goldenrod is the state flower of Kentucky ? The iconic Kentucky Derby is also known as the ‘Run Of The Roses’ because a Lush blanket of 554 Roses is awarded to the winner each year., a tradition that dates back to 1896. I’m a fan of Rose, Bourbon and Leather and had great expectations when I took a first whiff, only to be left a bit confused. The most forward scent note was leather, not the masculine and overpowering kind that inhabits most premium men’s EDT or aftershaves but a gentle one. The leather note reminded me more of the big brand ladies handbags, a second whiff and the rose came through, it wasn’t that strong flowery fragrance but a soft note that complemented the leather. A third whiff followed but that boozy note eluded me entirely, I’m a Bourbon guy and that’s all I ever drink beside an occasional Vodka, I could sniff a Stagg Jr, an Eagle Rare, a Woodford Reserve or a Blanton’s from two miles away so it definitely wasn’t my nose. What I did get though was a kind of woody or sandalwood powdery dry down with a hint of vanilla, pleasant but not what I was expecting. Don’t get me wrong, this soap has a good fragrance but it just wasn’t up to my liking.
First Lather – I wasn’t blown away by the scent of Kentucky rain and was expecting the lather to make up for it. I proceeded to swirl my Yaqi Purple Mink Synthetic brush in my HC & Co lather bowl with a teaspoon of soap and two tablespoons of water. It took me sixty seconds to see a nice pasty lather form, adding a tablespoon more of water I kept working the soap for another two minutes and that was enough to produce a dense and luxurious lather. This isn't a thirsty soap and I was very impressed with the lather quality.
First Performance – What better to test the soap’s performance with then your sharpest blade and a fairly aggressive razor, so a 2013 Muhle R41 loaded with a Kai was employed. I had a two pass BBS with a decent amount of residual slickness post shave. It is in the actual shave that this soap shines with excellent cushion and protection, it provided superb glide for the razor as well and remember that missing note of Bourbon, it came through often during the lathering process. The magic of this soap's performance lies in the generous dose of quality ingredients including tallow and rich veggie butters blended together in the right amount. The ingredients are stearic acid, coconut oil, tallow, castor oil, kokum butter, water, fragrance, shea butter, jojoba oil, avocado oil, sodium lactate and glycerin, not too many but just perfect.
First Opinion – Sir Henry’s, a premium brand of The Black Tie Razor company often flies under the radar and though I wasn’t blown away by the fragrance, ‘Kentucky Rain’ is a top tier soap with a terrific base that offers great bang for your buck being a 7 ounce pour. This is a soap I will keep in my den always, specially when I need a reliable lather partner. I’m on the hunt for Sir Henry’s other offerings now and I highly recommend that you do the same.
Cover Art Work – 6 / 10
Lather Quality – 9 / 10
Fragrance – 6 / 10
Cushion & Protection – 10 / 10
Slickness – 9 / 10
Post Shave Feel – 9 / 10
Value – 10 / 10
Total Point Score – 59 / 70
Availability – https://www.sirhenryssundries.com/kentucky-rain-shave-soap-aftershave/ and https://wetshaving.store/products/search?keyword=sir henrys
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