Old No.7's Big Brother.

Whether or not you like bourbon, Gentleman Jack is sure to change your mind. Jack Daniels Old No.7 has been a classic whiskey for years, mixing with coke or sipping on its own. But what if you want something more sophisticated?

No.7 boasts about being mellowed through sugar maple charcoal and how ever nice No.7 is to drink it cannot compare to the whiskey of gentlemen. Gentlemen Jack is made with a much higher quality of grain and cave spring water from the distilleries own caves. The Charcoal mellowing that gives Jack Daniels its distinctive taste is performed twice on Gentleman Jack. Once before it goes in the barrel like No.7 but it is then done again after the maturing process. This makes the whiskey much smoother and richer.

From the smell you get a mix of smells, Smoke, Caramel, Oak and a slight buttery hint to it. To taste there is a bit of warmth with a sweet honey taste followed by a storm smokey caramel before finishing with a strong pine kick.

This is a fine edition to any gentleman's whiskey collection especially for the winter months.

-Happy Drinking-

-Louis-

The Audacious Beard Co. Beard Oil.

One of the biggest craze/fad going on at the moment seems to be beard oil, now I had heard lots about beard oil and the benefits but had never actually treated my fuzz to a bottle.

I went on amazon and found two different scents from 'The Audacious Beard Co.'. Not knowing very much about beard oil I took a risk and bought two different scents. They arrived two days after order and came with two cards. One was the above contact card shown and the other was more information about the oils.

The first was the Buccaneer Beard Oil. This was meant to have smells similar to the Caribbean, rum, mixed spices, and maybe the hint of the sea. It did seem to mimic this very well I felt like a pirate wearing it and it definitely smelt stronger once I put it on.

The second one was the Woodsman Beard Oil. The idea of this one was to mimic the outdoors and woods, bringing the thoughts of a lumberjack around freshly cut trees. From the bottle this one smelt stronger, and when applied it smoothed into my beard fast and continued to smell strongly for a long time. The supposed bonus of the Woodsman was that as well as being 'cleansing, nourishing, and hydrating' it was suppose to aid healing and stop itching, not that I have experienced an itchy beard...I didn't know an itchy beard was a thing....

I found out applying the oil in the first place is a challenge in itself. Simply getting it to a part on your hand that doesn't go between your fingers was very difficult but once i'd managed to master that it smoothed into the hairs pretty well. 

My first impressions where that it definitely smelt great and did make my beard feel softer, even if at first there was a very slight oil left on my fingers but this soon seemed to disappear. 

Being an oil I am slightly apprehensive as to whether this will trigger spots so i will be doing a follow up post in about a week to see if there are any advantages or disadvantages.

As well as the oils I bought a beard comb to smooth in the oil, spread it evenly and smarten my beard up. Using the comb with the oil not only meant it was spread more evenly but my beard now seems to be much straighter as a result of only one day and using the comb with the oil.

I shall keep using the oils throughout the week and give my verdict then.

The links on amazon for the oils and comb are:

-The Buccaneer-

-The Woodsman-

-Kent Hand Made Beard Comb-

-Have a Good Evening-

-Louis-

A Hearty Hip Flask.

One thing I have recently acquired is a hip flask. Now, I have wanted a hip flask for a very long time and i wanted to share some reasons as to why I feel it is important for a gentleman to own one.

Firstly owning a hip flask accounts for easy transportation of your favourite spirit should that be a fine Scotch, Bourbon, or maybe Brandy, which I believe were the traditional spirits put in hip flasks. However there is no reason it should be limited to those, Gin or Rum would not be unusual either, but I would imagine that now it doesn't matter what you put in one as it is personal preference and people have very different drinking choices.

Owning a hip flask doesn't just mean you can carry your spirits around with you, you could use them to smuggle alcohol into a place where you want to 'spice' you drink up for free. For example, order a ginger beer for half the price of an alcoholic drink, add some rum and you have a great little cocktail. Ask for some tonic water and throw some gin in. By having something as small and concealable as a hip flask you can easily do this. 

The practicality of owning one does mean that if your out at a public event and you need a bit of warmth it is subtle and easy to get the heat and kick that you need.

Interestingly in the Royal Air Force 'Hip Flask' was code for a Revolver. 

Be warned having a hip flask with alcohol in in many areas of the U.S is illegal because of the open container laws which prevents the possession of an unsealed container of alcohol in a public place.

-Happy Drinking-

-Louis-

The Importance of Cold Water Shaving.

Being a bearded man myself, I can't say that I have overly large shaves, that is to say, I don't shave a large portion of my face (just my cheeks and neck). Of course I did when I was younger but that has long since died out.

I have however until very recently been shaving with hot water as my dad taught me and his dad before him. But I always found afterwards, especially more recently, that I would get oily skin leading to some spots and the shave might not always be one hundred percent close or that I would get razor burn.

Now it is all very well spending lots of money on spot cream and expensive moisturisers to reduce the levels of oil or keeping your skin at the level of softness. But the simple answer is this. 

SHAVE WITH COLD WATER.

Now hear me out on this, the idea of using cold water while you are doing the manly activity of applying a very shave blade to your face might seem daunting but....

When using hot water the pores on your face open up, I was told that this would mean that I could shave more easily because the hairs would come out better. 

WRONG.

By doing this you will be, firstly ripping the hairs out of your pores which, lets be honest isn't very nice. Two it means dirt and oil can clog up your pores leading to spots.

When using cold water for shaving the pores stay closed and the blade of the razor can cut easily through without tugging or irritating the skin resulting in less razor burn and less oil being produced leading to less spots. 

The other problem with hot water shaving is your bristles absorb the hot water much more easily than cold. Now we were all told that this meant the hairs would be softer and this is true, HOWEVER, this also means the hairs move around more and will go under the razor leading to a much, much further shave. 

When using cold water the bristles won't absorb as much water and will stay harder, they won't move around and you will be able to cut through them much more cleanly with, again, no tugging or irritation and you will end up with a supremely close shave compared to hot water. 

Once you get over the initial shock of the cold water you will definitely notice big improvements I swear by cold water shaving and once you have tried it for a week or so you will too.

Image taken from artofmanliness.com 

-Have a Great Shave-

-Louis-

A Good Mans Knife.

Everyone needs a good knife. Whether it's for helping build a shelter, cooking, skinning, or simply just cutting up an apple. I have a few knives myself but one of my favourites is the NO'7 Opinel. It has a stainless steel blade and holds an edge amazingly well. It is from Savoie in France and I have to say it is one of the hardiest knives I've had. The handle is just a simple soft wood and it has a easy to use sliding catch around the neck of the handle so the knife will stay in place and it is dead on 3 inches. I had to give mine a bit of oil on the blade hinge when I first bought it but I would seriously recommend this knife to anyone looking for a cheap little knife that will last.

Have a look at the Opinel collection Here.

-Have a good Evening-

-Louis-