Original Listing from 2017 Release!
If ever there was an archetypal musk of the 60's, this bad boy was it!
Scent Profile: Bergamot, Lavender, Labdanum, Oakmoss, Cedar, Tonka Bean, Musk
The Scent
As I mentioned at the top of this page, Black Bot is what I consider an archetypal musk. The ideal musk that all others aspire to, the musk that most of us imagine in our scent memory that never was...or was it?
Black Bot is rich and deep, shapely and bold, very much alive and very much a mystery to be captured and kept, shared among close friends and passed down through the generations.
Many of you know I am a HUGE fan of the classic, Black Belt, a vintage, lesser known musk put out by the same makers of Hai Karate. Both splashes were inspired by the popularity of Kung Fu & Karate movies that were suddenly becoming all the rave...So in my tribute to Black Belt I thought I would take it full circle with a twist and deliver Black Bot, a tribute to Black Belt & Creature Double Feature! Does art not imitate life?
The GREATEST Musk...you never heard of.
Black Belt never got the "respect" and tip of the hat that Hai Karate got, which I find a great injustice when the stuff is classic 60's, musky magic! It really stands out and on it's own, in bold defiance to a lot of the others from that time. This oversight may be due to the fact that it was so closely related to Hai Karate, so rather than even give the stuff a sniff, folks wrote it off as another flash in the pan scent created for horn ball teenagers. I can assure you nothing is further from the truth.
The People Have Spoken, and I Have Listened!
But to be sure I wasn't crazy I brought 5 classic, vintage splashes to The Big Shave West and had folks vote on which of the 5 were the best with a promise to reboot the winner as a "Peoples Choice" type scent.
Clint, Bravo, Sliver Surf, Colgate vs Black Belt. Very tough competition but Black Belt killed it!
The Archeology of Scent
Most scents that have come and gone throughout history never get a second chance. Sadly this is more dictated by profit than scent and performance.
Sometimes a scent house or grooming company has just too many products to put enough marketing oomph behind one piece of genius...which they themselves might be too close to even see themselves.
Once in awhile a bottle, like a magic lamp, will make its through these winding passages of time into your hand and under your nose...a sleeping genie, a time capsule.
Conditions must be somewhat perfect for the splash to retain the same vitality it displayed the day it left the apothecary or perfume house...it truly does seem fateful when this happens. I often think about all the lost scents that have just disappeared, (Poof) and there have been many...but not today and not on my watch!
Needless to say, I am SUPER EXCITED to pull such a lost, unknown gem from obscurity and bring it back to life. Now make room in your medicine cabinet for the baddest of 'em all Black Bot!
As with all PAA & CK aftershaves, my splashes also serve as a long lasting cologne! You read right, great face saving ingredients with a staying power that would make Barry White blush!
