The black stuff is a very solid brand. John Larkin(owner) is also a really solid dude and he and I chat sometimes. I highly recommend the Irish spring rain. The black stout and pine tar are also really solid, but they do smell kind of similar-at least, in the same ballpark.
If I were to buy only two soaps and two deodorants, I would have to go with the Irish spring rain deo and either the Galway bay rum or pine tar. For the soap, I would go good room and either bay rum or spring rain for soaps. Citrus cedar wood is also a solid choice.
John Larkin does not make any bad products. Some of his smokier scents smell alike-the pine tar and black stout as well as Arthur’s choice (a limited edition with a very Smokey scent)
If you want my advice, I say go for it. But also, check out Hoffmans specifically for the deodorant or shave soap. His soaps are good, but not as exceptional as his shave soap and deodorants. Hoffmans is on an entirely different plane of existence when it comes to deodorant. I own every one of his 20 some scents. Some are my favorite scents around. Many of the deodorants smell similarly to me. They all have a vanilla(Tonka bean) base-hence the similar scent. But they all smell great. I just prefer the ones that stand out. The evil pumpkin is a fucking monster of an awesome scent. If you love coffee, do yourself a favor and get the affagato. Red hollow smells like a Carmel apple, Cookie Monster smells like crushed cookies-duh, but is very nice. And I am a fan of the great reset and great escape. Hard to describe those, but they stand out enough from the others that they are on my mantle and in rotation, but not as great as the others I listed. Also, Robert Cipolla is a solid guy as well. Great customer service and he always throws in a sample and a Swedish fish-why, I don’t know, but it’s a nice touch.
My top three brands are J’s handcrafted for soap and cologne(very hard to actually get, hence my excitement over todays delivery), Hoffmans for deodorant and shaving soap, and black stuff for soap and deodorant. I get comments all the time about how good I smell.
If you put a gun to my head, and I could only pick one for each category, I am picking J’s handcrafted witch’s brew soap(caramel coffee scent), evil pumpkin deodorant from Hoffmans, and affagato shave soap from Hoffmans. The black stuff Irish spring rain puts up a hell of a fight though.
https://hoffmansshavingcompany.com/