The package was delivered yesterday afternoon, and considering how well it was wrapped it could have crossed the Himalayas on the back of a limping camel. The box is simple-looking and well made, nothing too fancy nor too shabby, distinctly russian with the roaring bear iconography. Once open I got surprised by how slender the razor looks. From the measurements and the pictures I was expecting it to be like the Variant but with a much smaller head, a slimmer handle, and a bottom knob the width of the handle it feels significantly smaller unless they're next to each other.
The balancing point is around a cm/half-inch further towards the top compared to the variant, that gives it a more nimble feel. The grip is correct but not to the level of the variant. On the other hand the titanium handle grip is fantastic, unexpectedly so because both handles look quite similar, but it feels better than the variant's even.
The head is thinner than on the pictures, tiny compared to the Variant's and it rang a bell so I checked and it's exactly the same geometry as my aluminum ball end tech, same (or really close) top plate curvature, blade exposure and SB positioning. The blade is pinched on its edges giving it the same rigidity as in the tech (if not better). Really the taiga is an luxury adjustable tech from the look of it.
I must have disassembled and reassembled the razor more than 10 times. It's satisfying on many levels, one of which is the metallic ping when parts bump. The first couple of times I had to adjust to turning in different directions but after that I could see it all made sense, the design feels very ingenious to me. Smartly the parts that need screwing counterclockwise are the most inner ones, for daily operations it's the clockwise rotation you would expect. The parts fit perfectly with one another, the adjustment ring is on the dot when screwed to the max and can't be dialed beyond a full turn + 1.5 at the max. The ring turns smoothly but not as easily as the Variant, no risk of changing the gap inadvertently. The flatter profile of the ring is a smart upgrade, because the razor is more top-oriented my grip was higher on the handle and the protruding ring of the prototype would have been in the way. I would have preferred the ring to blend in with the same width as the rest of the handle but this in an acceptable compromise. The top cap is very tightly fit once closed, the blade is for sure not moving one bit. It's loosened by unscrewing the bottom knob and if it sticks you can push the bottom knob in, its long screw will push the top cap out.
But really the most striking thing is the beauty of the taiga. I remember when I tried the rex amabassador a couple years ago how an exceptional razor it was, it felt very special, a well engineered tool for super pros. Similarly the taiga is a precision jewel. The pictures don't do it justice, the light reflecting on the patterns of the handle is eye catching and the head is very delicate. The entire razor gives an impression of refinement, the Variant looks vulgar in comparison.
Not everything is all roses though. The bottom knob does not fit the titanium handle, the diameter of the hole at the bottom of the titanium handle is so slightly smaller, as a result its unusable. I suppose after telling you all about the shipping and the razor, I'll have to tell you about the support experience. I hope I won't have to do it in Russian. Joking but it was a bit disappointing and very unexpected considering the precision of the machining of the all the other razor parts.
On to the shave. I'd be lying if I said it was irritation-free. I shaved to BBS yesterday and I simply could not stop shaving with the taiga this morning. I started with 2 AXTG passes (my hair grows in all directions), then a lot of buffing, then I thinned my goatee until it was a fine vertical line, my mustache a fine horizontal one (I look like Zorro/Jack Sparrow now) then I shortened my sideburns until there was nothing left to shave. Even 6 hours later, it's still a perfect BBS.
I used the SB and tried all the settings and the taiga is the king of smooth. It glides effortlessly and the audible feedback is both lower and higher pitched than even my tech (ok, not much but a lot compared to the Variant). I got rid of all my razors, only kept those 2 and I never felt they dragged or tugged but the taiga feels like spreading butter. Ok, I'm a bit hyperbolic maybe but you get my point. The weight balance helps, I shaved like textbooks say you should, leaving the weight of the razor do the work, no temptation to press even a tiny bit.
If like me you prefer mild razors, the cool part is that at 1 it's extremely mild and the gap increases slowly enough as you turn that it leaves room to find your optimal gap ATG. I can use the Variant between + and 1.25 before I get razor burns ATG. On the other hand, the little I tried at 6 and above was still very easy, but then I use my variant at 4 WTG, I don't really feel a difference past a certain point, only an increased risk of mishaps. Still, it mowed the goatee in one pass.
I can't really speak to the efficiency, to shave closer than today would have required peeling my skin. Now I never use so many passes, so from my first pass impressions, I'd say its on par with the Variant, certainly better than the tech once you dial up.
As you can tell I'm quite delighted with my new razor. I don't think I'll use the other 2 much from now on, if any. At this point, my only regret is that I can't shave often enough. I will wait a couple days before my next shave so I can try the OC plate but it feels like a sacrifice already. Oh well it leaves me time to sort out the unusable titanium handle, snot sure where to start for that one.
