Xerjoff is one of those houses that sits somewhere between true niche perfumery and luxury department-store niche. The presentation is extravagant, the bottles look expensive, the catalog is enormous, and the brand has enough recognizable names to attract people who are just beginning to explore niche fragrances. You can walk into a high-end department store, smell Naxos, Torino21 or Erba Pura, and immediately feel like you have stepped beyond the normal designer counter. That accessibility is both one of Xerjoff’s greatest strengths and one of its biggest weaknesses. The house has several collections, including Shooting Stars, Join the Club, the V Collection and Casamorati, along with collaborations and special editions. The official catalog currently includes familiar names such as Naxos, Erba Pura, Torino21, Alexandria II, Renaissance and Uden. At its best, Xerjoff can make fragrances that smell rich, polished, distinctive and genuinely luxurious. At its worst, the house can feel like an oversized luxury catalog where beautiful bottles, high prices and social-media popularity sometimes do more work than the actual fragrance. THE GOOD Xerjoff generally gives you a strong luxury experience. The bottles are some of the best-looking in perfumery, the packaging feels expensive, and most of the fragrances have enough richness and presence to separate them from the average designer release. The house also has impressive range. Xerjoff can do bright citrus, green aromatics, tobacco, honey, vanilla, oud, florals, musks and heavy amber fragrances. This is not a house where everything smells like a variation of the same basic formula. Some of the fresher fragrances are especially good. Torino21 is bright, green, minty and energetic without smelling like a basic department-store fresh fragrance. Renaissance gives you a sparkling citrus opening with enough body underneath it to prevent it from becoming ordinary citrus water. Uden is smooth, citrusy and slightly creamy, with an easy luxury character that remains very wearable.

Blind bought this one and took it for a spin today. What an interesting fragrance. My initial reaction was, "This is ... umm ... odd. I'm probably not going to love this." It immediately made me think of Space Mountain at Disneyland. Futuristic space shuttle vibes. Lol. Fitting though, since Ganymede is the moon that orbits Jupiter. It opens with a mineral, almost metallic vibe that I am not accustomed to. But as it settled, I couldn't stop smelling my arm. The violet and immortelle give it a smooth, airy quality, while the mineral suede and saffron create this clean, futuristic feel that's unlike anything else in my collection. It's somehow crisp, warm, and slightly salty all at the same time. Performance has been outstanding, and I think this may have earned a spot in my office rotation after only one wear. Quentin Bisch is the perfumer. 6-7 morning sprays have lasted all day. Projection is solid; it will definitely get noticed. Three new samples arrived today that I am anxious to try next: Amouage Beach Hut Man, Nasomotto Baraonda, and Aaron Terence Hughes Water.

These are 100ml full presentations for $59. https://ediscountperfumes.com/versace-eros-energy-pour-homme-100-ml-3-4-oz-edp-spray-new-in-sealed-box/

Part of Nordstrom’s anniversary sale. You can an extra $50 off the discount if you have an Amex card and apply the $50 back when spending $200 or more Nordy discount.

Just got a delivery of four niche decants to try out. I picked three that I haven’t tried before based on research into their notes, and one to try again (I had traded away a sample of this months ago and kind of regretted it so I wanted to try it again). Of course I couldn’t wait to test them one at a time so I’ve got two on each arm. Of the three new ones, one is a winner and two are just horrific. Like epically bad, like I hate them and wanna wash them off my arm. Right now. Luckily, I’ve learned to have a little patience in this hobby and I’m going to let the two I hate settle down to see if they get any better — but based on their opens and how my weird nose perceives certain aromachemicals, these are absolutely not gonna be for me. But I think I stumbled on a winner out of the three new ones in this batch, and the fourth one I’m revisited is definitely a winner as well, so I think this is a good outcome today! In order of how much I like them: - Day Three Desert Rain: This is a winner! Bright, crisp, aromatic and sparkly, this reminds me a bit of M Micallef GN Tonic but feels like something I can wear throughout the year. I definitely want to get to know this one, but I think it could be full bottle worthy right out of the gate. I’m not feeling super positive that this has great performance, though, it seems to be fading fast. We’ll have to see how it does. But in terms of the scent profile, it’s very good. - Blackcliff Madagascar Man: this is a winner as well! I first got my nose on this when one of my decanters threw in a free sample almost a year ago. It’s… really weird, frankly, and I ended up giving my sample away — but I kind of regret not getting to know this one better so I ordered a decant with this shipment. This has a very challenging animalic open but if you can get past that funky civet then you’ll be rewarded with a beautiful dry amber vanilla and toasted spices. It’s really interesting and gorgeous, kind of like a much more masculine, dry and less sweet but more spicy take on absolute aphrodisiac.