Decant haul - first impressions · Brotherhood Of Scent

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Decant haul - first impressions

Yeah I went crazy again, getting a haul of blind decants through purchase and trade. A few winners resulted in full bottle purchases (Oud Zarian and Colonia Il Profumo) but I did all right with the rest, much better hit ratio than my disastrous recent other blind buy decant hauls. Definitely found some to keep testing / battle out for full bottles, and many others just fine to work through as infrequent wears or to trade away.

Here’s my rundown, from best to worst:

- Memo Paris Palais Bourbon: FBW!!! Very nice, rich warm very woody lightly sweet, lightly balsamic resinous and lightly spiced. Softly tangy oud, like the oud in OFG but more rounded. Very soft projection. Mids get absolutely beautiful. But… this is probably a bit redundant vs my other rich warm spicy frags in my small collection.

- House of Cosmo Polaris: FBW? Very pleasant lightly fruity, geranium-sweet ginger with a hint of warm cardamom, aromatics and tanginess. Giving me YSL L’Homme Le Parfum vibes. Projects well for several hours then becomes a nice skin scent. Not blowing me away like the hype would suggest, but very wearable, although might be too sweet for me. I think it needs to macerate, I’ll try it again in a few weeks.

- House of Cosmo Lunar Minerale: Cusp of FBW? Very pleasant lavender cardamom woody warm lightly mineralic scent — but with some carrots at the open (Fragrantica lists violet as a note, but I’m getting that rotting wet bag of carrots that synthetic Iris gives me). Kind of like JPG Le Male Le Parfum, minus the vanilla sweetness, plus a crisp mineralic note. Also projects well for a few hours then strong skin scent. Not blowing me away either, but it is very wearable. I think it needs to macerate, I’ll try it again in a few weeks. I might battle this vs the new Le Male in Blue which is also a Lavender/ mineralic scent.

- Xerjoff Nio: FBW? Opens with sharp citrus, it’s tangy green & woody, with a bit of white florals. The open is very harsh and screechy to me, but after a bit the sharpness fades and it settles into a super elegant and beautiful sparkly green woody scent. The mids are top tier, but that open keeps it from being a no brainer to be FBW. Needs more testing

- Givenchy Gentlemen Only EDT: FBW? Very very pleasant fresh, light, simple, soapy clean scent with a bit of warm backbone, would be perfect as dumb reach… BUT there’s a hint of sour nutmeg note that I’m not sure I can get past (it’s much more tolerable than what I experience in Burberry Touch, Meteore, Amiri etc. which are unwearable for me). Luckily the nutmeg fades into the mids. Doesn’t project or last very long, so just spray heavily.

- Mugler Come Together: Nice but probably not FBW for me. Light citrus soapy clean, lightly musky pettigrainny. Harsh open mellows out to nice mids. But very low projection. Would be a no brainer as a dumb reach if not for the harsh open and weak projection.

- Electimus Imperium: Meh but interesting. Musky, spicy floral vanilla. Kind of reminds me of Ani, or maybe Cedrat Boise a bit. Beautiful drydown though. But not for me.

- Chopard Oud Malaki: Meh but very interesting. Almost mint-like spicy warm experience at the open. Elegant gentle tobacco and lightly warm spice, a hint of aromatics, not super oudy. But overall there’s something I don’t love about it.

- Prada L’homme EDT: Meh. Elegant lightly soapy and floral scent, the powdery iris is smooth but still there and somehow makes it sour. Confirms that Iris is just not for me.

- TF Grey Vetiver Parfum: Meh. Woody well rounded dry Vetiver with a kind of soapy horseradish sharpness. Then saffron starts to come out and it’s much nicer. But I prefer more citrus and a hint of sweetness with my Vetiver.

- Tumi Atlas: Meh. Sparkly woody citrus - ginger moss vetiver that’s almost minty, but it has some unpleasant sharpness to it. And doesn’t scream quality. Not for me.

- Prada Amber Pour Homme: Meh. Soapy powdery ambery freshly opened band aids with a hint of screech at open. Softens into the mids and becomes relatively nice ambery warm scent, but yuck that open kills it for me.

- Electimus Vanilla Edesia: Meh. Spicy florals with a hint of vanilla. A bit animatic, and too screechy for me.

- Burberry Touch: Meh / cusp of get rid of. Citrus violet woody Vetiver. Nice and clean, would be full bottle worthy as a dumb reach BUT it has a nutmeg note that absolutely ruins it for me. Move over, clary sage… nutmeg is my new nemesis

- Naughton & Wilson Gravitas: Meh / cusp of get rid of. Sparkly citrus open with strong lavender but a harsh note (coriander? Or maybe their choice of lavender?) that makes this sharp and unpalatable to me.

- Electimus Mercurial Cashmere: Meh / cusp of get rid of. Weird fluffy sweet floral musk, very feminine leaning to me. First impression reminds me of those little yellow peeps treats for some reason.

- Electimus Vixere: Unwearable / get rid of. Funky skanky note at the open. Floral musky screechy mess. Feminine leaning, although I wouldn’t want to smell this on anyone, let alone a woman.

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