Decant haul - when a 33% hit rate is a good outcome

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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.

Thomas Kosmala Fuego Futuro: Oof. I thought I’d try this out based on glazing from kaleidoscope and because the notes looked interesting. This has a super challenging open that I just absolutely hate — I get hit in the face with something sharp and sickly sweet, like bad body odor. I think underneath it is a very elegant woody aromatic but jeez there is something awful in there, maybe it’s the mate or incense choice but this is awful and I can’t stand the open. Let’s see if it settles down at all, I do feel like underneath this harsh open, there is a beautiful resinous woody sent I would enjoy.

*** update: whatever Bo note I was picking up on in the open and early mids is gone, now it’s a lovely smoky woody sharp resinous scent that’s quite pleasant. I can’t say it’s full bottle worthy because of that open, but right now I am enjoying it! Who coulda known…

City Rhythms Manhattan Midnight: Double oof. I feel like this one tricked me. The open was beautiful and I really loved it. Kind of a sparkly aromatic blue and I thought wow this could be like an eight out of ten full bottle worthy right out of the gate. But 10 minutes later, this became a compost heap. Like a wet box of fresh, dirty vegetables straight from the farm. Actually, you know what this reminds me of? At Halloween when you’re scooping the innards out of a pumpkin, there’s kind of this damp slightly sickly sweet vegetallic scent that is my least favorite part of Halloween. I don’t know what they put in this one, but it is triggering me in exactly the same way and I absolutely hate this. I was actually laughing out loud at how much I hate it and how awful it is for me to wear. I’m gonna give it a chance… but I don’t have high hopes for it unless that beautiful aromatic blue open can find its way out from under the stinky pumpkin

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Decant haul - when a 33% hit rate is a good outcome