Finally, I got to try the most talked about Xerjoff fragrance of the year. I cannot tell you the number of times I have seen this on the Brotherhood, being given scores like 9, 10, and sometimes even 11/10. Here is what I think. It opens with bright bergamot, smooth rum, and this amazing jammy passionfruit. I do not think I picked up much geranium. This opening stays around only for a hot minute before patchouli and rose start to come through. At this point, I was thinking, “It’s good, but why are people giving this an 11/10?” I was slowly losing hope with this one. Then, around the 45 minute mark, the cinnamon and leather started showing up and the freshness disappeared. This phase was very reminiscent of Naxos, which got my hopes up again. After that, I put on YouTube and stopped paying close attention to the scent. But when I went down to the kitchen to put my clothes in the wash, I caught a whiff. WOW. It had completely transformed. It went from a spiced passionfruit mojito to a caramel, rose, tutti frutti pudding with a light dusting on top. This might be one of the most complete fragrance journeys I have experienced. My reaction from opening to drydown was 🤔🙂😐🫤😌😃🥰💯. It is a boozy gourmand that feels refined and mature, like Angel’s Share’s cousin who is a pop rock fan. Performance is exactly what you would expect from Xerjoff. At 6.5 hours in, it is still performing well. I expect it to become a skin scent around hour 8 or 10 and then linger close to the skin for a few more hours. Projection was around 2.5 to 3 feet for the first two hours, then it settled into a solid 1.5 feet. The scent bubble is just as good as the scent itself. I will be honest. After the first few minutes, I wanted to hate this one. When something is overhyped and does not immediately meet my expectations, it makes me dislike it even more than if it had not been hyped at all. I can say I am now joining you gents in calling this one a masterpiece. I still do not think I will ever give any fragrance a full 10, so I am rating this a 9.68/10. I am knocking points off for the opening and for the price, because it is expensive at retail. That said, I could pick up a 50 ml for £167 right now, which feels totally justified. This sits just 0.02 below the highest I have ever rated a fragrance, which was YSL Muse. It is definitely bottle worthy, though I hope to get a better discount since this will not be the only Xerjoff I plan on buying.

Fresh and spicy... a different note from this French brand. Bergamot, mint, rose, lavender, cinnamon, rosemary, tonka, gaiac wood, patchouli, and amber. We're going to the movies... the perfect fragrance for this activity.