Arden Sandalwood

It can readily be purchased at any JR's Cigar Outlets for around $12.00.

I picked up a bottle of this blind because of it's decent reviews and purported lavender heaviness. This is really nice stuff, a sharp woody dry lavender, which goes on strong, and dries down to a nice herbal/woody scent, with a hint of saldalwood. This is a very dry scent, no sweetness at all. I love sandalwood, but don't get much of what I think of as sandalwood out of this. It does smell somewhat like the GFT sandalwood skin food sample I have, so if you like that I think this would be a good choice, just don't expect Mysore sandalwood out of it. Packaging is dated and the giant plastic cap is tacky, but for the price it's hard to beat. Longeivity is ok and sillage is pretty low once it dries down. It would be hard to dislike this, a good masculine barber shop scent which is thankfully still easy to find, despite being discontinued.

A very interesting sharp, soapy, lavender/sandalwood fragrance that is as much lavender than sandalwood. Strong, very strong if you aren't careful. I am a bit mixed on this. A bit dated, I like it in the cooler months and on special occasions, I just can seem to recall what those occasions are. It came out in the late '50s, and has an Eisenhower feel to it. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

This is perhaps one of the most inexpensive quality fragrances you'll find. This stuff is discontinued, but it's readily available at many online purveyors for between $15 and $20 for a 3.3oz atomizer bottle.

I see it as love it or hate it, it goes on VERY strong with a huge burst of lavender and heavy, heady herbal notes. It doesn't calm down for quite some time so modest application is advised and the drydown is worth the wait. After a while, you're left with a (still heady) dry woodiness that I find really impressive for such a "cheap" scent.

It's not pure sandalwood, but it's a very nice take on it and the cedarwood, vetiver, patchouli and oakmoss really accentuate things. Not to mention, I get complimented on this every time I wear it. My girlfriend LOVES it on me, but not as much as Tam Dao (I'd have to agree with her there). I've caught her wearing both herself. This stuff lasts and lasts, easily 8-10 hours on my person. Very complex scent, and although it's probably more suited for an older gentleman I have no trouble wearing it.

Loses points on packaging. There is an older bottle it used to come in that is much more attractive, and even though the site I ordered from had that bottle as it's display image I was left with the ugly thing you see above. I HATE the plastic, shiny top. It's huge, bulky, and just gaudy overall. Totally unnecessary. The atomizer sprays just fine, but mine is becoming flimsy and is nearly about to break off, so points off there too.

Overall, this one is certainly worth a try and for the price it's hard to beat. A 3.3oz will last a VERY long time and even being so inexpensive it's still a very economical product in terms of it's strength. Cooler weather is starting to come around and it's time to bring out the sandalwoods

Here's the discussion thread for this review: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=794769#post794769