Fragrance Samples Discussion Thread

[deruitem]

Hope you all are enjoying these still
Today another Monatale
Aoud Legend
aromatic oud from Laos that is finely dressed in rose, earthy patchouli and ambergris. The refined mix is highlighted by an intense leather accord, laid on the base of woody incense. It seduces with bitter saffron, smoky vetiver, creamy sandalwood and labdanum

Finally a Aoud scent from Montale that has Oud notes!
The opening is a dry oud and leather scent. Though I doubt the oud in real I still find it pleasing. Its kind of smooth and a little spicy. Its been an hour or so and the rose is coming through a little more than I would like but its not off putting. I think this is one of the better ones from the house that I have tried so far that is heavier on the oud.

If you have tried other reasonably priced oud scents that are not sweetened with vanilla or something you should have an idea of what this would smell like. Something along the lines of Bond No 9 New York Oud or Dior Oud Isphan

 

[deruitem]

Hope you all are enjoying these still
Today another Monatale
Aoud Legend
aromatic oud from Laos that is finely dressed in rose, earthy patchouli and ambergris. The refined mix is highlighted by an intense leather accord, laid on the base of woody incense. It seduces with bitter saffron, smoky vetiver, creamy sandalwood and labdanum

Finally a Aoud scent from Montale that has Oud notes!
The opening is a dry oud and leather scent. Though I doubt the oud in real I still find it pleasing. Its kind of smooth and a little spicy. Its been an hour or so and the rose is coming through a little more than I would like but its not off putting. I think this is one of the better ones from the house that I have tried so far that is heavier on the oud.

If you have tried other reasonably priced oud scents that are not sweetened with vanilla or something you should have an idea of what this would smell like. Something along the lines of Bond No 9 New York Oud or Dior Oud Isphan

The scent performed pretty well. I got a solid 8-9 hours with good projection. A little heavy on the rose for me though.

 

[rickcharles606]

The scent performed pretty well. I got a solid 8-9 hours with good projection. A little heavy on the rose for me though.

I figured you would enjoy this one but was worried that the rose would be too heavy for your tastes. I really like this and could see me picking up a bottle of this Montale


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[deruitem]

I figured you would enjoy this one but was worried that the rose would be too heavy for your tastes. I really like this and could see me picking up a bottle of this Montale


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This one was pretty enjoyable for me Rick. If the rose was just a touch lighter I would consider it too. Very nice with solid performance. Performance is pretty important to me.

 

[deruitem]

Here we go again
From the house of Mancera
Aoud Lemon Mint
Top notes are lemon, coriander, pepper, almond and mandarin orange; middle notes are egyptian jasmine, patchouli and agarwood (oud); base notes are leather, amber, vetiver, musk and vanilla.

I have worn this twice now and I enjoy it a lot. My wife said she didn't like it when I wore it before but she commented right after I sprayed it and we didn't talk about it later. She may have changed her mind after some dry down. However I have not found a vanilla scent that she likes yet.

The opening is pretty strong on the lemon but not in a bright crisp or sharp way. The lemon is smooth and creamy almost like a lemon pie kind of vibe but without being overly sweet. This is probably the safest scent I have tried from the house of Mancera and Montale. I loved a couple but none seem to be for the masses until this one. They all are more for the Frag-Head. It is kind of like the house of Amouage and then you have Amouage Cologne that is smooth and acceptable.

It has been about an hour and a half and I like it a lot. The lemon has come down some but still very noticeable. The vanilla is also up there but blended very well. This seems to be well balanced and I doubt anyone could tell you many of the notes that does not know fragrances.

I get more vetiver than oud and no real mint at all. The almond also gives it a lightly sweet creamy feel. The jasmine note is super light and that is a good thing for me. For a vanilla scent I find it pretty darn good. What a beautiful unisex scent perfect for a cool spring day like today.

Two things I could complain about so far.

Its a little generic but that can be a good thing. It would still stand out from the common frags people might be wearing around you.

The name! Again I get very little Aoud and no Mint. This would make more sense if it were called Lemon Vanille or the other way around.

Update coming but I am kind of digging it so far.

 

[deruitem]

Another Montale
Intense Café
Top note is floral notes; middle notes are coffee and rose; base notes are amber, vanila and white musk

Wow
From the notes I would not think I would like this one but man its good. I don't get a huge rose note at all. Its more of a smooth slightly sweet chocolate with a hint of coffee. The sample was almost empty so I am not wearing much. I did however pry off the top to get the last bit out of it!
I could see myself buying this one before next fall!

 

[deruitem]

Today
Oud Assam by Rania J
Top notes are bergamot, sweet orange and bitter orange; middle note is indian oud; base notes are cedar, vetiver, olibanum, black pepper, tonka bean and musk.

Well this is a bold move. I think the perfumer is trying to expose people to real oud and not the pleasant kind. Barnyard smell CHECK, Blue Cheese CHECK and DOUBLE CHECK! I don't get much of any other notes. If I did and the oud was a more likable oud this would be spectacular.

If you have been lucky enough to experience real stinky oud and loved it this is for you. If you only enjoy the more pleasant real oud or synthetic oud this is NOT. This is straight up oud with some STANK!
It starts out pungent with some citrus but mostly barn yard oud. About a half hour in it settles down some but still what most people would call stinky. I went very light and for the most part it has died off some already after an hour but I still get the random note of stinky cheese.

Worth the experience of a sample but I would not buy it. At $150 for 50ml I understand the cost. Real oud is not cheap. However I wish they would have went with a more pleasant oud!

 

[rickcharles606]

Today
Oud Assam by Rania J
Top notes are bergamot, sweet orange and bitter orange; middle note is indian oud; base notes are cedar, vetiver, olibanum, black pepper, tonka bean and musk.

Well this is a bold move. I think the perfumer is trying to expose people to real oud and not the pleasant kind. Barnyard smell CHECK, Blue Cheese CHECK and DOUBLE CHECK! I don't get much of any other notes. If I did and the oud was a more likable oud this would be spectacular.

If you have been lucky enough to experience real stinky oud and loved it this is for you. If you only enjoy the more pleasant real oud or synthetic oud this is NOT. This is straight up oud with some STANK!
It starts out pungent with some citrus but mostly barn yard oud. About a half hour in it settles down some but still what most people would call stinky. I went very light and for the most part it has died off some already after an hour but I still get the random note of stinky cheese.

Worth the experience of a sample but I would not buy it. At $150 for 50ml I understand the cost. Real oud is not cheap. However I wish they would have went with a more pleasant oud!

Cheese? Hell, I can stop wearing deodorant and smell this way, and it didn't cost me money lolol


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[ShaverGN]

Today
Oud Assam by Rania J
Blue Cheese CHECK and DOUBLE CHECK!

This reminded me of a funny old book.

Advantages of Cheese as Traveling Companion
"I remember a friend of mine, buying a couple of cheeses at Liverpool. Splendid cheeses they were, ripe and mellow, and with a two hundred horse-power scent about them that might have been warranted to carry three miles, and knock a man over at two hundred yards."

From Three Men in A Boat :To Say Nothing of the Dog by Jerome K. Jerome

 

[Lmarkow]

This is straight up oud with some STANK!

Sign me up! lol

 

[deruitem]

Another new one today. I got a good size decant from a good friend. A partial 50ml decant actually!

Tom Ford Tobacco Oud
Woody Spicy fragrance for women and men. Tobacco Oud was launched in 2013. The fragrance features agarwood (oud), tobacco, sandalwood, patchouli, spicy notes and whiskey.

Now we are back to that non stinky cheese oud here. The opening was a little boozy and spicy with a slight medicinal note. So far I am enjoying it. An hour in and its just a touch burnt smelling with a fair amount of that whiskey note. A little creamy and a lot of tobacco. To me this is like TV if you took out the sweet V. He reminds me a little of Versace Man in the purple bottle. We shall see how it performs

At $305 for 100ml (You can find it for around $250) I would only consider it but would never buy it. I am liking it a lot but it does not move me. Still a great scent and I am glad I have the decant that will get tucked away for cold weather. I cant wait for warmer spring and summer to come.

 

[rickcharles606]

Another new one today. I got a good size decant from a good friend. A partial 50ml decant actually!

Tom Ford Tobacco Oud
Woody Spicy fragrance for women and men. Tobacco Oud was launched in 2013. The fragrance features agarwood (oud), tobacco, sandalwood, patchouli, spicy notes and whiskey.

Now we are back to that non stinky cheese oud here. The opening was a little boozy and spicy with a slight medicinal note. So far I am enjoying it. An hour in and its just a touch burnt smelling with a fair amount of that whiskey note. A little creamy and a lot of tobacco. To me this is like TV if you took out the sweet V. He reminds me a little of Versace Man in the purple bottle. We shall see how it performs

At $305 for 100ml (You can find it for around $250) I would only consider it but would never buy it. I am liking it a lot but it does not move me. Still a great scent and I am glad I have the decant that will get tucked away for cold weather. I cant wait for warmer spring and summer to come.

This stuff is HOW MUCH? lololol


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[deruitem]

Here we go again
Today
Dua Fragrances An Evening with the Mobster
Considered a flanker to an original "The Mobster" but this is a dupe of Creation E by Roja Dove. Creation E is also called Enigma and it is a wonderful scent.
From the Dua Website

Notes : Whiskey, Tobacco, Smoke, and Spicy Notes.

For the man who earns respect, because he knows that nothing is simply given. Be that man with this flanker to the legendary fragrance, The Mobster.

If you love Roja Dove Creation-E, you may also love An Evening With The Mobster.

Creation E notes
Top notes are bergamot, neroli and black pepper; middle notes are jasmine, ginger, tobacco and cognac; base notes are vanilla, patchouli and benzoin.

I have sampled Creation E before and I still have my decant with a few mls left.

Why would I not compare the two right?

The Dua retails for $60 for only 30ml. However it was on sale and I had a code. Shipping was free so it cost me $37.50. The Roja Dove retails for $315 for 50ml(for the EDP). So you are looking at $189 for the same amount of juice.

More reading from Luckyscent on the Roja Dove
Creation-E (Enigma) will make you want to sin. A tobacco oriental doused in expensive booze and a cherry Coca Cola undercurrent that pulls it close to the orbit of vintage M7, it is exactly the kind of thing you want to smell when burying your face into your coat on a cold, blustery day.

Wearing Enigma is a full-on, all-day experience. It’s like smoking the finest Cuban cigar that’s been dipped in honeyed Cognac, soaked in minced raisins, and rolled in Bourbon vanilla syrup. As delicious as that sounds, this is not a fragrance that ever dulls down into the soporific comfort of vanilla. Ginger gives the tobacco leaves a dirty, spicy twist that lends a slightly outré character to the scent, and the Cognac tips the richness over the edge. Smooth and refined, Enigma is a boozy plum pudding of a tobacco that provides no surprises but 100% pleasure.


I wont get into describing them both as they do really seem 95% the same. I am having a hard time telling one arm apart from the other. I highly doubt that you could tell one from the other if they were not side by side. Now I am only an hour in at this point and it is the first time wearing the Dua and the second time with the Roja Dove. We will have to see how it performs.

This stuff opens just like a freshly cracked open cola. It has an underlying dark syrupy kind of feel with a bright almost sparkly citrus that some how smells carbonated. I love this stuff!

Ill update on performance later.

 

[rickcharles606]

Here we go again
Today
Dua Fragrances An Evening with the Mobster
Considered a flanker to an original "The Mobster" but this is a dupe of Creation E by Roja Dove. Creation E is also called Enigma and it is a wonderful scent.
From the Dua Website

Notes : Whiskey, Tobacco, Smoke, and Spicy Notes.

For the man who earns respect, because he knows that nothing is simply given. Be that man with this flanker to the legendary fragrance, The Mobster.

If you love Roja Dove Creation-E, you may also love An Evening With The Mobster.

Creation E notes
Top notes are bergamot, neroli and black pepper; middle notes are jasmine, ginger, tobacco and cognac; base notes are vanilla, patchouli and benzoin.

I have sampled Creation E before and I still have my decant with a few mls left.

Why would I not compare the two right?

The Dua retails for $60 for only 30ml. However it was on sale and I had a code. Shipping was free so it cost me $37.50. The Roja Dove retails for $315 for 50ml(for the EDP). So you are looking at $189 for the same amount of juice.

More reading from Luckyscent on the Roja Dove
Creation-E (Enigma) will make you want to sin. A tobacco oriental doused in expensive booze and a cherry Coca Cola undercurrent that pulls it close to the orbit of vintage M7, it is exactly the kind of thing you want to smell when burying your face into your coat on a cold, blustery day.

Wearing Enigma is a full-on, all-day experience. It’s like smoking the finest Cuban cigar that’s been dipped in honeyed Cognac, soaked in minced raisins, and rolled in Bourbon vanilla syrup. As delicious as that sounds, this is not a fragrance that ever dulls down into the soporific comfort of vanilla. Ginger gives the tobacco leaves a dirty, spicy twist that lends a slightly outré character to the scent, and the Cognac tips the richness over the edge. Smooth and refined, Enigma is a boozy plum pudding of a tobacco that provides no surprises but 100% pleasure.


I wont get into describing them both as they do really seem 95% the same. I am having a hard time telling one arm apart from the other. I highly doubt that you could tell one from the other if they were not side by side. Now I am only an hour in at this point and it is the first time wearing the Dua and the second time with the Roja Dove. We will have to see how it performs.

This stuff opens just like a freshly cracked open cola. It has an underlying dark syrupy kind of feel with a bright almost sparkly citrus that some how smells carbonated. I love this stuff!

Ill update on performance later.

Have to admit I'm pulling for the DUA, lol


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[deruitem]

Have to admit I'm pulling for the DUA, lol


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Looking good so far!

 

[deruitem]

Here we go again
Today
Dua Fragrances An Evening with the Mobster
Considered a flanker to an original "The Mobster" but this is a dupe of Creation E by Roja Dove. Creation E is also called Enigma and it is a wonderful scent.
From the Dua Website

Notes : Whiskey, Tobacco, Smoke, and Spicy Notes.

For the man who earns respect, because he knows that nothing is simply given. Be that man with this flanker to the legendary fragrance, The Mobster.

If you love Roja Dove Creation-E, you may also love An Evening With The Mobster.

Creation E notes
Top notes are bergamot, neroli and black pepper; middle notes are jasmine, ginger, tobacco and cognac; base notes are vanilla, patchouli and benzoin.

I have sampled Creation E before and I still have my decant with a few mls left.

Why would I not compare the two right?

The Dua retails for $60 for only 30ml. However it was on sale and I had a code. Shipping was free so it cost me $37.50. The Roja Dove retails for $315 for 50ml(for the EDP). So you are looking at $189 for the same amount of juice.

More reading from Luckyscent on the Roja Dove
Creation-E (Enigma) will make you want to sin. A tobacco oriental doused in expensive booze and a cherry Coca Cola undercurrent that pulls it close to the orbit of vintage M7, it is exactly the kind of thing you want to smell when burying your face into your coat on a cold, blustery day.

Wearing Enigma is a full-on, all-day experience. It’s like smoking the finest Cuban cigar that’s been dipped in honeyed Cognac, soaked in minced raisins, and rolled in Bourbon vanilla syrup. As delicious as that sounds, this is not a fragrance that ever dulls down into the soporific comfort of vanilla. Ginger gives the tobacco leaves a dirty, spicy twist that lends a slightly outré character to the scent, and the Cognac tips the richness over the edge. Smooth and refined, Enigma is a boozy plum pudding of a tobacco that provides no surprises but 100% pleasure.


I wont get into describing them both as they do really seem 95% the same. I am having a hard time telling one arm apart from the other. I highly doubt that you could tell one from the other if they were not side by side. Now I am only an hour in at this point and it is the first time wearing the Dua and the second time with the Roja Dove. We will have to see how it performs.

This stuff opens just like a freshly cracked open cola. It has an underlying dark syrupy kind of feel with a bright almost sparkly citrus that some how smells carbonated. I love this stuff!

Ill update on performance later.

Well I must say it is SO close. I could not tell them apart much at all through out the day and they both last about 10 hours. Well worth the try!

 

[rickcharles606]

Well I must say it is SO close. I could not tell them apart much at all through out the day and they both last about 10 hours. Well worth the try!

That was going to be my next question, how was longevity?


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[deruitem]

Kobe by Xerjoff - $260 for 50ml

Notes
Calabrese bergamot, Florida orange, Southern Italian neroli, Paraguayan petitgrain, rose wood, resins, oud wood, palisander, tonka, amber

Great description from Luckyscent -

In Kobe, Xerjoff created something unusual, yet somehow inevitable: a dry citrus, warm woody fragrance for men. Kobe smells like a finely crafted wooden box full of vividly scented citrus rinds. The wood of the box is of the best quality and from a mix of exotic trees, and the citrus peels inside are remarkably potent, but play more as spice than fruit. This marriage of tart and spicy with sweet and warm is what makes Kobe such a singular fragrance.

Kobe opens with a bracing grapefruit rind note rounded out with petitgrain (an oil extracted from the green twigs of the bitter orange) and bright neroli. It feels fresh and alive, like opening a window on a crisp morning to an orange grove in early spring just as tight blossoms begin to push from the orange trees. After a few minutes, green wood begins to join the sharp citrus. The wood seems to age and sweeten over time to become more resinous and balsamic, transforming Kobe into an extraordinary, deep woody scent. It isn't just any wood, though. A vein of oud, an unusual, intimate aroma, runs through the fragrance of shaved rose wood. Fresh and warm, sweet and tart, Kobe is a fragrance for any time and anywhere.

My thoughts so far and hour in
I am not a huge neroli fan but this is nice! The opening is a realistic creamy orange with a touch of spice. The opening seems very unique to me. An hour in and its still nice I am getting a citrusy neroli with some sweetness an a smooth amber. I would not call it woodsy but there is some of that as well. Its great don't get me wrong at all. However, right now it seems like a generic "cologne". Like several other Italian neroli and citrus scents. Very nice but for the price!! No thanks.

 

[deruitem]

Hope you all are enjoying my reviews
Today
Chanel Pour Monsieur
There is a citrus freshness in the top notes, with aromatic and citrusy touch of verbena: lemon, verbena, neroli and orange. The spicy heart presents fresh and sharp, but, thin mix of cardamom, coriander, basil and ginger. The oak moss and cedar create a sharp ending

I am liking this so far. The opening is a pretty green soapy vibe with vetiver oakmoss and neroli being pretty noticeable. I normally don't like neroli but that is nice. If it perfoms well I would recommend it for sure. However at about $100 for 3.4oz I think you could find something similar for cheaper. Before jumping on this one I would try Givenchy Monsieur de Givenchy as it is said to be the same kind of vibe and can be found around $40 for the same size bottle. It is a classy office safe scent so far.

 

[deruitem]

Another for those still reading
Today
Tom Ford Tobacco Oud
The fragrance features agarwood (oud), tobacco, sandalwood, patchouli, spicy notes and whiskey.

The opening was boozy with some spice and smoke. Its kind of creamy and not what I expected but I do like the opening. It is however not real "oudy".

It has been a couple of hours now. Still projecting pretty strongly. Reviews are kind of all over the place. Some love it and others hate it! It is not a crowd pleaser for sure. The tobacco is very present IMO, however I would not call it a typical tobacco. It is more like a cigarette kind of vibe. Its like a spicy drunken mans jacket after a night in a smoky bar. I do enjoy it but would not wear this often.

Now you may be thinking why would I wear this in a cool summer day. I started a thread on another forum were you pick a perfume for the person to wear above you after looking at their listed collection. This is not a warm weather scent at all. Good thing it is not hot at work and only expected to be in the 60s today.