My search for a new winter fragrance - Help me narrow it from 13 to a few

[imyourhuckleberryxx]

Whats going on guys? So I'm fresh off my newest blind buy/let down of Narciso Rodriguez for Him Musc. I was hoping to switch things up this winter and get into some nice musk fragrances but it seems as though I might be anosmic to musk. So now I'm back to what I should've stuck with in the first place for winter and that's Woody Spicy, Oriental Woody and Fougere fragrances. I know its a big handful but I've narrowed my selection down to 13. 13 fragrances that I haven't tried and know nothing about. And before everyone starts saying it, for those that dont know, I'm not fond of ordering samples. Just my thing. I like doing this research and talking to people and then waiting to find out if my research payed off. As some of these are more expensive I may break down and get a few after I hear what people have to say. Just don't feel like this being a while thread of people telling me to orders samples.

Really just looking to see what everyone has to say about the one I picked out below. As I'm sure is the same for most guys, I would like something that has good longevity and projection. Not much a fan of close to the skin scents. As winter is rapidly approaching I would like something that is appropriate of the winter months. If its an all around that can be worn anytime that's great too. I think my list pretty much shows what kinds I'm looking at but not really anything too particular. * indicated ones that I am most interested in. They're separated for more expensive and less expensive. I'm not looking to spend money on a name. If something cheaper is equal to or better than something that is only more because of its brand name I would rather the latter.

As something to go off of, my current line up for this coming winter is: Jaipur Homme edp, La Nuit, LIDGE, Allure Homme and Encre Noire.

Also, I can honestly say that I know nothing about nor have I ever smelled (that I know of) Aoud. From what I've read it sounds like something I would like though.

Thanks guys!

<$$$
L`Air du Desert Marocain Tauer Perfumes *
A*Men Pure Malt Thierry Mugler
Dark Aoud Montale
Les Nombres d`Or Vanille Mona di Orio *
Idole Lubin *
Moon Aoud Montale
Blue Amber Montale *
Or Black Pascal Morabito
New Haarlem Bond No 9

>$$$
Gucci pour Homme Gucci
Eau des Baux L`Occitane *
Hypnôse Homme Lancome
Strictly Private Baldessarini

 

[Quintar]

L`Air du Desert Marocain Tauer Perfumes * This one is very nice, spicy woody, dry I'd love a whole bottle...
A*Men Pure Malt Thierry Mugler - just got a decant of this. if you like regular A*men this is better. if you don;t like A*men then this is more of the same also probably not good for the office
Dark Aoud Montale - I don't have these particular montales but of all the ones I have they are all very similar, potent!
New Haarlem Bond No 9 - if you like coffee it's nice, if not it smells like you spilled a frappuchino all over you
Idole Lubin * - I have the EDP and it's amazing, very rich and boozy, smells like I swam in an old fashioned
Gucci pour Homme Gucci - always looking to get a bottle of this, rich warm, tons of cedar and amber, very tom ford
Eau des Baux L`Occitane * - also excellent, lots of vanilla and a bit of wood and incense

all these are definitely very rich and potent, would be great for going out, not so sure they'd fit in at the office, except maybe the desert marocain which is drier

 

[mistercitizen]

First, I've only ever smelled one of those fragrances you have listed which is L' Air du Desert Marocain by Andy Tauer. I got a teeny sample of it once because it was so highly rated but very expensive. It was hard to tell from the little that I got whether I would've enjoyed an entire bottle after numerous wearings. Anyway, that said, I can't really offer you any advice, but I'd like to say that I like your approach to buying fragrances. I get tired as well of the "get a sample" answer. For me, part of the fun with fragrances is actually the excitement of buying an entire bottle. I've bought $75 worth of samples before and ended up wishing I would've just bought one bottle of one of them in the end. Sampling has it's place, don't get me wrong.... but there's nothing wrong with researching the notes and getting opinions and making your decision based on that either. Personally, I like to see what everyone says about a fragrance.... all the different impressions and descriptions and then find out for myself after I buy the bottle. It's fun.

Good luck to you and I hope you get a couple you like. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread to see what others say.

Ben

 

[StylinLA]

Will only comment on those I have tried.

L`Air du Desert Marocain Tauer Perfumes * excellent. A modern classic. A moody, sensual, dry kind of scent. Not office wear for most. As masculine as not, but I would go bat shyt over this on certain women.


A*Men Pure Malt Thierry Mugler I find it way overhyped. Another interpretation of AMen. But, it is more wearable for many guys than Amen. Some combination of its smell and lack of availability have made it a magical scent for young guys at Basenotes.


Dark Aoud Montale - wearing it right now. A nice, simple representation of oud and sandalwood. A nice teak note in it too. If you smell this, you're getting a good representation of what the synthetic oud scents mosly smell like. (All the oud scents are using synthetic oud notes except for one by Mona di Orio which is $$$$$$. ) I wouldn't quite say if you've smelled one Montale you've smelled them all, but...


Les Nombres d`Or Vanille Mona di Orio *
Idole Lubin *. Due to sniff this again. I guess it's the closest thing to a high end Bay Rum sort of scent.
Moon Aoud Montale
Blue Amber Montale *
Or Black Pascal Morabito
New Haarlem Bond No 9 - a case of a high end niche perfumer totally ripping off a designer scent. Smells very close to Rochas Man. Sweet, coffee, vanilla, choclate. One of the biggest hits for Bond No. 9 and deservedly so. It is a better overall scent than Rochas Man. One of the more mature and hig,y regarded gourmand type scents.


>$$$
Gucci pour Homme Gucci
Eau des Baux L`Occitane *
Hypnôse Homme Lancome
Strictly Private Baldessarini

 

[BillC]

Of the ones I know:

Tauer L'Air du Desert Marocain is a masterpiece. Dry spiceswafting through a desert landscape. Smoke, incense, amber, vanilla - rich but not sweet. Great sillage and longevity. This is one to own.

I haven't tried the particular Montale's you mention, but as Stylin' said, the Montale Oud's share a synthetic oud note among them that's recognizeable. I own Black Aoud and Aoud Cuir d'Arabie and like both. Every Montale I've tried (except Greyland) has had great sillage and longevity. Black Aoud, Aoud Cuir d'Arabie and Red Vetiver seem to get the most love around here FWIW

New Haarlem definitely owes a debt to Rochas Man. But to me New Haarlem has a richness and depth that Rochas Man doesn't approach. A heart of coffee but with lavender, patchouli, vanilla swirled in to make this a composed scent, not just a spilled latte. My second favorite on your list to LDDM.

Eau de Baux opens with pink peppercorn giving way to incense and woods. Gradually vanilla comes in and eventually the vanilla dominates. The vanilla lasts forever, gradually becoming a bit synthetic smelling to my nose. For the price, this one is amazing. If the vanilla didn't eventually turn a bit synthetic I would easily pay double for it without blinking. The shea butter based after shave balm is outstanding and the scent matches well.

 

[Schad]

Les Nombres d`Or Vanille Mona di Ori - I have heard nothing but great things about this fragrance and hope myself to one day sample this.

New Haarlem - Excellent fragrance, but one that I can't wear too often for some reason.

 

[tehtimmeh]

Let me preface by saying that Aoud is not for everyone, but should be tried by everyone. Montale is the best at "westernizing" the note IMO.

LDDM - You've just spilled a vanilla milkshake all over a vintage newspaper. Very unique and one of Tauer's best. Definitely his most popular. A must try.

A*Men Pure Malt - Skip it unless you love the original. It's a slightly boozy version of the original and overhyped would be a compliment for it.

Dark Aoud - Not my favorite from the house, but great representation of the note by Montale. Recommend it.

Idole Lubin - Very rich, warm, spicy scent. Boozy. Sort of like a bay rum as Stylin' mentioned.

Or Black Pascal Morabito - Awesome scent. A leathery fougere with a violet note. Cool and dark. Definitely nothing that would appeal to the masses, but another must try.

New Haarlem Bond No 9 - Pancakes and syrup with a swig of coffee. Nice if you are into the gourmand thing. I don't get the advertised chocolate note. A bit sweet for me, but I can see the appeal.

 

[mistercitizen]

LDDM - You've just spilled a vanilla milkshake all over a vintage newspaper.

I usually do drink vanilla milkshakes when I read the newspaper.... but not my vintage newpapers. When I read my VN's I usually just drink black coffee.


Ben

 

[imyourhuckleberryxx]

Thanks for all the feedback guys! I was going to go through and quote reply to all of you individually but most of y'all commented on the same things so...

I'm liking everything I've heard so far. Everyone is pretty much solidifying most of what I read on the internet. LDDM almost got ordered last night but I refrained. If they offered a bigger bottle I think I might have just done it. Really don't like that they only offer the 1.7oz bottle. But it&#8217;s still up at the top of my list though.

I should&#8217;ve mentioned that this does need to be something I can wear to work. Doesn&#8217;t have to be. But it would be nice. I work at a call center with lots of people that wear smelly good stuff (mostly women with their fruity sprays that you can smell 200 yards away lol) So I can get away with some loud fragrances.

Also should&#8217;ve mentioned that I absolutely hate A*Men! I wanted to like it but didn&#8217;t from the get go. I gave it a try hoping it would settle down to something different. I had 2 people tell me that I smell &#8220;nasty&#8221; and &#8220;gross&#8221;. It was immediately put up on eBay. So if Pure Malt is anything like it I&#8217;ll definitely need to remove it from my want list.

I&#8217;ve been back and forth on New Haarlem for a while now. I know it has great reviews but I can&#8217;t help but wonder how much of that comes from it simply being a Bond No 9. I like Rochas Man enough to keep my bottle of it. Very rarely do I go grabbing for it though.

Honestly I want Idole more than any of the others listed. I&#8217;ve got Lubin Le Vetiver, Itasca and Bluff and I enjoy them all. Bluff doesn&#8217;t have the best longevity but other than that they&#8217;re great. I don&#8217;t really have any experience with these boozy rum fragrances though. I&#8217;ve got Baldessarini Ambre and I love it to death but it unfortunately it has almost the shortest longevity of anything I&#8217;ve owned. That doesn&#8217;t sound like it&#8217;ll be an issue with this however. I just don&#8217;t want to smell like straight rum and nothing else. Can you easily pick up other notes with Idole? Or is it boozy all the way through?

Gucci Pour Homme is another I&#8217;ve come really close to ordering many times. I know it&#8217;s got great reviews but I&#8217;ve read many complaints on its longevity/projection. Can anyone comment on either for this fragrance? Again, I don&#8217;t need a super powerhouse but nothing that dies off just hours after application.

EDB sounds so very intriguing. It&#8217;s got the reviews and I don&#8217;t know much about house of L`Occitane but I&#8217;ve heard almost nothing but good things. Many people have said this one can almost be too sweet and vanilla filled.

Les Nombres d`Or Vanille is also another that has come very close to getting ordered already but it&#8217;s just so darn expensive! I&#8217;m sure there&#8217;s a reason for that. I&#8217;m sure the fragrance is amazing! But this one has almost no &#8220;so so&#8221; or &#8220;it&#8217;s alright reviews&#8221;. It seems like it&#8217;s either heavenly and amazing or gross cigarette ash. There is no in between lol.

Or Black is one that&#8217;s been on my list and in the back of my head to get for some time now. The big thing hold me back for this one is the fact that it was made in 1982. I am very guilty of often trying to sport fragrances that simply are too old smelling for me. While on paper Or Black does sound amazing. I think on me it might just be out of place.

And lastly the Montales. I don&#8217;t really know why I&#8217;m on this Montale Aoud kick that I am. I just can&#8217;t help but feel like this type of fragrance is one that I&#8217;ve been missing out on. Just like Vetiver. For the longest time I had it in my head that I didn&#8217;t or wouldn&#8217;t like Vetiver. Long story short, I tried it and now I can&#8217;t seem to get my hands on enough Vetiver fragrances. That&#8217;s how I feel Aoud is going to be. Also I&#8217;ve heard nothing but great things about the longevity of almost all the Montale line so that&#8217;s a big + in my book.

Still interested to hear what everyone thinks. I&#8217;m gonna hold off on ordering anything until Friday. That&#8217;ll give me a chance to see what everyone says on here and to get my new bottle of NRFHM put up on eBay to hopefully put towards this.

 

[Silence!]

I don't even think you can find the Lancome Hypnose anymore. It's been discontinued. Although, it smells amazing, and the bottle looks really nice.

 

[imyourhuckleberryxx]

Ok, so my buddy that actually got me into this wallet killer called fragrance collecting found out about my winter fragrance quest last night and he immediately said I need to go for New Haarlem. I've spent a good portion of my morning looking into it and I came across more reviews than I would have liked that said something startling...many people have compared this to A*Men which as I mentioned is IMHO one of the nastiest creations ever. Are they saying that just because they are similar in that they are a coffee/gourmand fragrance? Or do they actually smell pretty similar? Cause better quality ingredients or not, there simply isn't anything that can be done to make A*Men bearable for me. bleh!

 

[The Chandos]

These three:

L`Air du Desert Marocain Tauer Perfumes *
Idole Lubin *
Or Black Pascal Morabito

and in that order

but if Idole is what you're really wanting, you can't go wrong

 

[StylinLA]

Ok, so my buddy that actually got me into this wallet killer called fragrance collecting found out about my winter fragrance quest last night and he immediately said I need to go for New Haarlem. I've spent a good portion of my morning looking into it and I came across more reviews than I would have liked that said something startling...many people have compared this to A*Men which as I mentioned is IMHO one of the nastiest creations ever. Are they saying that just because they are similar in that they are a coffee/gourmand fragrance? Or do they actually smell pretty similar? Cause better quality ingredients or not, there simply isn't anything that can be done to make A*Men bearable for me. bleh!

No do not despair. Anyone who would compare New Haarlem to Amen is likely a bit of a novice to men's scents who decidedly doesn't like sweet scents. AMen has an odd tar note in the open which is what turns a lot of people off (again my theory about how many people snap judge frags based on two minutes in store). But both are sweet leaning gourmand scents.

They share some common notes, but I think the patchouli and tar in Amen are what turn some people off. Very different to wear these. But you should sample first. Don't have New Haarlem, but would guess women like it.

New Haarlem is
Lavender, Bergamot, Green Leaves Coffee, Cedarwood Amber, Vanilla, Tonka

A*Men is


Bergamot, Helonial, Lavender, Peppermint Coffee Bean, Tar, Patchouli Tonka Bean, Vanilla, Caramel, Chocolate, Musk

 

[imyourhuckleberryxx]

Yea I assumed a lot of people were just saying that due to them being sweet and having the similar notes. Was scared for a moment there lol. But I've made the leap on at least 1. I went ahead and ordered Eau de Baux this morning. Super excited to try it out! I was on luckyscent getting ready to order Idole as well but somehow before I was able to follow through I came across a couple more that I think need some consideration before I make my final decision. Tom of Finland and Black Tourmaline by Olivier Durbano. A few people have already mentioned Tom of Finland as one I should look into but I really never took the time to until today. It sounds nice. Very masculine from what I can find. Seems like its going to be more leather as opposed to sweet stuff though. Black Tourmaline also sounds like it'll be very leathery and long lasting which is a big plus for me. Does any body have any good/bad things to say about either of those?

 

[tehtimmeh]

Have to agree RE New Haarlem and A*Men. They're just not even in the same ballpark other than both being "sweet". A*Men is completely unwearable. Some may feel the same way about New Haarlem. I don't love NH as it is too sweet for me, but I would clearly choose it if having to choose between the two.