Santal Galore

The perfume opens with a blast of fresh fruit (durian), smoky incense and woody notes. The heart is a wonderful, fresh and moist (I know people hate that word, lol) or dewy jasmine/rose floral. This makes the perfume feel fresh and liberated from the heavy smoke and wood. In the heart and drydown I get sandalwood creaminess. It is also a bit musky with a chypre base of oakmoss and perhaps labdanum or other resins. Two things: 1) This perfume will improve over time and the sandalwood will bring things together. Perhaps in 6 months to a year, the perfume will have a denser, more sandalwood-forward quality; and 2) perhaps this isn't the sandalwood monster everyone was hoping for, but when has anyone experienced a sandalwood overload in a perfume? Sandalwood is a supporting note, a fixative, a soft, woody base to support other notes. My favorite way to wear this is to swipe some sandalwood essential oil on my wrists and neck (I also put sandalwood oil in my hair) and then spray this perfume on. This is a great perfume, perhaps not the greatest ever, but time will prove this to be well-worth coveting. I certainly do not regret purchasing the complete pre-order.

I wish he'd make something like this again without the ultra exclusivity (Don't get me started on China Oud)... It is the most "interesting" fragrance in the collection, and the scent profile is mostly "yellow." Sampling this fragrance is like watching a late night show hosted by sandalwood—never supposed to take center stage, but the presence is always there; sometimes it's like a bad host trying to hog the screen but never truly succeed. A variety of guests come and go for the interviews while some just sit there waiting to have a word. The durian is like the headline where it gets touched on briefly but isn't really the focus. The stage is always shared, so if you're looking for a one-note entertainment look elsewhere! Once it ends, oakmoss comes on with sightly more vigor, which makes it a more exciting affair imo.

I wish I have never tried this because it is so expensive to buy decants these days. You won’t even find a full bottle unless you are very lucky (less than 300 bottles made). Spraying this on a cold evening is not comparable to anything I have ever smelled before. There is this fruity and tropical note of durian soaked in sandalwood that feels so addicting that you can’t stop smelling your wrist the whole day. There is nothing comparable to this. Russian Adam needs to release Santal Galore II. I know that there were issues with crytalization on sprayers because it is so concentrated, but this perfume is too good to disappear. I have tried 12+ Areej perfumes and this one still ranks as #1 for me.

A Smokey, tangy, sandalwood- Chypre genre-bending masterpiece. This perfume took a while to grow on me. I first sampled it in the heat, and the durian note dominated. However, in the cold, this perfume blossoms into its full self. The Smokey sandalwood shows its true face, and completely balances the perfume. The opening is tropical durian, combined with whispy sandalwood incense. In the heart, I get minor florals, but still, that Mysore goodness. Finally in the base I’m treated to an oakmoss, musk, and sandalwood drydown like no other. If I could wear this every day, and never run out, I would; however, I can’t...so I have to reserve this for special winter nights.

This is such a multi-faceted perfume! There's a crisp, cream tutti-frutti green banana-esque top note from durian that pervades throughout, on top of dense vintage florals and hot spicy sandalwood. I get a vintage Opium vibe as there are shared ingredients between the two but Santal is far more hip and elegant like sitting on a wood deck sipping crisp champagne watching the sunset on an exotic holiday. Santal does not have the cloying heat of Opium, there is a freshness to it (the oakmoss?) which makes this more of a summer perfume for me - but I love oriental notes in the warm weather.

The one I was least interested in upon reading the notes and description. It turned out actually quite nice. Creamy fruit opening without being too juicy or anything. On me this turns very smoky, which I love, and it stays like that for quite a while. Opposite to what rbalkris describes, I do get actually a very dominant, slightly spicy, sandalwood note (not unlike the one found in Baikal Gris), that later turns more musky in the drydown. Overall I find this to be one of the more a-typical ALDs. I actually wouldn't mind a bottle but am a bit hesitant considering the price tag...

@Q80: jackfruit and durian are not the same thing ;-) No clue why fragrantica here lists jackfruit, not durian tho...

Beautiful perfume, anyone have a bottle or selling decants ?

I'm sorry to those enjoying this. To me this is a very disorganized sandalwood composition. I think Adam has some okay, possibly very good releases in his repertoire but I've been following since his second collection and honestly speaking I'm tired of this hype-y rare ingredients drivel. I've been lucky to get samples of most of his releases either upon release or second hand. I don't think Ensar, Areej and Bortnikoff stand higher than things that are readily available from gulf houses. Santal Galore is using high quality mysore sandalwood but the execution is a powdery, musty and very sweet scent who's sweetness, and mustiness I grow tired of after just a brief few hours. A very fermented powdery fruitiness on top of smokey incense a rich sandalwood and heavy florals making it slightly fungal, yeasty somewhat creamy but dank. An inventive take on a classic chypre in any case. I would salute the individual that could get away with wearing this for a regular day. I understand that people want to feel special owning something rare and make others feel bad for not doing so, but I found out personally that was not a smart place to be collecting from. Sandalwood is very present in the fragrance so I struggle to understand those who say it is hidden or not prevalent. To me it's just not well done, unique however. I applaud Adam's attempt to be slightly edgy and incorporate the durian in the composition but as evident by the blend the reasoning just felt out of character since he's maintained his brand as very conservative with the inspirations to his perfumes. It just collected dust because I didn't want to admit to myself the guilt I felt buying it and trying to finish. I sold it a good while ago. That is the problem with these companies sample and your damned, buy and your damned (you're stuck in a haggle war with eBay sharks if you list it for the same price because its "used goods")...

Interesting but ultimately unsatisfying fruity woody chypre. The perfume opens with notes of sandalwood and a dominant durian fruit. The perfume soon moves to a heart of florals (rose, jasmine, osmanthus) and almost immediately settles on a powdery mossy base of oakmoss, tonka bean and heavy deer musk. The main issue I have with this scent is the beautiful sandalwood is completely drowned in the heavy powdery base accords (especially the musk and oakmoss) and it never gets a chance to truly shine. The unisex scent has moderate to strong projection and very good longevity. Overall, a typical scent from this house but has no galore of sandalwood as promised in its name. Exotic vintage ingredients it may contain but is not reflected in the overall blending and the evocative beauty of the final juice.

Vintage santal, & sweet cedar.. I know jackfruit (aka Dorian) very well as when i first tried it in Malaysia i got infatuated by the taste of it, and i really don't remember wither i knew before trying it that it held a bad smell or i didn't till the driver who took me to that village market said that he wants to take some for his son cause he loves it and he placed it in the car trunk. bit by bit till i started to smell (sorry for that) but a scent of farts! for once i thought it was my relatives in the car but i didn't hear anything! and slowly it got bigger, and smoother in away that i was about to throw up then i realized that it was the DORIAN :) man it was awful. Now Santal Galore DOES NOT have a dominant note of jackfruit or dorian! i can't even detect it! it's fruitti indeed but mostly it's sandalwood, and cedar. I get allot of musk, cypress, and bits of roses & fruit, and mostly this fruit note is dewy and honeysuckle like and still not dominant! I get some jasmines, and allot of smoke, with a touch of osmanthus, & oakmoss (thankfully). Santal Galore is very very vintage and it reminds me of the 80s powerhouse blends with it's slightly animalic musky with a touch of fruit, and i believe adding Dorian as a note was a recommendation by Sultan Basha who is the one who (i believe) helped Adam to reach what he reached today in learning distillation as i see them both today an equivalent artists who knows what they want, and i believe mentioning Dorian between the notes is not a sign of marketing rather than inventing. It's an impressive blend as it's easy to wear, & enjoy. Furthermore, what have happened on the day of the release (before yesterday) was a disaster which is no new news to Areej Le Dore brand as this is the 5th time that the website crashes in the day of release for the cause of too much traffic, this is the cause of the overhyped marketing beside the bad management by the new team that handles the website (as Adam declares when asked about wither to prevent the crash website in the day of release) as it seems they didn't plan it at all, they could've purchased an extra service from AWS Amazon for that single day to work smooth & allows the server to handle more than 50 users simultaneously but i believe they have no idea on how the website management works. The hype was about this scent in here which is fairly impressive, smooth, and very very vintage but i wouldn't get into an online black Friday like what have happened in the day of release to get it! When i was planning on the day of release to get the full collection i somehow felt like Rachel in "friends" :D Episode 7 season 17 episode "The One with the Cheap Wedding Dress" when Monica was shopping in Brooklyn 50% off wedding dress shop! Too shocking! watch?v=ZFNPViiYTeQ Surprisingly, "Santal Galore" ran out around 15 minutes after the release time while the rest of the fragrances which i personally see stronger and more artistic lies there without being touched! I was seriously planning to purchase the full collection but right after witnessing that situation with website crash, and the way some people see this fragrance I'm just thankful that i didn't. Right after what have happened on last Saturday, i believe i don't want to be part of this or get those blends somehow! unfortunately i lost interest. Now don't get me wrong, Adam is an artist that held passion to what he does with an ethical personality and i do respect this with no questions besides i adore "Indolis" that i would purchase 5 more bottles if he re-released it again, & i'm looking forward to sniff what he will come up with in his next collections. The things that i didn't like is his aim of his marketing wither consciously or unconsciously towards certain demography, & his repetitive blends creation which makes it a variation of another fragrance he did before! like for instance this collection is almost 70% similar to his 5th collection & 4th collection. It remains his brand and his choice of course and i really respect what he did on this collection by listening to his costumers allowing the samples to be released first before the release of the individual full bottles purchasing so people will know what to purchase, and i believe it effected his business somehow cause only "Santal Galore" is sold out now while the others didn't yet! As if he didn't do this move he would've sold out everything but that just shows you that the demography he aims at aren't the one he his artistic skills. It remains amazing collection, & very bad purchase experience.

Santal Galore has surprised me the most out of the entire 6th collection from @areejledoreperfume In order to understand Santal Galore you have to first understand two materials. Durian fruit and Sandalwood. Most people have never smelled real sandalwood let alone high quality Santalum Album. The regions in which sandalwood can be produced will have different nuances of the wood itself. Sometimes it feels creamy, sometimes powdery, sometimes it even takes on a sour lactic profile and fresh cut wood. Santal Galore explores the crossroads between Indonesia and India. It takes the classic government issues Mysore of a bygone era and merges with a wonderful Indonesian sandal that brings out a whole different experience that until now many of us have NEVER smelled before. Russian Adam focused on the spices and woodsy aspect of the Sandalwood and then enhanced the creamy facets by combining the most enticing notes of Durian fruit which gives a silky smooth effect to the whole composition. Cloves and Cassia then bring out hidden notes within the sandalwood which are further enhanced by musk and smoke. Both of which bring an incredible depth to an otherwise simple composition. Santal Galore is quite the shapeshifter. It can be Smokey, musky, and dark to some and sweet, creamy and fruity to others. The sandalwood though is always front and center the entire time but Russian Adam creates a wonderful mirage of sorts where it’s easy to get lost wondering what is that exotic smell? At first I found myself at odds with this composition only to have something click with my 4th and final wearing. If you’ve been searching for a wonderful sandalwood scent here it is.

Brazilian folks are gonna relate. Durian is a close relative of our very well know “jaca” (I found a translation into English as “jackfruit” for those who might know it). As I’ve read it, Durian is even more intense. And I find jaca smell unbearable. Here in Brasil we say that jaca is a fruit that people might like the taste, but dislike the smell. But most people I know don’t like both. Santal Galore, from a sample, smells, primarily, like jaca... Damn me. To let it get to the next stage and find the sandalwood or the moss was a struggle. Actually, a sacrifice. But the jaca scent never really leaves. I think Russian Adam tried to push the edge too far this time. Even the musky musk turned soft lol. Not for me. At all. But try it and get your own opinion.

I think this is actually an interesting, fruity chypre clearly inspired by classical iterations of this genre. Durian comes through in a slightly "funky" fruitiness. The name is curious--sandalwood (the same kind of sandalwood note I find in Baikal Gris and Musk Lave) definitely makes itself known in the drydown, but "fruity chypre" is definitely the dominant impression. I've seen some folks liken it to Mitsouko, though it feels a little bit more like Coque d'Or by Guerlain--the same fruity, mossy, indolic floral goodness, but not as spicy and green as Mitsouko. I like this a lot and its reference to classic perfumery.

This joint is bangin’. Anyone tryna cop one off ebay for $1000? 😂