Binturong

I was about to pull the trigger on a bottle of Eternal Voyage when Auphorie announced their new trio of Extraits. When I saw Binturong, a vegan animalic perfume, I simply had to make it mine. Bought it instead, blindly, and I adore it! Binturong is indeed very animalic. What I get upfront reminds me of ambergris, a bit of barnyard stank going on with a beautiful dark smokiness. I thought of castoreum as it smells faintly leathery. I get a touch of incense with woody notes and a subtle, nearly imperceptible note of bitter coffee. As it develops, Binturong takes on more iris and caramel as well as a mysterious floral note. I have to assume it's cannonball flower, but I have never smelled the real thing. This floral note smells a bit like an exotic white flower, but it is not intense or heady in comparison to, say, jasmine or gardenia. Might be more along the lines of champaca or even plumeria (frangipani), which are also exotic but not screechy. The drydown, after several hours, takes on an animalic muskiness that reminds me most of civet. At this point there is a lot of amber too. A nice, silky powderiness develops as well. It's not powdery like aldehydes or baby powder but more like the feel of suede. I think I get a lot of iris because this is how perfumes that are heavy on iris always behave with my chemistry. It's fantastic. When I wake up the next morning (longevity is forever on me), it smells like it could be a Chanel perfume, something similar to 28 La Pausa. I still get tons of iris, all the way into the drydown, when all traces of caramel and animalic notes have dissipated. It is hard to truly characterize Binturong. It's like a floral-woody-musk that is heavy on amber and animalics and has gourmand accents. At times it seems like an oriental. The animalic notes work great on my skin, never overbearing or gross or even teribly funky. I can see it being too much for some people, but if you are like me, with a "bring it on!" attitude, then you should seek out Binturong. I am so glad I own this one! It's truly a testament to the saying "where there's a will, there's a way." These guys are totally against animal cruelty, and I am astounded at the animalic accords they have been able to create and showcase in such a magnificent, complex perfume such as Binturong. It's like a classic iris perfume kicked up a few notches. Super avante-garde and exceptionally clever. Update: It's been a while since I wrote this review, but fast forward to the end of 2017, and I now sell Binturong and the whole Auphorie line in my web-based perfume shop: aveparfum.com. I own the oil-based formula, which this review is based upon, but they recently introduced an alcohol-based formula, which is what we stock.

I regularly check this page to see if there are any new reviews, because Binturong is a fragrance that deserves so much attention. It is not a novelty fragrance by any stretch of the imagination -- the animalics are far from cartoonish. In fact it is much more wearable than I thought it would be, not because it is more "ordinary" -- it is not! -- but because it is more refined, without a vulgar shock value. An elegant, inscrutable visitor from another world. It is so complex that an analysis of what it smells like completely eludes me. It's floral but lush rather than prim. It's animalic but more like the spirit of an animal, it's not dirty in the slightest. The performance is phenomenal. I have no doubt my bottle will last me my whole life, if treated with care. It's something I crave on at least a weekly basis. It's psychologically impossible to tire of. Why this doesn't have a big, rabid cult following is a complete mystery. Thank you to AveParfum for steering me in the direction of Binturong. Her word is good as gold.

I fell in love It has its signature animalics yet it smooths out into something wonderful. Real Oud, caramel and coffee tones super musks and iris...Its so dreamy...This should have never been discontinued. I need a bottle!!! update: If you missed this try Iris Macchiato. its a different spin on this idea but echoes of Binturong seems to be at work in the background

Well, all noses are different. This scent reminded me of when I used to scrape sticky dark-brown goo from the bottom of really old perfume bottles and then use it to fry stale popcorn. I'm sorry, did another reviewer say barnyard stank? If I'm not mistaken, we are comparing this perfume to Manure? Lol anyone that pulls the trigger on this really should aim better. I also tried Eau de Formosa from the same line and it was very similar to Binturong just a little less subdued. I tried a total of 4 from the Auphorie line and the better of the two were eternal voyage (which smelled of exotic roots and buds) and Eau de nyonya (which was sweet) They are all oily based and not one of them impressed me but please don't let my review stop you from trying because all of our chemistrys are different.

This is my first experience with Laotian oud and I must say, it is miles away from any mainstream "oud." It seems I've gotten a small education from this perfume alone. The oud here is sharp, pungent, and exotic, ever more so than the sweetish oud note gaining popularity in designer offerings. The initial blast is very old-school iris, amber, leathery castoreum, and spices as the oud settles in. Lovers of Youth Dew, Opium, and Tabu, this one's for you. Binturong is a beast in every sense, from the performance to the imagery and animalic notes. If you want realistic musk, castoreum, and civet just like the old days but without causing harm to animals, Binturong does not disappoint.

Our skins react to it so differently. I do not get too much animalic note at all. Instead, I am surrounded by the comfort of a warm ambery and lightly sweet caramel cocoon with a hint of iris. The iris is very gorgeous and gets stronger as the time passes. It is such a complex perfume but so easy to love. So sad to fall in love with this as I just found out it has been discontinued forever. Please pm me if you are interested in selling yours.

I won't buy anything from companies like Auphorie, who create magical scents and then discontinue them before you can buy. Binturong was a stunning perfume, but I guess very few people will ever know that.

A beautiful, creamy, incense scent of oud, civet, amber, coffee, and rich iris. (Most of the house's fragrances are discontinued.)

If anyone would ever like to sell theirs someday, I will be here waiting to buy it...