Gdańsk

Gdańsk is what first drew me to Gallivant. I had heard a lot of buzz about this scent online, and decided to save it until last as I made my way through my Gallivant discovery set. I like that Gallivant frequently takes inspiration from less obvious city choices, this being a case in point. I have never been to Gdańsk, so can't speak to the inspiration, but this is a marvellous scent. It can be summed up as a honeyed amber scent, rich with spices and fruit, with a leather backbone. Gdańsk has a bold, plummy opening, sweet and boozy up top, the plum note luscious and ripe. The warm spices balance it, with biscuit-like nutmeg adding body, while the saffron paves the way to the amber-leather accord. The honey permeates this scent with opulent sweetness, but without overwhelming it, giving a jammy texture. The leather at the heart slowly emerges, smooth and realistic, formed mainly by labdanum. It is a seamless development from the fruity opening, with the rich sweetness complementing the leather to perfection. It becomes increasingly dry as it progresses, with a nice sweet tobacco note becoming prominent, an inspired addition. Some incense adds to the leather-amber accord while giving some smokiness to the tobacco. There is a medicinal edge, dry and herbal. Dry woods ground things in the base, with a herbal green nuance in the background. The leather persists, but fades with the scent, segueing to a vanilla-amber musky accord in the base. Some spices linger, but it fades to a dry, sweetly musky skin scent. Sillage and longevity are moderate. It is a perfectly unisex, autumn/winter scent. A masterful composition, Gdańsk is rich, dense and complex, but delicately balanced; each component plays its role beautifully. It's not a crowdpleaser, but it is an exceptional scent. A real gem, and the best Gallivant. 4.5/5.

This is an overdue proper sampling of Gallivant Gdansk from 2022, the house’s second-most recent release as of today, a diverse mix of plum, saffron, leather, tobacco, amber, and ambergris, per the official note list. With the saffron, leather, and plum in the lead, I almost get a bit of rosiness, probably more because it reminds me, in part, of other fragrances with the common notes than its actual rosiness, but the blend is a warm, sweet blend that feels midway between light and dark. It smells like its rich diversity of notes, and intersection of a few different aspects—sweet, spicy, fresh, leathery, floral—all together in a superb ensemble. It’s an instant love, poetic in a way that is most reminiscent of Istanbul in this house, I’d say, both being provocative enough to be interesting for a night out but cozy for hanging around. Gdansk is priced like the rest of the house, both in then original $95 for 30ml travel size (the pricing of which has continued to remain the same for years) and in the somewhat newer $200 for 100ml larger size, very reasonable for niche perfumery, particularly considering the high quality and utility of this house’s catalogue. Sold at great boutiques like Perfumology as well as the house website. Also, the fragrance seems to perform among the best of the house. 8 out of 10

It’s not everyday there’s a perfume launch dedicated to Poland. The world is full of Russian leathers, Paris roses and mysterious desert ouds. How about maritime Poland? I absolutely love it’s opening spicy, leathery, warm like light through amber. Amber the gold of the north, the gem of Baltic. What a vivid image I get smelling this. I also get a lot of spices, sandalwood, patchouli, tobacco, vanilla - all the treasures that could have been transported through this port city back when - another beautiful nod to Gdańsk. And the star of the show an ambergris note - a product of digestive system of the sperm whale - the floating gold. I also love how this starts and how it lives very politely on my skin several hours without offending anyone around me.

Fruity + Leathery ✨️ This reminds me of Changing Constance by Penhaligons without having that underlying playdoh note! It's such a beautiful fruity musk, that doesn't cloy on the skin and gives me a little bad*ss vibes😎 Like it gives me a hot biker chic coming to the bar and just winking at ya across the table. I feel the leather note really accentuates the other notes in this perfume rather than weighing them down- especially with the sandalwood and incense. Sillage is impeccable as well with longevity. Release the inner bad*ss with this perfume💋 Zodiac Trio ⬆️Saggitarius ☀️Taurus🌙Scorpio

Gdansk is a beautiful amber-rose composition, it has a fullness to it that makes this perfume a delight to wear as your nose unfurl all the different spices and resins used in here. It reminds me greatly of Amorem Rose by Shalini but at a fraction of the price and it's just as beautiful.

very european, very autumnal. the honey is the most noticeable note. also got my first "you smell amazing" from a stranger wearing this one.

Plum all the way, a little bit of cognac (?), very delicious. Super strong, lasts all day (and forever on clothes!). I've never been to Gdansk or Poland in general but I grew up in Eastern Europe and I have to say: this is it. The smell of home is spot on. Grandma's old cupboard with her china collection and grandpa's cologne. Some booze and a little bit of dusty leather. I associate this smell with very particular objects, people and situations. If my grandpa was still alive I would buy this for him because this perfume has something in it that reminds me of him. It doesn't mean I wouldn't wear it myself though. I think it's a beautiful, nostalgic and unique niche composition.

When I found out that there is Gdańsk inspired perfume, I couldn't resist getting a sample. Being from Gdańsk myself, I definitely expected something lighter, with more marine notes and I was very surprised to discover this quite heavy scent. When I tried it for the first time, it reminded me more of a very cold Russia rather than a vibrant seaside city however when I tried a couple of weeks later, on a very hot summer day, it was an instant WOW. This fragrance performed so much better in a hot weather. A perfect summer night scent.

Never having been to Gdańsk I don’t know if this is reminiscent of the city. But I know it is a busy port and I can imagine the industrial aroma of dockyards and the sea. I find a sharp freshness of salty air and a definite note of tobacco smoke. Spices abound. It is quite strong when first applied so use carefully. I have noted this as a unisex perfume because I like to wear it (I’m female) but some might see it as more towards the masculine side. It works day or night for me.

Very nice. I can't say I get much, if any, plum but this is mostly a softly smoky rose with a bundle of spice to me, I'm guessing mostly the cardamom note they list. I thought it kinda powdery and enveloping, more than a little goth. Perfect to wear with your velvet cape and false Vampire Teeth (or real ones should you have them) this Halloween. It doesn't smell like Gdańsk unless a lot changed since I was last there. Worth a sniff for sure.

Gallivant go full MFK-mode here with a treacly sweet rose-amber of that Oud Bouquet / Oud Satin Mood / L’Extase Rose Absolue variety. The fact their notes skim past the rose and omit any mention of oud is but a sign o’ the times. She may be a newcomer to that refined crowd but she’ll fit right in, this is gorgeous and long-lasting (if not quite unique).

Warm syrupy plum and a fresh pack of smokes, smells very comforting and sexy. Would be great in the fall.

Very lovely sweet tobacco scent.

Gdańsk, inspired by the Polish city, is a modern dark oriental, boozy and heavy on the labdanum, conventionally “sexy” in a unisex, velvety way. You are on a date in a bar, sipping $18 cocktails. There’s a lot going on here. Dark-ominous labdanum, a slug of spice, and a salty-animalic synthetic ambergris note. Then, a few minutes in, the “plum”, in this spice-and-honey context, is reading exactly like a wine-soaked raisin. at this point, I had a realization: my god, I’m wearing Sexy Charoset. (If you’ve never had charoset, it’s a traditional Passover dish made of chopped apples, nuts, raisins, honey, cinnamon, cloves, and wine. Surprisingly addictive.) do I want to smell like Sexy Charoset? Not really, no. Gdańsk is an insistent fragrance: spice AND amber AND booze AND raisins AND salt-sweat. If you thought Musc Ravageur was too over-the-top, give Gdańsk a pass. On the flip side, Gdańsk is not a Lutens-style dense syrup; there’s air in there, and a sleek modern feel. the vibe still is “fancy urban bar”, not “medieval great hall.”

An exceptionally unusual perfume. Half of it is a plum leather, like Bibliotheque from Byredo, while the other half of it is a saffron rose, like Slow Explosions from Imaginary Authors. And there's incense and spices as well added in. The saffron has an acrid metallic note (probably appropriate for a fragrance named after a city famous for shipbuilding) that here seems to dominate. It's appealing, and it's definitely distinctive, but it would be hard to know where to wear this. It doesn't seem like an everyday kind of scent, but it also doesn't seem glamorous.

Having lived in Gdańsk for over 40 years, I must say this is not what I associate my home town with. However, it's interesting how visitors may perceive a place they have a cursory at. About the fragrance itself, it opens with tart sweetnes, which soon is taken over by an animalic leather accord. Leans edgy and masculine. It's a good performer.

A somewhat drier, wiser, more mature relative of Rouge Chaotique by Byredo--which happens to be one of my favorite fragrances. This one, however, is going to be a pass for me personally as I find tobacco-leather combinations slightly too heavy. Plum and saffron notes are always lovely though! Adds an inviting aura to the perfume.

It's jammy. It's spicy and woody with a strong leather facet. If Orchid Leather and Jardins de Misfah had a baby, it would be Gdansk:) Unfortunately, Gdansk is a pass for me: it is too dense and gives me a headache:(

Opens up really ambery and spicy. Dries down to a leathery slightly smoky, woody fragrance. Rose and plum are barely noticeable. Good but nothing unique.

This is a spice bomb. It's smokey,spicy,sweet,but somehow still fresh and not too heady. There also something in here that makes it feel slightly vintage,not sure what note it is. Imagine if they made an adult version of Cinnamon life cereal,that was more mature and Smoky. That's exactly what this smells like. It's a Fall/incense in a bottle.