Musashi

So glad fragrantica added Gentlemans nod. I've sampled multiple of their fragrances and own a bottle of Musashi. All of their fragrances I have tried so far have been great and I plan on buying full bottles of some soon. As for Musashi, man do I love this scent. Very unique, fresh and herbal. I get a lot of the citrus and yuzu the first few hours. It becomes more woody, a little spicy from the pepper and I continuously pick up the tea notes. At times it can be hard to describe exactly what I'm smelling but it is always comforting and beautiful to me. Definitely invokes a feeling of being in another country among their own unique smells. Being a fresher scent it is actually one of the longest lasting scents I own and definitely the longest lasting spring/summer scent i have. I always pick up whiffs of it 10-12hrs after applying and it's phenomenal in the late drydown. I give it an easy 9/10 in my books. Can't wait to try more from them

My growing aversion to amber woods makes it increasingly difficult to give my take without their distracting presence. As soon as I sprayed this, they hit my olfactory receptors like a mace, plugging them and eliciting a spite in me. If I manage to get past them, I can make out the intention here, the yuzu zest, the winsome fruitiness, the suggestion of jasmine tea, though with that one I am not fully sold, especially as I am currently drinking some high quality Dragon Pearl Jasmine tea. What I smell is more like Hedione and Green Tea Givco base—yes, I could be wrong, but I just have a hunch here. The overall effect is that of an inoffensive and quenching, woody aromatic geared to the grooming gents, with a bit of panache from a Mane-trained perfumer who fancies adding a bit of cypriol to zhuzh up something rather sedate. Call me a cynic, but I just haven't got the interest in anything like this. I liken it to the quick disinterest I feel when watching a new art-house release on Criterion Channel when I could just watch something like Days of Heaven or another masterpiece from the 70s.

Musashi was launched in June 2022 and marked the beginning of the productive partnership for Fine Fragrances through Mane. According to the founder of Gentleman’s Nod, it is still the best-selling product to date. The term Musashi is related to an ancient province of Japan, a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the samurai Miyamoto Musashi, author of “The Book of Five Rings”. He is the one who appears on the packaging of the product line with the same name. With 27% concentration, the fragrance was created by perfumer Patricia Choux and has top notes of yuzu, yellow mandarin, bergamot, and Nashi pear (also known as Asian pear or Japanese pear). The center of the olfactory pyramid reveals notes of violet, pink pepper, green tea, and jasmine tea. The base brings notes of fir balsam, amber woods, vetiver, and cypriol. Musashi is classified as citrus-floral-woody and is part of the Origins Collection, which seeks to work with creations around a single note or accord. Here, the jasmine tea is the central note, as it represents this very traditional beverage in countries like Japan and China. When touching the skin, Musashi is very citrusy. Can you imagine the union of bergamot with Yuzu, in addition to the oil extracted from pressing the peels of ripe mandarin oranges? Well, this is the first blow dealt by the samurai! Then, very gently, the fragrance begins to lose its acidic and sharp content. This is when delicate facets of tea emerge, and we have the feeling of being bathed in a jasmine hydrosol. It is at this stage, too, that Musashi reveals its feminine side, showing duality and lightness. The earthy and woody mixture takes time to emerge, as the base has many resinous and ambery nuances. After hours on the skin, Musashi's fragrance no longer resembles that initial spray. It is the calm after the storm, the meditation after the fight. On my skin, it showed good projection, as well as longevity. And even though it is part of a brand created for men's products, the fragrance is easily shareable and of excellent quality. I really liked it!