A Midnight Stroll

A Midnight Stroll is one of many excellent fragrances in Gucci's upmarket Alchemist's Garden collection. This fragrance is, as has been noted below, a fairly straightforward leather incense composition, but it is brilliant in its simplicity. Cade and birch tar combine with a spice and incense blend to produce a classic leather accord that smells very high quality (as well it should at this price point) and has good longevity and projection. As the scent reaches its deep drydown, it is grounded by a cedar-esq aromachemical that lingers for a very considerable time on my skin keeping the leathery aroma alive. This fragrance is simply one of the very best incense-forward scents available today. Whether you, like me, decide that A Midnight Stroll is worth the high asking price is, or course, entirely up to you, but if you do decide to buy this fragrance, you will encounter one of the best presentations out there. The vintage apothecary style bottle with its painted logo is pure class and everything else about the way this product is delivered to the customer, from the box to the atomizer and even the bag (if you get it from Gucci) is clearly intended to make you feel good about parting with the asking price. I love this fragrance and look forward to the cool weather for which it is best suited so that I can wear it again regularly. The scent is masculine leaning, but could easily be worn by anyone regardless of how they identify. This fragrance is OK for work, but really impressed me as a great choice for an autumn night out. Try to sample A Midnight Stroll if you can. If you are a fan of leather/incense scents, I bet you'll love it as much as I do.

Originally got this and it was very, very smokey, to the point of not being able to perceive any other notes. After mellowing for a while, the smoke definitely settles a little and moves out of the way for other notes to be "heard". This one is fairly linear, the opening brings equal parts smoke, incense, and camphor, right from the get-go, while the same chord is played all throughout, the base (bass, heh) fir-needle note, becomes more and more prominent, as the smoke gently fades into a soft, mellow tone. The fragrance is very, very dry (not sweet) and extremely smooth and elegant. As for how beautiful this scent is? Maximum points. It's addictive, rich and almost intoxicating. When I wore this I felt like I was wearing something sexy, and mysterious. It *screams* autumn. It also just *smells* expensive and like very fine perfumery to me. Unfortunately, this scent also falls into the category of things that I think smell fantastic, but have very restricted wearability. The total lack of sweetness, and strong smokiness make it very much a limited-context sort of frag. It is also too linear and one-dimensional for my liking. I wish there was more to it; more going on. For the price, I don't think it's too much to ask. But I get it, for what it is - it's unquestionably great. For my personal tastes though, I like something dynamic and complex; again, especially with this price tag. Conclusion: Fine perfumery, intoxicating, addictive scent, definitely will wear it at times throughout this time of the year, but wish there was more going on in this bottle o' juice. Scent is 9.5/10. Over all 8.5/10.

I continue to be seriously impressed by this collection from Gucci, it has no right to be so good. I think I need to give Gucci a break and forgive them for that horrible period they spent in the fragrance wilderness in the late noughties until recently, because before that and since they’ve produced some excellent iconic fragrances. I need to stop typecasting Morillas too as this, ubiquitous, designer freshie, journeyman, because there’s so much more to his repertoire and Midnight stroll is yet another example of that. This is a Smokey cade/birch tar affair but used affectionately to create a leather accord in the traditional sense. I found it incredibly smooth and deep when smelling for the first time from one of those little bell/closh things on the Gucci counter. Genuinely a leather type fragrance with a unique look and one I’ve never smelled before. Upon wearing it on skin and experiencing the top notes it actually has even more intrigue in that it has fresh aspects, totally different to the drydown. I need to wear it properly and I will update this review, but I was even tempted to purchase, even at the outrageous prices Gucci want for this line. I accept that the packaging is beautiful and they are competing with other designer ‘exclusive’ lines of a similar price bracket, but these are still more expensive than Dior & Chanel and I find that hard to get by in the same way I do with Creed or similar brands.

A Midnight Stroll Gucci 첫 향은 굉장히 강한 아로마틱 인센스 향이 치고 들어온다. 팔로산토 인센스 스틱을 피웠을때 나는 향과 굉장히 유사하다. 시간이 지나면 향 자체는 약해지지만, 트레일 변화는 크지 않다. 인센스 향은 가라앉고, 아로마틱 우디향이 남는다. 미드나잇 스트롤이라는 네이밍이 굉장히 매력적이고 잘 지었다고 느껴지며, 바틀의 색상과도 정말 잘 어울린다. 아토마이저도 굉장히 좋아서 분사력이 좋아, 뿌릴때마다 기분이 좋아진다. 인센스의 느낌은 디올의 브와 탈리스만과 닮았으나 미드나잇 스트롤이 더 강하다. 디올은 좀 더 각설탕의 단맛이 추가되어 부드럽다. 마치 어둑어둑하고, 엄청 미스테리한 숲속을 정처없이 떠도는 느낌이 연상된다. 그렇게 떠돌다가 발견한 한채의 오두막에서는 열심히 장작을 태우고 있다. 나도 모르게 그 오두막으로 발길을 옮기게 된다. The opening hits hard with intensely aromatic incense — remarkably close to the scent of burning a palo santo stick. As time passes, the intensity itself fades, but the trail doesn’t shift much in character. The incense settles, leaving an aromatic woody base behind. The name “Midnight Stroll” feels brilliantly chosen, and it pairs beautifully with the bottle’s color. The atomizer also deserves praise — the spray is strong and satisfying, making every application feel good. The incense character bears a resemblance to Dior’s Bois Talisman, though Midnight Stroll comes through stronger; Dior leans softer, rounded out by a touch of sugar-cube sweetness. It conjures the image of wandering aimlessly through a dark, mysterious forest — and in the midst of that wandering, stumbling upon a small cabin where a fire crackles steadily. Without quite meaning to, your feet carry you toward it.

A Midnight Stroll is my first try of Gucci’s collection The Alchemist’s Garden and is a lovely dark blend of incense, cypress, and cedar, so it fittingly is incense-dominant but leans wood as well. It’s dark and smooth, reminiscent in execution of By Kilian Incense Oud but fittingly with more incense and less oud. It’s not quite as ashy as Profumum Roma Olibanum—which I usually regard as one of the best incense-dominant fragrances in the market—so it’s an even smoother, slightly more mainstream/designer-esque incense-heavy mix that is nonetheless very wearable and fairly enjoyable, without much bite in the opening. It performs pretty well overall, and in the US, is sold via the Gucci website and the department stores Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom, and its retailing pricing is $330 for 100ml. Also, I usually don’t gawk over bottle design the look of The Alchemist’ Garden’s bottles, most even more colorful than the black of A Midnight Stroll, are lovely. Overall, A Midnight Stroll is great, and would certainly be made better by a lower price point, so I’d be curious to see if it’s available anywhere on the secondary market, and I’ll have to seek out some others in The Alchemist’s Garden. 8 out of 10

Smells like my garden, but with a nice pleasant smoke scent, reminds me of the smell from burning garden waste brush wood on the bonfire. Tested on skin and cloth and got different notes. Skin: rosemary / sage opening, which then gave way to the lovely evergreen tree and smoke notes. Cloth: evergreen tree and smoke opening, oddly sweet middle note, dry-down was complex with evergreen, smoke, sweet, and rosemary/sage/palo santo smoke. If I didn't pick up the rosemary at all on the cloth I'd think it was just my skin but it's definitely there-- not rosemary EO, that's a completely different scent, this is rosemary fresh from cutting, with the sap all over my hands. Definitely smells like my garden, even kind of smells like the extracts of my garden fragrance I've made in my kitchen. It's funny how so many people say it reminds them of witches, because, well... Yes, I do like it. And I do think it would be excellent to wear while setting up my Halloween bonfire next week. I'll probably wear it other times too. It's always witchy around here because well...

This is the first one I have been blending with others from the collection, 'A Voice of The Snake' and 'Last Days of Summer'. True, it doesn't last all that long, but it is a very good coniferous smoking incense, the Alchemist Garden atomizers spray out a fine prolonged mist so I find myself spraying this one on like a body mist, up and down the arms, my hair, clothing...it is addictive! My wife says she can smell it on me, so I'm guessing the aroma chemicals used are the kind you can easily go anosmic to. If you can get it under $200(got mine $160, tester) Id say its worth it, but I would rather buy something like Mississippi Medicine for a similar experience for much less. I must admit...I am a sucker for these black bottles!My 'A Voice of The Snake' needed a friend on the shelf...and it has a jaguar on it, they really know their market! If your a hopeless lover of incense fragrances like me you will enjoy dousing yourself in it and walk around reeking of smoldering resins

Immediate church incense that is soon overtaken by the green of the cypress. Then the tar-like smell of the Cade Oil appears. These three main accords actually work very well together, harmoniously, each one appearing and reappearing throughout the journey. So it is not a pure incense fragrance, as the green forest vibe of the cypress and the cade are also prominent. The incense is calming, the cypress is more refreshing and lightens everything up, and the cade oil is stronger and tougher, waking you up. This is more formal and semi-formal for the cooler months. Although the green gives it freshness, so could be okay for warmer months and daytime and the outdoors. (I don't know about the height of summer, though.) Fairly strong projection and longevity. This is good quality and really quite impressive. The name suits it- it conjures up a night out in the city, a light rain falling, out on a special occasion.

One of my favorite incense scents, I find this much more full-bodied and hearty than most of the others, which can lean a little churchy, dry and whispy. Tar like, astringent, smokey and intensely green too. Amazingly I sense something creamy and "rounded" in here too, which works well among all the harsh and intense smoke and acidic green. No idea what it could be. Imagine a bit of cold cream in the midst of deep forest air and woodsmoke. Extremely linear, you get what you get in the first five minutes. The name is appropriate too, it really evokes a late-night little walk, perhaps back from a party, or after a big dinner, when you have a couple drinks in you and take big lungfulls of the cool night air, admiring the lights and shadows of the night with your companions, while looking forward to the warmth of home.

This fragrance is exceptionally graceful and harmoniously blended, presenting itself as a gentler rendition of "Attaquer le Soleil Marquis de Sade" by Etat Libre d'Orange. To my nose, both fragrances share a similar essence, yet the latter carries a more intense scent signature. However, there is something else about A Midnight Stroll that makes it even more appealing to me—perhaps it's the smoothness or the way it evokes the magic of a blooming night flower, even though no such flower smells like this. I often find myself reaching for it as a substitute for burning incense bakhoor, which further highlights its unique and dark quality.

For its "simplicity", as only having three notes, it is paradoxically quite complex. A Midnight Stroll definitely fits the pyramid note. The incense is dry and smoky, while the cade oil sometimes gives a low but pleasant "leathery" vibe, resting on a background of green, dry and earthy notes of cypress.. Very elegant, intense and dark, as if you were walking through a forest at night. Good longevity, moderate sillage. Very original and exquisitely executed. Great bottle too.

A magic experience every time I smell it. The opening is just so hypnotizing, it's like smelling the effluvium of a powerful, magic spell being casted. Next comes a beautiful, addictive, dark atmosphere of serene delight, joyful and mystical. God, can't stop smelling! The end phase becomes an incredible incense at a rainy forest, which still energizes myself to deep dive into the night.

Cypress woods wrapped in tarred and rubbery leather and set aflame. The smoke lingers with some of the other scents in the air (there's a noticeable rose note that doesn't seem to be listed), and permeates everywhere. Cold weather only, there's just no other season to wear this. Would work as a great base to experiment with other scents.

Perfection, but I'm never going to pay that price for it. I love Mr. Morillas and this perfume is a dream. I purchased a sample because I was tired of imagining how much I'd enjoy it. A true unisex fragrance in that it is so solidly the smell of those natural materials, and is an atmosphere more than a persona. Beautiful.

Look, i can understand anyone not liking this. It is not a safe blind buy. That is what is fabulous about this, its so dark and different. Goth as hell. Reminds me of a late night forest party with a bonfire and cloaked witches casting spells. Not sure if i have the guts to wear this out in public.

Smokey, frank-incensy, very mystical and Oriental. Not for everyone, I feel like people either LOVE or HATE this smell, there's no in-between. Something about it draws you in though. Mr.Alberto Morillas knows what he's doing!

Deep, dark wood with an intense smokiness. Smells like burning palo santo in a cabin in the woods, sweet fresh air and dry woods. Super witchy and sexy. Gorgeous scent for anyone that enjoys smelling like a campfire ritual.

The name is perfect and captures the mood and vibe of the fragrance, we are definitely strolling through the woods though. A dark incense perfect for solitary night time contemplation and relaxation.

This is GORGEOUS. Smokey & mysterious so you’ll def get aura points w this. Idc for standard Gucci frags, but their private line is so intriguing. I wish I would’ve looked into it sooner! 10000/10 :)

Dark, gothic and mysterious. Perfect for halloween. This is smoky and spicy, really bold and loud. Smells like a dusty shelf of books in an old library. 10/10

This is my go to date night perfume. It’s strong, bold, and instantly, and I love how it feels powerful, mysterious, and unforgettable.

ADDICTING! Never heard of cade oil--now i'm gonna look for it. Not a simple frag takes a bit of time to unravel. A true masterpeice.

If By the Fireplace is kindergarden, this is the PhD. Outstanding in every way, shape and form. Baba Yaga at the Met Gala.

Have a sample of this just get Maison Alhambra The Trail, for incense lover i love it

This one is magical. This is what I want to smell like for the rest of my life.

Pretty similar to Noir Anthracite by Tom Ford

First impression/wearing = Smells like a haunted house and storm clouds. Tarry, gooey, smokey incense, cade and vintage woods. Reminds me of a better version of Kilian Pure Oud without the chemical bonfire. Very interesting and perfect for October 🌃🎃 Full review: Great fragrance that gives me the impression of something mysterious and perhaps supernatural happening at night. It's an ethereal almost meditative experience wearing this. This fragrance is for the first half and almost puts me into a trance. The smokey tar of cade and incense are very well blended with the cypress, although I feel I also pick up nuances of cypriol and dark leather or suede. Additionally, I don't think it contains only cypress as I'm certain I pick up cedar, ebony woods, vetiver and earthy petrichor. Don't be beguiled by the simplistic note tree. Longevity is fantastic around 10 hours. This is feels very well made and I don't get even the slightest hint of synthetics, although like all fragrances, they are there. Bottle is a work of art and atomizer is pressure sensitive like Penhaligon's portraits series. It's a deep, bewitching fragrance, that will take you on a journey first deep into the darkness, and return you to the moonlight. 🌙

I had to remove my original review because I realized what I had wasn't authentic. So now for the authentic one... It smells weirdly interesting. Someone described it as emerging at the dawn from the woods after a night of rituals and it's very nicely said. It's extremely woody aromatic with incense and balsamic notes. It's quite enjoyable. It gets a lot better on dry-down. Not sure in what occasion you can pull this off and it's one of those perfumes that whoever likes it would answer "I don't care". It's definitely a niche quality perfume with no boundaries. Also very masculine. Don't think it would be easy for any ladies to pull this off; but, again if you like it, probably you won't care. Although I really like this, but I can't justify its price tag. For The Voice of The Snake I can but not this as it's not an easy perfume to wear.

This is a very unique and beautiful incensey perfume. The smokiness in the open doesn’t last long and then it becomes very bright and “clean”. It’s very powerful and after an hour or so, I feel suffocated by it. I love the smell, but I can’t describe the note in it that becomes problematic for me. Maybe it’s ambroxan or another synthetic ambergris note. But there’s something that lingers beneath the overall composition that bothers me when I’m wearing it. It’s very thick. I wouldn’t let that deter you from giving this a try as most ppl aren’t bothered by ambroxan. Extremely unique and I understand the “mysterious” descriptions that ppl have said about it. Glad to have it in my collection.

This is amazing! To me it sounds like a smoky rose (tho it's not listed on the pyramid) But important remark is that... smoky rose will delight your nose not at once.. Not at once at all :D Because... at fist sniff it smells like... no, those who write about some churches, no, actually this smells exactly like something being burnt out in some village, at some fireside Therefore the very first notes may be really overwhelming and way resine, even repulsive But those who wait would be blessed so much! With that delightful gorgeous rose starting to open from the heart of the composition and it still lasts for a few hours on my skin! I love it!

Okay, this, to my nose is extremely similar to Bois d'Encens by Giorgio Armani, 90% similar to my nose. AMNS has a bit more sweetness, I’m not sure where the sweetness is coming from, I’m guessing the Cade oil/cypress mixture and I smell a lot of frankincense. It seems as though perfumers are taking known masterpieces, cloning them but putting their own little twist on them and trying to present them as something new. It’s a very nice fragrance but having Bois d'Encens Makes this totally redundant for me. It is a very, very nice fragrance though.

I get the notes and whatnot but to describe this scent you have to paint a picture. This smells like an evening in the Verona gardens. You're surrounded by iconic statues and and well manicured fragrant green foliage in all sorts of shapes reminiscent of Edward Scissorhand shrubbery. As you sit down and watch the sunset beyond the greenery and divine garden symmetry ou sip a slightly sweet wine as a satyr darts by at the far end of bushery ahead. You know you're in a magical place.

Beautifully smoky wood EDP - reminiscent of bonfires in the autumn or winter. Smoke really does take center stage, so steer clear if that's not your thing. High quality smell and packaging, and the famous atomizer does not disappoint. Decent longevity, pretty intimate sillage. I think every fragrance is unisex, but from a traditionalist stance, this leans more masculine.

A straight up cough medicine opening. Drying down it smells like patchouli with extra smokiness, a juniper note, and a woody base. Smells niche! An interesting fall fragrance that isn't for everyone. I like it, but I know my girlfriend wouldn't. Thankful the duty free in BKK had a tester of this.

This is a smoke show. Undeniably cade is the central element here. A wonderful scent if you're into the dark stuff. It's hard to find good times to wear it other than being dressed up. It's also strong so you have to be mentally prepared for it.

Ash! Ash! Sweet Ash! The opening has a real WOW factor. I'm not great at picking up notes but this is more for autumn and is quite smokey. Good quality, dries down to an variation of Encre Noir, with a bit more smoke.

Midsummer night, barefoot forest walk, love spell at your favorite tree. Modern, witchy, ethereal.

This is being outside a church on a cold night, probably a Catholic one after Christmas Eve mass. The burnt rubber tire in a castle is a fair comparison. It could go either way. It's also a bit astringent.

Good fragrance that lasts long. Strong notes of incense and cedar, super masculine in my opinion. Not my personal preference for a fragrance since i like super feminine fragrance but i can appreciate this

This is not for me. BUT, it is beautifully atmospheric and dark. This scent is evocative of a walk on a cool October evening just as the sun is about to completely wink out. This is art.

Cade oil translates to liquid smoke on my skin, an artificial barbeque note that sullies any fragrance I try out. While I understand the "ancient" vibe that so many other reviewers mention, it just is too smoky for me. The incense is fine and the second most prominent aspect. I like the cypress, but sadly it is in the back seat. It culminates to the experience of throwing incense into a bonfire while camping in the forest, smoke blowing into your face. Not a bewitching walk in the woods at night, until it settles down hours later. I wish A Midnight Stroll had something else in it, to expand upon the name. Let the wood shine more, and maybe something earthy? Other reviews say it is meant to be a layering scent, so maybe that is the key. I liked it a lot better at the end of the day, when it was mostly faded and essentially just wood.

Dark. Deep and dark leathery wood. The opening was overwhelmingly burnt rubber, acrid dusky incense laden burnt rubber. The Cypress and Cade oil were really overpowering, like being smeared in liquid wood. Then the leathery incense floats to the top. One friend said 'like an old school pub with leather seats, that people used to smoke in' I'm not sure what type of man would wear this but I'd like to meet him!

Very strange smell that is supposed to be simple. I smell an old leather bag, smocked salami, a muscle rub, a burning pine tree. It is not entirely unpleasant, but definitely not something I want to smell like.

Like somebody built a campfire using resinous pine logs instead of regular wood. Smokey, intense and no other notes recognizable.

Smoky Vicks Vapor Rub that turns into bacon/sausage????

I bought this in Harvey Nichols and when I first smelled it from the bottle I was absolutely bowled over and in love with it, it is absolutely beautiful. But... and this is an absolute fact it doesn’t last more than half an hour. I can’t smell it on myself I can’t smell it at all and I’m pretty sensitive to perfume it’s just got zero longevity and I was so annoyed by by this that I had paid £250 for it that I told Gucci I wanted my money back and I got it. Bottom line is whilst it smells absolutely divine it doesn’t last five seconds that’s my opinion.

<<< This is a review of Maison Alhambra The Trail, a clone of Gucci A Midnight Stroll. Posting it here since it doesn't have its own page. The previous one was somehow hidden by the administration (?) without any downvotes. What is your point in doing that? You don't even update the database frequently enough so I could put that review in a proper place. >>> Maison Alhambra The Trail is a sensorial journey that veers into the realm of the esoteric, bearing an air of elegance that could easily be mislabeled as otherworldly. When sprayed, imagine standing at the edge of an enchanted forest at midnight — a forest laced with smoke, saffron, a touch of gourmand peppery allure, and underpinned by a harmony of medicinal dry oud and leather. There's no barnyard oud here; it's all sophistication, as if the woods were dressed in a tuxedo. This fragrance embraces you with its addictive opening that might remind you of a forgotten antique shop selling vintage tobacco products — curious, but utterly captivating. Its character is deep, mysterious, and irresistibly sexy. However, it doesn't take you on multiple twists and turns; its charm lies in its consistency. From its luscious start to its more muted end, it holds its olfactory notes close, slowly fading into a scent reminiscent of ancient sacral rituals. It's consistent, though. It may have a short-lived presence, leaving you in just a few hours, its longevity resides around 2 hours, which then turns to a skin scent, but it leaves an indelible impression. For something so one-dimensional, it makes that dimension incredibly seductive. In summary, The Trail by Maison Alhambra is a beguiling experience that casts a spell you'll be reluctant to break. Though it doesn't evolve dramatically over its short lifespan, it doesn't need to — the opening alone is a masterclass in perfumery. With this bottle being so cheap, it's an intimate secret you might be tempted to keep all to yourself. Opening note: 9+ Sillage/Projection: 3- Dry down: 5 Longevity: 2 Blend/Composition: 8- Versatility: 4 Uniqueness: 9 Value for money: 6 Bottle design/Aesthetics: 8+ Overall experience: 6+ Blind-buy rating: 1+

A Midnight Stroll isn't as morbid as you may have been lead to believe. Yes it's leathery, smoky, and all of those things you'd expect given the black, lacquered bottle, but there's a spectral sweetness keeping the evil at bay. It is possible for a scent to be simultaneously Halloween appropriate, and wearable. A Midnight Stroll pulls this off well, and it's quite addictive. While projection and longevity seem light on the surface, I got a much better interpretation after smelling this on a friend. It projects without blasting the room. And that's great, because you really don't want something this Gothic to be loud and brash. Those in the camp of "fragrances should be discovered not announced" will be pleased. It drifts off the skin here and there, making it's presence known without throwing haymakers. Given the notes, I'm not really sure where the aforementioned sweetness is coming from, though I assume it's the incense. While very different, it's perhaps in the realm of Comme des Garcons Zagorsk or Kyoto. Think heavy incense with remnants of vanilla or berries. That being said, I'm gonna file A Midnight Stroll in the Autumn and Winter only cabinet. It may have seasonal limitations, but that's also why it will last you for years. 9/10.

Really nice fragrance for lovers of incense and/or marine notes. That's right, marine notes. Opening is very smokey, not like BBQ grill (what i get from AdP Leather), but a pleasant airy smoke/peat, akin to an islay scotch. As it dries down the smoke disperses/diffuses and becomes lighter, more of the green cypress comes out to play, and perhaps the cade? I honestly don't know what cade smells like. The image above looks the same as juniper, which to me seems to blend with the cypress to greate a green/herbaceous accord. Drydown stays peaty and airy, which recalls sel marin to my nose, maybe more brine/peat putting it closer to oud minerale from TF. The same feeling gets evoked, but in this it's smoother and better blended, and slightly more dense than sel marin too. I think it's a great colder-weather alternative to sel marin or oud minerale, and for people who like those 2 I think they'll love this too.

Zoologist T-Rex? Anyone? I must be the only one. This opens up with a TON of barbeque, like you got all your wood chips smoking and failed to make any flames. That subsides pretty quickly, though, and you're left with very sweet woodiness, not too aggressive, very nice, I attribute that to the cypress. Cypress never really ends in woody monstrosity like other woods. I don't feel like all the votes for oud-centric things are correct... TF Black Lacquer is dead last in votes but I'd put that way closer to the top. I would also call this unisex, even though it seems only guys are in here testing and reviewing.