Game of Spades Royale

Alright, one bottle, one nose, no biases. This opens hard and it opens right. Rich hazelnut and cacao straight off the top, warm, creamy, borderline addictive. To me, it smells like Nutella if you were smelling it out of an old but well preserved cedar bowl. There’s sweetness, but it’s not sloppy, the cedar keeps it upright and grown. This isn’t dessert, this is refined indulgence. As it settles, the moss comes in and does exactly what it’s supposed to do. It smooths the cedar, adds a slightly fresh, earthy edge, and keeps the whole thing from going sticky. This is where Royale earns respect. It smells intentional, balanced, and expensive. Cozy without being lazy. Sweet without being juvenile. Let’s address the obvious giant elephant in the room, yes, this is clearly inspired by Bond No. 9 TriBeCa. The DNA is obvious. Hazelnut, cacao, creamy warmth, soft woods. If you know the OG, you know this scent. The difference is execution. The Bond has a bit more depth, Royale is slightly sweeter and more approachable. Performance wise, they’re basically the same, and that performance is, to be honest, meh. Projection is moderate for about four hours, maybe five if you’re lucky. Longevity is six to seven hours before it fades into a skin scent. But here’s the thing, those first four to five hours are a straight 10 out of 10. Strong scent bubble, noticeable, confidence boosting. Neither this nor the OG are all day monsters, so you judge them on quality, not endurance. When do you wear this? Fall/Winter/Spring date nights at lively cocktail bars, winter/fall day trips, situations where you want people leaning in, not backing up. It leans slightly feminine because of the gourmand sweetness, but any confident and well put together guy can pull this off easily. Final verdict, elite opening, beautiful mid, average staying power, zero regrets. Score, 8.4 out of 10.

This was a blind buy, and I’m genuinely impressed. First, the juice (because that’s what matters most): Royale smells very, very similar to Tribeca by Bond No. 9. I can confirm that. For those who haven’t tried it, I’d describe Royale as BR540 with hazelnut, cacao, and coconut milk. There’s a distinct coconutty, creamy, milky element here in my opinion (not declared). The juice is very oily and the scent is pretty strong. I haven't had a change to give it a proper wear because I just got it, but I'm confident this will pull 8 hours, at least. Now, the presentation, which honestly deserves its own paragraph: The packaging is top-notch. The box is actual wood, not cardboard, and it features a beautiful raised relief spade emblem in gold. The attention to detail is insane. Even the outer wrap has a luxury golden tamper seal made of metallic foil that breaks when you open it. The bottle is heavy, the cap feels substantial, with a beautiful spade design. The atomizer is great, and everything about the unboxing experience feels premium. I truly value the whole experience of a fragrance, not just the liquid, and this house absolutely delivers on that front. Overall, I’m extremely happy with this purchase and definitely plan on exploring more from this brand.

I love this dna so much. I never want to run out of this particular perfume. I own both Tribeca and Royale and even Luxe Blanc. About to own Coconut Candy & Royal Gold. I'll say that the opening of Royale has more sweetness and coconut-y smell that shine the brightest in the beginning. There is also some earthiness & mintiness, likely the cedar and/or moss that opens up after a minute or two of the intial blast. Tribeca is more cacao/hazelnut/woody forward. On drydown, Tribeca holds more structure and Royale becomes a bit airier. Ambroxan in both is ever present ofc. My nose just perceives the aforementioned notes more. I like to layer both and touch it up with Luxe later in the day lol. That'show addicted I am 😭. In my opinion, Luxe is closer to Tribeca for its less prominent cedar/moss note & coconut-y nuance. This isnjust from memoryy though. Have yet to compare all along side each other. I feel that I didn't need Tribeca. It was more of an ownership of the OG thing. While I don'tregret owning both, I prefer Royale just a little more for the moss & cedar amplifying the sweetness of it. This is a dupe done right and better for me.

These Jo Milano Game of Spades are the best inspired by scents I have encountered. I have Wildcard, Full House, High Roller and Royale in which I share with my wife. They have nailed the Bond DNA especially and actually last much longer than the originals. Royale is a less soapy take on to Tribeca with a touch more density. So well rounded and high end perfumery with no untied loose ends like many middle eastern clones. Without the Jasmine note it would lean masculine but adding it it’s definitely unisex perhaps a touch feminine. That said I love to wear it myself with no reservations being a man. Smells rich, clean, relaxed and soft spoken. Does not offend anyone and really doesn’t give off that typical fragrance vibe. The bottle, atomizer and packaging are top notch as well. Lasts 8 hours on skin and 24 on clothes. Super high class scent !! 9/10

got this bottle in a retail store (60 usd) before the hype. now is more than 80 usd. this scent remind me the coconut candy i used to eat. the opening has coconut notes while the middle notes i smell cacao and nuts. has long duration and i would wear it when going to a resort or a buffet dinner with friends or family when a gourmand scent is needed to open the apetite

Buy this. Please. Do not sleep on this fragrance. If you have freshies in your collection and want a well rounded gourmand, white floral fragrance, this is it. To me this gives off vibes of fresh cut out of the barbershop and I'm ready to step out on a fall day. Man this is a beautiful scent profile. Intoxicating as heck to me.

from my recollection this is identical to tribeca and it projects very well i sprayed the cologne once on myself and my living room only smelled like it for an hour it starts off very creamy almost giving a silk or satin vibe, then it goes to a more ambery smell with some caramel over all i’m very happy with the purchase

Really ? No coconut in here? I swear this smells like coconut baccarat. Very nice, smooth, sweet , saffron , and coconut ... I almost detect a slight white floral or something solar but not quite . It’s smooth and creamy and almost nutty . I like it . Seems like a great summer scent

A very beautiful creamy fragrance. Very close to bond. The ambroxan keeps it from going gourmand which is a plus. Unisex but as a confident man, I have no issues rocking this hard and heavy. For me this a 9/10, I get very positive feedback from both women and men.

This has became a favorite of mine without even thinking it would be. You can use this all year long. I love how you can smell every ingredient in it. You just get a boost of confidence wearing it. It’s unisex which is a plus.

The best gourmand fragrance that isn't too cloyingly gourmand. Awesome 90-95 percent similarity to TriBeCa. The jasmine note really shines on drydown.

Smells so good bro, i layered this with althair yesterday and 2 people said i smelled so good. I love this straight sweet gourmand caramel scent.

Very good. Wearing this is perfect for parties or going out. Smells like a musky cocoa lotion with the heart of jasmine

Probably my favorite perfume of 2024.

this stuff is very very strong

To me, with the exception of Full House, Yellow Sapphire, Ruby, Boston, and a couple others: Game of Spades fragrances kinda smell like they just 'ended up' as fragrances. Often times they don't smell very... Deliberate? Some have no scent beyond 30 minutes. Many are just skin scents. Others have weird base notes that smell like air fresheners. Then there's that one that smells pretty good to you. Not great, but good. And then it doesn't last. Or it ends up like an air freshener. Or it doesn't to you, but you KNOW it does to others. Hmmmm... 6/10

A coworker gifted this to me stating it was a vanilla fragrance but based on the notes and scent, vanilla is non-existent in this fragrance. I prefer gourmand scents and this is a mature perfumey scent that reminds me of pear.

I love Tribeca, but this? Not so much. It is more floral and airy, synthetic smelling. Lacks that rich hazelnut and depth that Tribeca has. They tried, but missed the mark.

Am i tripping? This reminds me of Odyssey Dubai Chooclate... and that is better. This isn't gourmand in the slightest, smells like synthetic musky cologne with a hint of coffee bitterness. The game of spades line has been a huge letdown so far.

I smell the caramel but can’t get over the synthetic smell i get from this. I don’t know what it is, but i wouldn’t recommend this as a blind buy. Smells like chemicals mixed with caramel.