Benjoin 19 Moscow

Released in 2013 as an exclusive fragrance for Le Labo’s Moscow boutiques, Benjoin 19 is available exclusively in its city of origin except for the month of September when the brand releases these city exclusive fragrances world-wide, albeit at a much higher price point. The opening of Benjoin 19 is characterised by a fleeting ecclesiastical olibanum with pine-like and citrusy freshness. The rather austere opening lasts but moments as the olibanum is quickly enveloped in a balsamic and resinous cloud of benzoin. The interplay between the coolness of olibanum and the warmth of benzoin that in many ways are the olfactive antithesis of each other adds a dynamic edge to the fragrance that I find rather interesting and breaks up what would otherwise feel monolithic. While Benjoin 19 makes little transition in its dry-down, what does become discernible is that unmistakable Le Labo signature of cedar, amber and musk’s that melds beautifully with the benzoin and olibanum. For me Benjoin 19 is a mollified Ambre Sultan with equal parts of Diptyque’s Benjoin Boheme and Armani’s Encens Satin throw in the mix. It’s balsamic, resinous, warm, and comforting. It’s beautiful really, but rather linear. Notwithstanding the quality of the raw materials is apparent, for its simplicity it’s hard to justify its price point at $740 AUD/ 100 mL but of course price is entirely subjective and you’re paying more for the exclusivity here. If you are a fan of Le Labo and haven’t yet had the opportunity to smell this one I can almost guarantee you will like this as it does have that typical minimalist edge that the brand does so well. In terms of performance. Benjoin 19 sits closer to the skin with a softer sillage, but does so for a solid 8 hours on my skin. IG: Nathan__Jamesj

I'm kind of surprised by the lukewarm reception that seems to be proffered for Le Labo's Moscow exclusive Benjoin 19. I guess in a way, one could level some criticism for it being perceivably 'pedestrian' to an extent, and whilst it might be argued that this is true, it is also far more than that! Benjoin is a wonderful take on the increasingly crowded resin theme. Frankincense and Benjoin are expertly entwined in delicious balance, sweetened slightly by a kind of vanillic amber accord that smoulders away and helps mitigate the austerity of the incense. A coniferous cedar note serves to provide a lovely 'outdoorsy', natural feel, which prevents the scent from developing a liturgical feel. This seems more a holiday in a forest cabin with some hipster friends than an alter boy tending his duties in the cathedral. It seems to finally mellow nicely into a soft, musky base with the amber becoming more dominant and this occurs over 3-4hrs, but the dry down certainly continues to abide far longer than that. Initially this stuff billows and rolls to your nose nicely, but after a couple of hours on me, it retreats to the skin and wafts around gently, so it's polite enough to wear in most company. Suited to the colder months, I find Le Labo Benjoin 19 delightfully comforting, versatile and undeniably classy. Shame about the astronomic pricing! I say keep an eye out for decants. You won't be disappointed!

The more I wear it, the more I love it. Elegant sensuality in a bottle. The start is quite sweet and almost a bit diabetes. However, this fades very quickly and styrax, waxes, benzoin, with musk and cedar come in. That is pretty much how the perfume remains for the rest of its life. I don't find this has "incense" but I can understand how the amber notes can hint at this aroma/scent profile. But this isn't churchy at all. Neither too sweet nor cloying, can be worn all year round (at least in the evening). It's very versatile. But, Benjoin 19 is akin to Le Labo's answer to "By the Fireplace" for colder months, if you catch my drift. Longevity easily reaches the 12 hours line. The best part about this perfume is that it does not scream at all. It is not beastmode in sillage, but it has a nice finesse.. the sillage trail (and perhaps cedar/iso E note) draws people in. Not the scent cloud. Quality 10 Versatility 9 Price to Quality 9 Longevity and Performance 10 A true masterpiece, 9/10. Add Benjoin 19 to the "I Want It" list... Benjoin 19 is an ode to Moscow. Its elegance, understated character, its quiet whisper and character definitely embody Moscow and the upper-crust oligarch lifestyle.

Benjoin 19 Moscow is another cold weather-leaning entry in the Le Labo City Exclusive line and much like its closest friend in the group, Poivre 23 London, it is a powerful fragrance with a decent overall composition. I'm not an authority on resins, but the combination of benzoin and olibanum is a powerful combination that seems to be at the forefront of the fragrance from start to finish---it's a resin-dominant experience. The drydown is mainly sweet amber---a pleasant, slight departure from the resinous opening. I started off thinking this was complex like Poivre 23 but it ultimately was simplified in the manner described above---resin and amber. The projection and longevity are both above average, even for the EDP, but as with the other works in the City Exclusive line, the most damning aspect of the fragrance is the price, at (when Luckyscent offered it in September) a steep $290 for 50ml. And I've come to the same conclusion as with other fragrances in the line---it's not worth the price. At a lower price, I might consider it since I certainly like (not love) Benjoin 19 as a winter option. It feels appropriate for this time of year. An interesting entry, for sure. 8 out of 10

For me to talk about notes when describing how I feel about Benjoin 19 would be a disservice to my love for this fragrance. This perfume is all about sentiments for me, and while I could write paragraphs about the magnitude of it's emotional weight, nothing encapsulates my feelings better than this line: "Любовь... Я оттого и не люблю этого слова, что оно для меня слишком много значит, больше гораздо, чем вы можете понять." - Лев Толстой, Анна Каренина "Love.... Why I don't like this word is that it means too much to me, far more than you can understand." - Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

This scent is very warm, you feel like you're encased in amber. It's a Church type of scent, which is one of my favorite styles of scents. It's very rich and deep, There's definitely something aged about it and elegant, I really love it but I think its an acquired taste. To me you can not only smell but see all the golden tones of the scent- gold filigree on the frame of a painting, a glowing library room lit by warm candlelight, a tree dripping with golden sap, a Madonna icon set in gold leaf- everything about it radiates warmth

Opens deep and enormously resinous before mellowing to the scent of worn sun-ambered and smoke-soaked wood. Pliable leather, the cedar a high note. The depth of history, the richness, the incense-soaked walls of a 16th century cathedral, every surface darkened by resin. There’s a note to this that reminds me of tree sap, languorous, golden and slow. An intoxicating depth, elegant and sensual and I’m so mad to be falling for this one.

benjoin 19 is brilliant. i set it against kyoto incense and it's far more sophisticated and nuanced but unfortunately a lesser performer in terms of duree. benjoin made the kyoto smell cheap by comparison. this is a masterstroke of resins and wood. Voelkl is a wizard. tested in summer this almost convinced me a resinous scent is a year-rounder. this is as close as one could be.

I have never been to Moscow so I couldn't even tell you if a whiff of this smells like Moscow. But you know where I have been? A Russian Grandmothers house. This smells like visiting your friends Babushka home, spefically a nice warm comforting one. It's simple, smells good, feels soft. Is the price worth it though when this smells similar to a dozen other fragrances? No.

Smelled this on a friend and was enthralled. Bought it years later, five minutes into the first spray and realized why I loved it so much: it smells 90% similar to one of my all time favorites--Amber Paste by Kuumba Made...which costs ~$15, and lasts longer. Still love it, but if you really want it and don't want to spend, try that one first.

To me, this smells like dusty old books in a cold and musty room. Whereas benjoin boheme feels put together and confident, Benjoin 19 is muted and meditative. Something you wear when you're alone just for you. A cold wintery sibling to Gaiac 10 in that sense.

This is also an extrait 30% concentration, it does last a long time. Though it feels like a lighter version of Ambre Sultan. To me, it's like Ambre Sultan without the sweetness. Very sensual.

I didn’t use to like this, but I love it this year... I just got benjoin boheme from diptyque and now I’m torn between these two... gonna keep testing both Update: So I have both on different arms, because I noticed that they both are hard to distinguish when smelling each individually at different times. But when smelling at the same time, I really see the differences. Benjoin Boheme is warm, soft, comforting, and very, very classic. It gives a wise, relaxed confidence. It’s so delicately blended. Benjoin 19 is standout, sweet but harsh/bold/unforgiving, and has bite. It gives young, slightly cocky confidence. It’s slightly peppery, and also a bit, waxy? To me, BB is for spending time with someone you care about, and I can’t tell what benjoin 19 is for. Since they’re so similar, I think that having that clarity shows BB is the one to keep... but we’ll see. Also, I really projection on both was better. On BB I think it lasts longer on my skin, but they both don’t project much after a couple of hours. BB does project at first, but only when someone is close. I guess, with price considered (more than double BB for the amount), I’m definitely sticking with BB, but still undecided which I like more for myself.

this made to order scent from le labos city exclusive line has to be its show stopper if you ask me its main downside is that its only around for one month out of the year with the exception of Moscow and that it commands a hefty price but once your able to acquire it those two points also make this a scent worth having Benjoin 19 opens with fizzy sort of cola vibe followed by the smooth creaminess of soft cedar and benjoin which reminds me a lot of oud wood in the opening its hint of incense lingers in the background and it doesn’t take a commanding roll which makes this a pleasure to wear unfortunately the opening and middle notes are short lived and start to fade some what quickly and by the middle to dry down your mainly left with cedar and musk longevity and projection are weak but that may change if you work that trigger finger more then usual like many scents that are not easily obtainable it comes down to how willing you are to track it down and the more work thats put into it the more this scent may shine even with some of its shortcomings le labo - benjoin 19 is a personal pleasure scent and not exactly one that you wear for others or to stand out on to the next

Benzoin, Resins, Benzoin and more Benzoin. I love resinous scents, especially those that lean masculine. There's only one issue...Resinous frags, along with vanilla/tonka frags tend to be pretty sweet on my skin, and this is one of them, however, there's still something about this that I love. Maybe its the high-quality ingredients used by Le Labo. Anyways, this stuff has tons of benzoin and olibanum up front. The benzoin is the creamy part while olibanum is the sweet side. As it dries down, the musk and cedar start to show-face and that is when I start to love it. The benzoin, olibanum are still there and blend in so well with the slight cedar and musk. For my first wearing, I over-applied based on the reviews here. I put about 5 sprays on, and holy cow this stuff was POTENT. I felt bad for the people around me. It is an absolute monster on me, so 2-3 sprays and I am good to go smelling this for several hours! Good stuff, but not my favorite. Worth a wear every once in a while for sure.

Worn for ~4 years. I instinctively lean toward using it on formal evening events, as it feels too precious for day time use. On an evening or cooler day, it remains fairly consistent. A soft and still amber/resinous finish that fades into the background in cooler weather. However, it shows it’s true character on a blazing hot summers day. There’s a a revelation that happens when heat is added to the equation, where I’ve had comments of people asking what smells like sticky honey, quickly followed by nuzzling and sniffing. It could last a little longer, but it’s one I’ll always keep in the cupboard. The irony of a fragrance modelled off cold Moscow cathedrals being best revealed (to me) on southern Australian blazing, dry summers days is all part of the fun.

I wanted to love this, and I do enjoy it....but it’s not a repurchase for me. I was pulled in by the whole city exclusive moment (and yes, the hype), but on my skin, this reads like dusty old books in a cold, slightly musty room. Of course, fragrance is so personal, and everyone’s pH develops a scent differently, so this is just my experience. It’s quiet, introspective, and honestly feels like a scent you wear just for yourself. Compared to Benjoin Bohème by Diptyque, which feels more polished and confident, this one is softer, more muted... like a whisper instead of a statement. It gives me the same “intimate, alone time” energy as Gaiac 10, but colder. I’ll keep wearing it when I’m in that mood, but she’s not a forever bottle for me. ✨

First impressions of Benjoin are not good. It smells like a base of something I've smelled before. The price it's being charged for is ludicrous, not to mention minus one month a year you'd have to go to Moscow for it. I get that it smells like benzoin, a favorite note of mine, but Le Labo is usually not literal, and for the price I wish they weren't. If it's a soliflore I would just buy an essential oil, some perfumer alcohol, mix it and I would save a crap load of cash. I was really hoping this would have knocked my socks off, but Amber Oud is far better than this and even cheaper.

I like this, some benjoin, ambery sweerness with some dry dusty woods. Not very exciting but pleasant and subdued without much projection. Would be a good comfort scent. In a side-by-side with CdG Ouarzazate, they have a lot of similarities, especially in the quality of the wood accord. Ouarzazate is less sweet, with greater emphasis on the woods and there's even a slight savory quality. It's more interesting than Benjoin and it's a whole lot less expensive.

Man is Frank Voelkl just a beast when he's in his zone or what? this is a beauty, just soooo nice. It smells like Armani Prive Encens Satin, but less incense, more peppery and dusty, more powder. Just a gem, a true modern amber gem... A cup of tea, fire burning, snow outside, Benjoin 19 on neck. Yes. Try this if you like: TF Amber Absolute, TF Sahara Noir, Armani Prive Encens Satin, Le Labo Poivre 23 (drydown part)

sweet, likeable amber and cedar. a little tobacco? the sweetness throughs you off guard bc it's kind of intense, but it's not paired with anything that should be this sweet, but it also doesnt feel artificial or additive. amber is stripped of its standoffishness or ickiness and is more akin to vanillin, but without the actual vanilla smell.

Sweet resin, dry cedar, and warm amber. Benjoin 19 is like the warmth of a sauna enveloping you during a harsh winter - perfect for Moscow. This is beautiful but absolutely not worth $365. There are many frags just like this (that perform better) for less. Perhaps worth sampling if you’re interested in the Le Labo city exclusives.

Sticky-sweet golden syrup with a waxy furniture polish glaze, next to a wooden box of cigars and buttery-soft leather. This is the smell of rich embalming ointment for Pharaoh’s. It’s just the right sweetness before it becomes too sweet. It’s the smoothest and least sour-chemical smelling offering from Le Labo. It’s golden.

I liked it from the start, but thought what other reviewers think: nice, but does not stand out. However, by the third wearing I find that this perfume grows on me. It is all about resins and woods. It is a smooth coniferous scent, warm and cosy.

There's this chemical/medicinal smell up top that lingers through the life of the fragrance. I love it but my wife hates it. I can't really put it into words at the moment and will definitely revisit this.

Opening note is a lovely warm amber, resinous note similar to tree sap. The dry down is like walking into a hot sauna in an old church. Definitely more masculine leaning and more of an Autumn/Winter scent.

I just tested a sample of this and although nice, it doesn't stand out from all the other amber musks on the market. The drydown is all cedar. I think this is more masculine than feminine.

Smells wonderful, and also like a lot like Jayne Ormonde Tolu which is about a quarter of the price. Doesn't make me think of Russia, although I've never been and sadly likely never will.

Feels like you visiting your religious Babushka. Cozy smell of an old wooden house. It does not offend you; it's just something ambient that you learned to love.

Definitely woody, with slight metallic notes, like a church after the incense has been aired out a bit.

I picked up this sample because I had read a comment that it smelled like Orthodox Church incense, which is one of my favorite smells in the world. I do like this one, but it does not smell like church incense to me. There is a very noticeable frankincense, particularly in the opening, but this fragrance doesn’t have any myrrh. There are other resins such as benzoin and amber, it is also quite woody. There is no leather, but it does give me the feel of leather. As far as performance, this is quite disappointing on me. It faded away within three hours. This actually reminds me quite a bit of a fragrance that I already own, Amber & Patchouli by Jo Malone. The Jo Malone does not have the frankincense in the opening, but the mid and dry down between the two fragrances are very similar. The Jo Malone lasts longer on my skin.

Namesake benjoin with sticky sweet resin, partnered with dry cedar woods. It's the same cedar note featured in Santal 33, which to my nose is more cedar than sandalwood. If you squint you might get a hint of church pew or incense, but only the faintest whiff. This is lovely in quality and composition, but utterly lacking in inventiveness and performance. To price so high for something that is practically a skin scent seems silly to me. If you love the Le Labo DNA and you don't mind paying for subtlety or hunting down a city exclusive, this could be for you.

I had one wearing. Humid day outside, cold air-conditioned office. I spent some time in both environments to see how it suited my chemistry and was underwhelmed. It felt like wearing an amber that's been stripped down to its core. Unsweetened and minimalistic. I am a fan of minimalistic fragrances on the right occasion, so it may work out and may be the same as what happened with me and Molecule 01 where I couldnt smell it much at the start, but after a while it became a love. Ill try this a couple times more.

Just lovely on the blotter, Benjoin 19 is loaded with resin and olibanum and has an interesting green muskiness, like falling in a patch of dock leaves or angelica. Sadly on my skin it's drier and more straightforward. After opening very ambery the benzoin soon sinks in the mix leaving a smoky-grey incense skin-scent, slightly piney, I assume from the cedar. It's simple and pleasant but it's a bit boring, especially for the price point.

Wanted to try this for so long, and it's just massively unimpressive. It is so sheer you can't smell anything at first. It's definitely a skin scent. After a while, the perfume warms on the skin and begins to radiate just a bit, but it's just a bourbon vanilla type of scent that is still very faint. Not nearly worth the price. Movin' on...

I didn’t get the LL Osmanthus connect yet. I pick up on benzoin and I think it’s the main note. I think it’s decent. Compared to DT Benjoin Bohème, I think this has a lot more woods.

I put this on my husband... I'd definitely marry him again. 😜

BACKGROUND: I just got the 2015 sample set of the exclusives from Luckscent and will wear one a day with a review for each - from a male perspective. Today I'm wearing Benjoin 19 to the office. SCENT: Opening with a buttery punch of Benzoin and Olibanum, first impressions are positive and get better over the next hour as the fragrance smooths out and picks up a surprisingly fizzy edge from what I think is (unlisted) Labdanum, of all things. Ularewolf - you said below that is smells immediately like the dry down of something else. I know what it is - this is the dry down of Sahara Noir by Tom Ford. Like, exactly that is what it is. OFFICE READY? Very much so. I walked into the office this morning to compliments from my colleagues, who were pleased that I wasn't strutting around in a billow of Musc 25 like I was yesterday. Benjoin 19 has a perfect sillage for the office - very mild, but it still has presence thanks to the vanillic warmth of benzoin and the dark intelligence of olibanum. NIGHT OUT READY? You won't stand out in a crowd thanks to the mild sillage, but up close you'll smell bed-ready. This is a lovely skin scent and it begs a nuzzle and a little intimacy. BETTER THAN THE REGULARS? No, not a better composition or something more 'special' than Santal 33, Patchouli 24 or Vetiver 46. WORTH THE $440 (AU $600)? No. Lovely as it is, Benjoin 19 really is just a more socially acceptable Sahara Noir that is (like SN) very unisex but without the forceful front of SN. There's no way you'll smell like you're wearing $440 with this. You will smell like $150-$250 tops. WORTH $240? Yes, but I wouldn't buy it if it became a non-exclusive. It is lovely, but it's nothing really brilliant. It would make a good every day fragrance for people who would like olibanum without drawing too much ire from colleagues. HIGHLIGHTS: This cuddles you all day. It might not get in people's faces, but it does stick around - warm and close. It's a smell that's been 'done' but its familiarity is comforting - the composition not brilliant, but (pleasingly) linear and long lasting.

2023: Very pretty and cozy resinous fragrance with a softness of musk. A moderate projection, but it’s a bit underwhelming with its longevity (4-6 hours on skin) ... I’d say this is a amber fragrance for people who like resinous notes, but not when they are too bold and overpowering. It’s a daytime fall/winter fragrance, so I’m looking forward to trying my sample again in the cooler months one days where I want to have an understated resinous aura. I like it, but for now, I already have several amber fragrances are more interesting and have a stronger projection and longevity, (which I can also layer with a musk), so I don’t think I can justify the price point and exclusivity. Edit from 2025: This fragrance has grown on me quite a lot over the past two years of sampling it. (Yes, I enjoy the City Exclusive August/September sampling experience.) For me it is a stand out from the City Line for its ability to take resinous notes, which can be heavy and stuffy at times, and turn them into an effortlessly cool accord. Le Labo has this down to a science with the Ambroxan and musky base that is in so many of their fragrances. I now have this fragrance sitting at the top of my list for next full bottle city scent. Tough decisions will have to be made... I only have the budget for one a year sadly.

Wow, I really like this one! Of course, being a city exclusive it's not available too often but had I smelled this first, I may have bought this and not Wonderwood by Comme des Garcons. They smell very similar but Wonderwood doesn't have the smoky vibe that I don't like, so in that way, I prefer Wonderwood. Still, I do like Benjoin 19..so I guess I'm ok about not having a bottle of this one ....yet.... I think if I get some money to burn I'll pick up a bottle but if not, oh well...I have my beloved Wonderwood....and my Gaiac 10 which also bears a small resemblance to this one....but only small. Bottom line- if you have anything similar, take a pass. If you love woods, get Wonderwood. Update: I don't think this smells like Wonderwood or Gaiac 10 anymore. I have sampled it 4 times now and I don't care for it anymore...it just reminds me too much of those 80's perfumes I'd wear like Fendi or Magic Noire which at the time I liked, but not anymore. To each her own though--younger women may love this because they don't have the 80's association.

Benjoin 19 is pleasant, but uninspiring. It’s little more than vanilla and frankincense—notes that are cast rich and deep, probably as the result of layering and folding different extractions over the top of each other. There’s also a slight musk (it’s pretty much ambroxan) and possible something a little floral (jasmine? lavender?), both of which are buried so deep into the vanilla that you’d be hard pressed to spot them. Benzoin is vanillic by nature, and I don’t doubt that there’s plenty of the real stuff in this scent (it’s not like it’s a precious material), but make no bones about it: this is benzoin spun as vanilla ice cream. And that’s it. They’re charging over $400 for this, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the production cost of the compound (per bottle) doesn’t even crack 40c. Pleasant enough if you want a linear, semi-sweet vanilla perfume — and I really do enjoy it for what it is — but the pricing is silly.

Rare case when I like it better on a blotter than on me. No need to say how overpriced and overhyped the city exclusives are. Look, I read it's inspired by "Anna Karenina" (I hope the book and not the horrible Kira K film), and railroad - my nose immediately goes searching for "russian railroad" notes. I was imagining them here: this weirdly exciting whiff or railroad tracks, the steam train steam, the leather and wooden seats, the furs. I imagined it and I smelled it, the warmth of a house in the middle of a winter. But the internet tells me it is supposed to be the russian church smell, which I could barely tolerate as a child (both: the benjoin+frankincense concoction burning in the censor in a closed space and the institution). Maybe, my mistake is taking this out in heat of the summer, when this should be warn in the dead of the winter, when it shines like the gold in the orthodox churches.

Call me crazy. I got a sniff and a blotter of Le Labo Benjoin 19 today in advance of its NY release. I loved it immediately. It reminded me of something...what? Hala. Yes, nice cheap Lattafa Hala. I figured I had to be wrong. An AI told me no way, Hala is sharp and dry (it isn't!), and B-19 is sweet. Well, I got home and sprayed a blotter of Hala to compare against my B-19 blotter. They are not identical...but I'm telling you: they are very very similar. B-19 has a little more tension? Something a little..tamarind-y? But pretty close cousins. Maybe Hala layered with a little something else might give the same effect. Someone here said Amber Paste by Kuumba Made. I have this, so maybe I will give it a whirl. UPDATE: I added a tiny drop of Amber Paste to the Hala blotter, and smelled it side-by-side with the B-19 blotter. 98% the same. I think I may be an incipient perfume genius.

Benzoin indeed! This sits somewhere between Guerlain's Bois D'Armenie and Encens Satin (which I find to be similar, albeit tamer, to Sahara Noir) - less powdery and sweet than BdA, but not as dry and dusty as Encens Satin. It is fairly linear, although the frankincense mostly fades after the first hour or two leavinga nice amber-benzoin-cedar bouquet. I think the scent is great, but it also sits very comfortably inside of my preferred scent profile. Longevity appears to be good, projection is quite restrained like most Le Labo's I have tried. The price is outrageous, but I will probably end up buying it anyways. [edit] I layered a spray of BdA over Sahara Noir and it smells so close to this, but cranked up to 11.

Edit: week 2 of the City Exclusives and I still have not bought into the hype!! I have not ordered Vanille or Benjoin (yet)! I keep convincing myself not fall into the trap of Le Labo again. The point with Le Labo is that their fragrances are inoffensive, comforting, moderate, linear and regular. Sometimes even mediocre. The most infamous characteristic is that these fragrances never smell after their namesake. Perfume titles such as "Patchouli" and "Vanille" seem inside jokes. But all the while, these crowd-pleasers have something addictive. I have a few Le Labo fragrances and everytime I wear them, people ask me the brand of my fragrance. And those marketeers at Le Labo know it!

First reaction: this is like a flanker of Frederic Malle Monsieur. Soon after: this is like Tom Ford Patchouli Absolu and Vert des Bois had a child. Later: What even is this? I get a faint church pew smell and that’s about it. Have I gone anosmic or does the performance just suck? Need to do a lot more testing. Update: It shares many similarities with Le Labo Tonka, just as Le Labo Oud does. The three are definitely related, but is this City Exclusive worth more money than the others? Nah. It’s a slightly more masculine version of Tonka that does not have the animalic components of Oud

I tried a dupe of this. Can't say it was close because I haven't tried the OG. But the dupe (dua) was an absolute stinker. Very astringent. It reminded me of clove cigarettes. Also gold Listerine mouthwash. I'm sure the original is more blended/ more sophisticated etc. But this scent profile is very sharp. While leather and tobacco are not listed in the original or dupe, I suspect those notes are strong. This scent profile also lasts an outrageously long time. Buyer beware. If you don't mind an intense turpentine like smell, then go ahead and fuck with this resinous beast lol.

Dry cedar meets warm, resinous amber. Natural and earthy like so many of Le Labo's works. I bought this because I found the inspiration of Moscow most interesting out of all the City Exclusives and it did not disappoint. This does not smell like church incense to me, but it is ecclesiastical in a way. There is an almost meditative austerity in this scent, but also warmth and beauty. It is aloof and understated yet inviting and grand, like reading Dostoevsky or looking at the Cathedral of St. Basil on a freezing winter day.

I agree with ularewolf 100%. This is officially the softest projecting scent, I've ever sampled. I've dumped the entire vial from LS on my chest and still no projection. I smell Benzoin yes indeed, as well as Frankincense and Cedar but it smells like the end of a dry down and I just applied it!!! To be honest I'm pretty disappointed being a fan a Le Labo and all. I expected more, maybe due to the fact that I'm half Ukrainian. If I'm shelling out this kind of coin I should get 2-3 wears from a vial sample plain and simple.

So powdery and plush. Soft like a down pillow, like rabbit fur. The resins are gentle, inviting. Moscow is the perfect city for this scent. Frigid outside contrasted with a comforting, inviting, luxurious interiority. This is a scent for people who drink tea in little porcelain cups and saucers. This is the scent of Anastasia (1997). It's December and it's birthstone turquoise. It's delicate and darling.