The Trail

************* Edited December 16,2025 The Trail (Inspired by Gucci's A Midnight Stroll: The Incense, Cade, Cypress Incarnation) The Location: The Trail is a deserted stone chapel in a rural hinterland. It is always twilight here. The cold is not of metal, but of ancient marble floors that never warm, even in summer. The air is a continuous penumbra, a patient silence broken only by the echo of your own breath. The incense is not the sweet church frankincense of mass, but the dry, powdery residue of resin burned centuries ago, clinging to stone. The cade oil is the key. It provides the pungent, smoky chill of extinguished pine torches and old, tarry wood. The cypress is the evergreen sentinel at the door, a bitter, balsamic breath of eternal vigil. The Emotion: Contemplative solitude. This is the fragrance of the hermit, the restorer, the archivist. It evokes the profound peace of being utterly alone in a space heavy with time. It is not a lonely scent, but a deeply solitary one. It wraps you in a bubble of quiet gravity. The emotion is patience, introspection, a slow alignment with a slower, older rhythm. It is the antithesis of noise. ****************************************************************************************************** After 1 year I picked up this fragrance again. Wow it has become strong. An Isobutyl Quinoline + Norlimbanol + ISO E Super + Dihydroeugenol cocktail that works perfectly with the season's vibe. I love it.

From the first spray, The Trail asserts itself with a dark, resinous smokiness. The incense is thick and slightly ashy, evoking the scent of a dying fire. There’s a dry, woody core that feels rugged and unpolished, reinforcing the mysterious vibe. Compared to Gucci A Midnight Stroll, it’s slightly less refined but still engaging. The opening has an almost church-like frankincense presence, rich and meditative. As it settles, a faint leathery undertone emerges, adding depth. There’s minimal sweetness, making it feel stark and elemental. Some will find it austere, but that’s part of its appeal. Longevity is solid, lasting around 7-8 hours on my skin. Projection is moderate; it won’t overwhelm but leaves a steady trail. Best suited for cooler weather or introspective moments, it leans unisex but might appeal more to those who like bold, smoky scents. There’s no citrus brightness—just shadows and embers. The dry-down remains woody and slightly charred, never losing its identity. It doesn’t evolve dramatically but stays true to its dark character. Not a mass-appealing fragrance but perfect for those who enjoy brooding scents. For the price, it’s an excellent alternative to A Midnight Stroll. It feels niche-adjacent, despite being an affordable designer dupe. Ideal for those who love incense-heavy compositions. If you want to smell like a wandering mystic or a twilight ritual, this is it. This is a 8/10 for me

The opening "incense" note is really an ashtray odor... Anyway, after some 10 minutes the smell settles down to an acceptable pile of leaves on fire. Then for a while it resembles Encre Noir or some other cypress fragrance with a bucket of juniper on top. Afterwards, it dials back to the standard MA base juice of mandarin pulp and whatnot. Very pleasant to use, certainly not strange nor astonishing, more like the scent of a "working outdoors day". I want this for me, not to expose at the gim or office.

If you've ever seen the movie Sator (2019) set in the dense Northern California woods - this smells like that. Towering pines, a bonfire burning somewhere nearby, a bit of incense. I'm female so I don't really wear this, but spray it on myself or my pillow when I want to experience that vibe. It conjures imagery of my aunt's farm and the old barn and the campfires we had there when I was a young girl, and the dark, forboding forest nearby. It takes me places.

This is not a blind buy but i took a shot anyway and its smells amazing. Dark, menacing yet very unique and sophisticated. Way different than most of the stuff out there. Very strong, long lasting and high quality.

This is Divine! Its so unique. Smoked spiced medicinal meaty smell. And its so dark and masculine. This is something that a 500 plus years old vampire would wear on a hunt in a nightclub. I love it.

Amazing stuff. Truly smells like a campfire, but one you want to wear. Notes here are wrong. I think they're incense, cade, cypress? Something like that. Edit - they fixed the notes! Thanks!

I have this and the serpent and both are very good. This has great performance. Definitely incense forward. 8/10.

I just received my bottle in the mail. I noticed my batch was from 2022 and today is 2026. It expires (if not kept in good conditions) only 1.5 years from now. I don't know if I got a bad batch and I don't know what CADE OIL smell like. I read the reviews prior to buying. I know what incense and cypress smell like. But for some reason, this bottle's contents smell sweet like a flower. I'm female/60. I can't smell any incense from this at all. I feel gypped that I didn't get what I thought this one would be like, but...I still like it just the same and I will say my batch leans feminine.

Smells like you’re in a pine forest in the winter next to a fire that’s loaded with mesquite wood chips and it’s smoking some meat. This is a very rugged, mysterious, and dark scent. The smokiness really makes this last a long time. It’s also not a huge mass appealing scent. I blind bought this because of the description of the original Gucci scent sounding up my alley and the price of this dupe being incredible. I have no idea how they compare but i’m gathering from others is that they’re basically 1:1. I think it’s worth having in any collection just not as a main scent.

Nice stuff for cheap. I like it more than it's competitor clone "Haunting Blend" by Fragrance World by a long stretch. Incense and leather with some floral foundation. I even picked up some cocoa or coffee notes, but not in a sugary sweet way. Like dark chocolate or espresso maybe. On the other hand, Up close, it smells a little like bug spray. The projection is very low and I didn't smell much of anything on me after a few hours. Middle of the road as a result, but it's got a great price and it's mostly a good fragrance overall.

Think of a witch’s hut in an enchanted forest. Very resinous herbal spicey Incense. Reminds me of the incense my grandma uses to "warn off bad spirits". October in a bottle, definitely suitable for Halloween 8/10

#1297 in my "Tour de Fragrance" It's a straight up dupe of Gucci "Midnight Stroll" of course, and I assume Alberto Morillas was strolling through the back yards of North Carolina sniffing that gold barbeque sauce burning on the grills when he cooked up that scent. All it needs is a touch of vinegar and it's a dead ringer for Lillie's Q "ENC Barbeque Sauce" (Eastern North Carolina). Swear to god this is how the grill on my back porch smells in the evening after I've grilled chicken for dinner. Much less so after about fifteen minutes, and it smells less like a sauce in thirty, but still, even in the dry down this is about 90% just the smell of sweet cade oil. If I didn't live in a place where everyone is cooking on the grill this time of year I might maybe could get away with this, but I doubt it. I'm gonna take this when I meet friends for coffee in the morning and ask them to spray it and tell me what they smell, but I know what they'll say. Oh well. It was only $18. You could probably layer this with something greener or bluer or oudier if that's your thing. I might try layering this with a boringly one note oud scent like "Renaissance Oud", but I suspect it will just smell like I cooked the barbeque on a campfire spit. Maybe a citric fougere?

This is truly niche in character and you can’t blind-buy this and expect universal appeal. It has a distinct vibe that some might associate with medicinal or even church-like accords. I get it; there’s a gothic undertone that makes it unique and atmospheric. Personally, I’d lean toward other dark, woody styles like Encre Noire Extrême, which offers better longevity and a more balanced profile. The Trail is bold and artistic, but not my preferred daily wear.

It opens with something like a heavy, stomach-turning barbecue sauce. Later, it becomes more about wood and smoke — like when the wood has just started to burn. But it’s not the most pleasant kind of wood. A hint of that sauce, with vinegar or Tabasco-like notes, is still present. Longevity and projection are very modest for this kind of profile. I’m not sure there’s much point in wearing it.

It's $20, but Incredibly weak for a smoky fragrance. I filled up the cap to try and concentrate it more, but to no avail. Your $20 buys mostly filler. It's meant to be layered, and it shows. Never smelled the original, and don't want to. I like smoky fragrances, so was very disappointed in this one. Sold it.

It's an ok smoky perfume to me. A little too simple. Not much to it. Doesn't put me in a uplifting meditative state as Heretic "Smudge" perfume". Smudge is on a pricier side but so far no other smoke perfume does it for me.

was cleaning out my closet and found this again and tbh I actually like it now yes the opening is still very hot dog and ketchup, but after about 20min in (live reporting) it’s a soft and sweet ambery, slightly peppery and herbal fragrance I never lived in a heavy wooded area, but this is easily how I’d imagine it would be to smell incense in the distance in the woods almost sold this hot dog bottle but it’ll be perfect for this time of year thank you younger kukuiuo for seeing the vision and being patient I wanna thank me for being me

I just recently checked the original in London store and felt in love immediately and this is a ultimate dupe 1:1 from Maison Alhambra, I purchased with a doubt how it is going to be but when I sprayed first it smells exactly like the midnight stroll original , hope time will make it more powerful.Maison Alhambra is super man. The only this I don't know is how the check their product production date.

To me it smells like new tires and a mesquite fire, a little bit of incense and pine. Maybe a teensy bit of ambergris if you smell it hard enough. It smells unisex to me. Strength is medium and longevity is poor, but it's brand new so performance may improve.