Santal Noble

Before I begin with my initial review, I should note that I have the version as depicted in the photo above, which is the latest. I don't know if there has been a reformulation, but the previous bottle is a little different with striking raised diagonal lines on it. I'm hoping it hasn't changed much. When first sniffing the sprayer, I pick up on a combination of an artificial cinnamon and sandalwood, yet there isn't any cinnamon the notes list. It has some sweetness as well and at first I felt that I wouldn't like Santal Noble. However, into the dry down it gets better. There's no question that there's sandalwood in this. There's also a mix of spicy vanilla and amber, with vetiver and musk beneath. I can see by the mix that one might believe the presence of cinnamon, but I think that's due to the structure of cedar, allspice, and vanilla blended together. To my nose, at first glance I could easily label this as just sandalwood and spices, pure and simple. But it isn't. You have to sit with this EDT over time, let it dry down and play out, then pay attention to the notes. I could see this fragrance achieved by burning some high quality incense or aromatic candles, but it would lack the complexity and... you can't apply those to your skin! My only other fragrance at this point that also contained sandalwood is Zino. It actually works well when layered with it. I also have Egoiste Cologne Concentree, which is less spicy and much sweeter. Of the three, Santal Noble is the most mature while also being unisex (leaning towards the masculine camp). Longevity is reasonably good, as well as sillage. But I find that this varies depending upon the dryness of the room air. Overall, I'm rather pleased with this fragrance. I need to let it sit with me longer before deciding if it's a favorite.

How do you like your sandalwood served? Might I suggest a light roast, a café au lait, a vanilla powder and dash of cinnamon, infused with amber warmth and dignified skin musk. Santal Noble makes me think of wandering an older-than-the-hills bookstore with a cup-o-joe-to-go, thumbing through ancient titles, and the radio is playing Dan Fogelberg's "Longer." 'Through the years as the fire starts to mellow Burning lines in the book of our lives Though the binding cracks and the pages start to yellow I'll be in love with you I'll be in love with you' The dusty vanilla lignin mingles with the wooden fixtures in the Victorian interior. I pick up the spongy pungent distant resinous smell of age as I hear the fleshy tone of the flugelhorn in "Longer." Books are piled on the floor thigh high, and an orange cat with a bell curled up in a corner napping. The visit is a much needed reprieve from hustle and bustle, the smartphone immediacy of modern culture, and I feel like this is the "mellowed fire" scent that suits my aura well. I can play the fantasy of being aristocratic, in spite of my more humble origins. I can promise myself that I will have the patience and attention to sit with Middlemarch for an hour or two or three, because Santal Noble makes me feel like I can, while reclining in a corner, on a rainy afternoon. Santal Noble provides wonderful whiffs for hours. [I own the red bottle version as pictured here]

Well, this is the very first fragrance I sold off, then regretted enough to buy again. I was a bit mad at myself too... because the bottle I had was from a couple of years ago and I was worried there might have been a "slip-stream" reformulation. Well, I picked up a tester bottle for a good deal. It certainly smells very much the same. The batch code is different, now with 4 digits instead of 6 digits as on the earlier bottle I had. I'm very glad I got it back. While I still get a somewhat synthetic impression in the start, that does fade off and a nice sandalwood rendition takes center stage, surrounded by amber, spices, and vanilla. The coffee note is there, but very muted (not at all like the original release, where coffee was detectable right away). Sillage is solid at first, but fades off. Longevity is good... but this one needs a few sprays to stick around. MPG makes many fragrances. Occasionally Santal Noble has appeared in the discount channels, but not as often as other MPG releases. I really hope they don't reformulate this one again. I like it quite the way it is. Having sampled about 5 other MPG scents, I have to say that Santal Noble is my favorite.

After much faffing around, I managed to get my hands on a sample. I then got another sample. And before long, I ended up with a full bottle. Usually this pattern is repeated for several weeks but I went through all these phases in a matter of a week. As others have already said, this is a nicely composed Amber, Coffee, Oakmoss, and Sandalwood potion. The sandalwood is cleverly hidden. You won't get wiffs of it as you do in say, Villoresi's Sandalo, but it does exist and it is prominent in the extreme dry down. There is some vanilla also thrown in for good measure, which gives it a bit of sweetness. Think of a vanilla-flavoured latte, though without the milk. The amber to my nose is more or less linear throughout and it's hard to pick up on the sandalwood behind it (Maybe that's why this is 'noble' sandalwood?). They do sit together very well and work in harmony - one does not interfere with another. In any case it's great for a winter's night out but IMHO not quite as good as Villoresi's Sandalo. Needless to say it's a great one for the wardrobe and any sandalwood freak should at least try it out.

51)The best sandalwood without rival Jean-Paul Millet (with Jean-François Laporte) is in the Panthéon of the perfumery. A pilgrimage in this brand is an ogligation for each perfumista. You first enjoy a spicy roasted coffee with a light sandalwood in a overall effect quite close to my nose to a oud (1988!). It's so original. Sandal rises and rises, softened with the patchouli/vanilla with in the same time dries and densified by the spices (like a drop of Air du désert Marocain). There's still an oud-y side, dirty, in fact a vetiver-musc duo who gives a perfect texture to the whole. The final is just a dream of crème pâtissière who lasts hours.