Santal Noble 2017

A masterpiece from a spectacularly good house. Santal Noble is one of the best presentations of the aroma of the highest grade of real sandalwood-based santal that I have smelled. This fragrance opens with a striking blend of incense, spices (I smell nutmeg, cardamom, some cinnamon and a dash of black pepper) and coffee. The effect is similar to drinking cardamom tinged Arabic coffee in a cafe where patrons are smoking hookahs packed with rich, spicy tobaccos. Soon, a rich natural smelling sandalwood accord marked by a subtle tangy note that is typical of high grade santal, a compound made from camwood (an African hardwood) and red sandalwood. This magnificent note is lent depth and it's creamy tones are rounded out with a semi-sweet vanilla. There is also some sharp, green intensity added here by patchouli and vetiver. Eventually, the long lasting heart notes give way to a base with a noticeable ambergris note. The whole composition is wonderfully compounded and skillfully blended from high quality components. Projection is initially somewhat strong but it gradually fades down to a little bit more than a skin scent over the course of the extended duration of the scent. The presentation is excellent, the bottle is elegant with a nicely detailed, heavy metal cap and good atomizer. The fragrance is unisex, safe for work and very well suited for cooler autumn and early winter days. If you love sandalwood scents, you will be blown away by this incredible fragrance. Very highly recommended.

Pure perfection in a bottle. One of my all-time favorite fragrances that does everything right in my opinion! Usually when a fragrance house announces a "new" version of a fragrance for which they were "true" to the original, it means they reformulated the heck out of it and it is nearly unrecognizable as the fragrance you loved. This is not one of those cases. If you loved the original edt and are depressed it is no longer available or feel you should seek out a vintage bottle to experience it for the first time, fret not. The scent is the same. The edp opens much smoother than the edt and has a little less of the incense note to my nose, but both dry down to nearly identical scents with the edp having greater longevity. The coffee, spice, and vanilla notes are present, but not strong enough to warrant this a gourmand scent. Although, these notes are likely the reason I find this scent so comforting. The castoreum and ambergris combine to add what I perceive as a very subtle petroleum/leathery note. The ultra smooth sandalwood and vetiver are the workhorses in this scent with the patchouli really only noticeable if one thinks quite hard about it. Longevity is a good 8-10 hours on me and about a week on clothes. My whole closet smelled like this stuff for a while. Sillage is quite good as well. I continuously smell myself during the duration of the wearing. Highly recommended for the sandalwood lover. I will always have a bottle of this on hand as long as it remains available.

Spicy incense in the top, that will afterwards morph into a - genuine - woody/creamy sandalwood, with a sour/mushroomy facet typical of high end sandalwood, supported by a bit patchouli and a subtle vanilla. The base will unveil a very noticeable ambergris note, that combined with a hint of castoreum, will help the sandalwood fully shine. Projection seems low shortly after spraying, but once it heats up, becomes average. The sandalwood note in here is similar to the one used in LV Sandalo, but aside of that, the fragrances are overall quite different, as Villoresi is a citrusy/woody aromatic fragrance that uses citruses, florals and vetiver as supporting notes, while MPG is an woody/oriental fragrance that uses incense, patchouli and animalics. As of today, these two are my favourite sandalwood fragrances, and two fragrances I cannot live without. Masterpiece in my book.

One of my top ten fragrances of all time - imagine if Amouage decided to do their take on Gucci Envy, this is what I get from this fragrance. It's essentially a niche version of Envy. Something I can easily imagine royalty to wear, I am lucky to have a bottle and will cherish it. I love the fact it's very versatile, not very loud so can be worn on most occasions. Smokey/woody with an understated sweetness, this is an old-school classic gentleman formula with modern twist, I don't get much of the animalistic vibe from this which is great, you can sample this from Fiole (UK) - which is where I found it. Sells out so quickly... While it is pricey, I think it's worth the money for the 120ml bottle - levels above what Creed/PDM and other houses are producing right now. 10/10

Wow. Touch of citrus, maybe some pink pepper at the very top to give it a bit of lift before the coffee and subtle incense. The heart is a soft, baby powder sandalwood which on its own makes this worthy of a purchase. But then the real surprise in the base notes. Alternatively, I get ambergris, patchouli, and vanilla, ever so slightly animalic that honestly reminds me of the base you’d find in Andy Tauer’s fragrances. Another time the castoreum is more prominent and I’m reminded of Antaeus, another time still I am reminded of Eau Sauvage thanks to the oakmoss and sandalwood. Never boring. Three distinct phases, fantastic.