Imperial Malt

Plumy ( fruity) chocolate-patchouli combo in the dry down. It’s sweet( a bit too sweet) in the opening with that liqueur accord. The sweetness lasts to the end but became less in the far dry down where the chocolate dominates, It’s really beautiful fragrance, it has something DNAish that runs in the brand ( like Immortale which I have), and it reminds of some Kilian Paris fragrances I don’t know which.

Beautiful ingredients blended well. I detect mostly rich, slightly smoky malt whisky and vanilla sweetened with a tiny bit of brown sugar and lightened with a touch of plum...with a deep woody base. Gorgeous.

If you've sampled the other Manos Gerakinis gourmands Methexis and Immortelle, you'll instantly recognize that same signature here too. Imperial Malt opens dense and *very* sweet with, in this case, coconut (dried flakes, not milk or sunscreen) and dark chocolate on a bed of ambery brown sugar. This gradually gives way to a fleeting resinous plum (or prune - there's no juice here at all) before the main actors of the drydown appear, namely peat smoke and leather (something vintage and comfortable, and only slightly animalic). Like all the MG creations I've smelled, Imperial Malt comes across as very natural and high quality, and longevity is also excellent. Objectively speaking, it's also minimally challenging and very wearable. That said, you have to like coconut, smoke and leather. And personally I find it a bit too discordant - if you're there for dessert as the main event, you might be disappointed that you end up spending most of your time in a leather armchair by the fire nursing a dram of Laphroaig. Likewise if you were hankering after a quiet evening in the pub, you may be annoyed that your friends insist on dragging you first to a new dessert place where they're still rehashing the "deconstructed" trend and serve you a selection of artfully-arranged bites that together essentially taste like a Mounds bar. Is it blind-buy safe? In my opinion, no. Luckily, MG is now offering two discovery sets through their website, one of which includes this. They're also happy to include a couple of free samples of your choice when ordering a bottle of something else.

Very sweet and overtly boozy opening, I slightly regretted liberally spritzing my sample first thing on a Monday morning! But after the very alcoholic top notes fade, it settles into a sweet, malty brown sugar type scent that is fairly textured thanks to the coconut, and definitely reminds me of the houses Immortelle which I own (although I would say this is less spicy). It is a balance of sweet and soft spicy, and at almost 3.5 hours into the wear it is quite reminiscent of Italica on my skin, with a milky creaminess too. Initially I thought it might pull a bit masculine but the dry down is very unisex as long as the wearer likes a sweet leaning frag with a gourmand vibe. I like this, but luckily I already own the aforementioned similar scents, and this doesn't add anything specifically unique for me which is a relief given this is hard to find!