White Whale

A different take on an oceanic aquatic fragrance. I agree with those below that mention a melon like note front and centre to start, combined with salty facets and a clean, sharp almost chlorine like accord. As the fragrance settles, the melon note slowly dies back and it becomes drier and more woody. There are slight hints of florals in the background but these are subtle. I don’t see this as a particularly floral fragrance, even though the floral accords are rated quite highly above. My best description would be fresh, salty, woody and fruity. I like this. It’s different. Very unisex imho. Performance is okay. It goes on strong but I do find that it dies back quite quickly and stays close to the skin. Stunning presentation though, the bottle is a work of art. This and the new Sleight of Fern are two great fragrances that are very wearable but still have a unique quality that elevates them, I just wish performance was a little bit better but then I say that about most of my fragrances nowadays!

White Whale smells like coastal Northern California, just like the cool ocean breeze and the fragrant plants that grow along the rocky cliffs. I grew up right on the beach in San Francisco, and this fragrance makes me very nostalgic. I can also picture sunny days spent at Bodega Bay looking out over the sparkling ocean, hoping to catch a glimpse of a whale. Also reminds me of wet, gray days on the Golden Gate Bridge, when the fog is so intense you need a waterproof parka. It also smells intriguingly smoky in a way that I can’t pinpoint, it’s so vague, and it also smells like ocean water and driftwood. It makes me imagine discovering a shipwreck. In the drydown I detect frankincense and ambergris. This fragrance works great in the heat. It projects well, and it lasts all day. Personally I feel this is the very best from this house and also a masterpiece aquatic fragrance.

Exceptionally beautiful and wearable fragrance, with moist and salty facets and a central fruity-leathery osmanthus accord in the heart. The ambregris accord is mainly ambroxan, but is brought closer to the more complex aroma of natural ambergris with some additions. The story to the fragrance is nicely intended, but the fragrance doesn't really convey anything about the epic battle of the one-legged captain against the "beast". Instead, everything is very harmonious and neatly coordinated, no dirt or animalic exhalations far and wide, and all drenched in the long-lasting aroma of apricot-like osmanthus blossom. You have to like this aroma and get along well with ambroxan, then you'll be fine with "White Whale".

This smells like the pajama pants girl in high school. Specifically, the “emancipated” pj girl of the late 90’s/00’s. She has her own apartment she shares with her 23 year old boyfriend Dustin, and 2 other people. Permed, crunchy, over-gelled hair, she just washed with herbal essence or salon selectives. Doused in some fruity drugstore stinker knock off spray (Victoria’s secret Love Spell, if Dustin received his tax check). All of this muted by the intense stale scent of Marlboro Reds. She drives a red ford escort. Tribal butterfly steering wheel cover. Glade gel vent air fresheners. Of course she gets a discount on all this at her part time job at AutoZone. It’s so beautiful.

I find this incredibly complex, deep, multi-faceted and unique. It doesn't feel marine or aquatic to me. The pepper at the first spray is an attention getter with something slightly indolic lurking behind it, which may be the olibanum and osmanthus rising from the depths. It slowly evolves into a beautiful combination of ambergris (green with violets) and labdanum - smooth as a becalmed vessel in the immensity of the ocean. I love it, there is nothing close to it and for me it is imminently wearable year round. The ambergris stays on my skin for 24 hours, although after about 10 hours it has become a skin scent. Beautiful, evocative and rare. Yes, I had to buy a full bottle!

An oceanic floral leather. The ocean part is airy, slightly fruity and somewhat melon-like, but no obvious calone note (I really dislike calone). The floral notes are soft, with violet or violet leaf. From start there is a velvety leather/suede running along. It does smell oceany and this is what I hoped Zoologist Seahorse to be but that one turned out too ambery and warm to me. On the feminine side because of the soft florals, but the choice of violets I think makes this possible for men to wear as well.

This is the only marine fragrance I like. At the opening, you can clearly smell the osmanthus, with its almost apricot-like fruity note. Gradually, the fragrance starts to resemble the scent in the air when it begins to rain after a hot sunny day. It evokes a sensation almost like petrichor or geosmin. I love it because it instantly takes me back in my mind to the harbor of Húsavík in Iceland, where I went on a whale-watching tour. Beautiful beyond any technical description.

I sense the whale moving in the ocean. The sea, the ship, flowers on an island or landmass that passes early on in the voyage. One hunts in the darkness of the deeps of the sea, the other in the light of day in the air. The white whale is a white spot in the dark sea, Capt. Ahab the dark spot in the daylight, a perfect set of yin and yang hunters hunting each other round and round.

Salty, sweet, floral, musky, fresh, airy honeydew melons? Violet, olibanum, patchouli, and osmanthus is prominent. Quite feminine. Smells like a rainforest and also a beach. Beautifully blended. Good sillage and performance. I do not like marine fragrances and I find this very approachable. I like this a lot.

I keep White Whale on a heavy rotation. Usually, I notice people hovering around me whenever I wear her. She's vintage, mysterious, salt-drenched, and unique.

Nightmares are NOTHING in the face of White Whale... Briney violets conjuring a gray sea, salty sea wind stings your face with undeniable life.

smoking menthols at a gas station

Masque close their Opera collection with a tribute to Moby Dick, somewhat surprising but probably my favourite from the line. Summery, marine cool and woody-mineral. Aromatic, almost calone-like with a green-tinged freshness to it and a hint of fruit. Salt, cedar and the other woods lead, all very well blended (despite the blurb saying roughness was the intention). Pepper, wormwood and osmanthus are the accents, softened with a little iris and oakmoss. The ambergris is an accord, more of a modern interpretation than an imitation, using ambroxan and labdanum. The violet note comes through more clearly on skin along with smoke from the incense. Ultimately the osmanthus hovering lightly behind it all makes it a fraction too fruity for me to wear as a summertime aromatic. Interesting though. I'd like to smell it again sometime.

Dear reader: Immediately scroll all the way down to AllyBenedyk's review and read that. That's exactly what this smells like and all you need to know about White Whale. I literally keep forgetting that this was supposed to be a marine Moby Dick reference because her concept is so much better and more accurate. Best review on this website. I actually can't figure out if I like this, but I bought a 10ml decant to try and figure it out. It's like how I feel about olives - when I start eating them, I'm like ew, David, what is this. But then I need to eat more to figure out what my taste buds are really feeling. Other people getting a whiff of my scent bubble probably think I've been vaping or something. White Whale

White Whale by Masque Milano is a marine fragrance crafted with excellent materials and a thoughtful composition. Its marine quality feels authentic, built on the sensation of seawater, ambergris, and salt, rather than relying on calone or ambroxan. The fragrance achieves depth through rich woods, a cold sharpness with violet and vetiver, and a powdery softness from violet and orris. The saltiness is pronounced, evoking the intensity of a strong ocean wind. It smells romantic, like standing before the vast ocean—its immensity dwarfing human scale and evoking a profound sense of awe and emotional intensity.

Very interesting, and melancholic. The flowers and woods are muted and staying in the background of slightly calone-like sea smell and salty ambergris. The opening is quite sharp with the ozonic notes, but that is probably necessary to get them last until the stunning later phases where the oceanic, floral and woody notes live in perfect harmony. I like to wear this in warm weather, and it might sometimes feel a little thin in colder weather. The sillage is actually strong, but you go nose blind with this fast. The bottle and atomizer quality is one of the best I've seen.

This is the summer scent I've been waiting to find! I fell in love with this immediately, but I can't exactly pinpoint why. I think it's the petrichor accord combined with the osmanthus, it truly strikes something within me.The ambergris is why I wanted to try this (since it is one of my absolute fav notes), and I am so glad I did. To me, it's a beautiful and addicting unisex scent with summer brightness, but it also has some darkness to it. You cannot appreciate light without the shadows.

I've sought an ideal petrichor scent high and low, and this is my front-runner. Abergris and honeydew forward. That "rope" note. Ocean air- salty, but not seaweedy. Clean, but not soapy. MM has impressed me with the sweet-powdery tension found in Lost Alice, and they do an excellent job here balancing the notes in this unisex Atlantic ocean fragrance. I would wear this on New England holiday, wearing a cotton shirt, walking along a boardwalk.

White Whale starts off with a big blast of tart melon, transforms into salty florals in the mid, and only becomes aquatic woody in the deep drydown. This is more floral-fruity than aquatic. It's bright, fresh, optimism in a bottle. It is very youthful, honestly I think teenage girls will enjoy this scent. I like it, but as a 30+ man, it doesn't really match the vibe.

An oceanic, aldehydic floral (mostly violet) that suffers from a lack of basenotes and/or woods. Possibly resin. I mean, I can smell traces of frankincense in there, ever so faint, but this is all top, and to my mind at least, it feels incomplete. It works well as a minor accord in a scent, but it just feels a little lacking for mine...