Golden Gai

Sweet berries, syrupy liqueur, dry tobacco in the background - all well-blended. I only smell the 'spice notes' listed here within the first 10 seconds and then they vanish. There is also a faint vanilla in the backdrop, mixed in with the booze and Chambord berries. It smells luxurious and expensive, and also perfectly unisex. This is amazing for a fall or winter evening event, something not too casual but not too dressed up: a birthday dinner, a night on the town, or a New Year's Eve party at a friend's. Golden Gai is a standout from the line and a true masterpiece. The geniousness is in the way this was made: tincturing tobacco in Chambord until it becomes an absolute. Matt, you are a madman and I like it! Notes according to my nose: Chambord (sweet berries & booze), vanilla, tobacco, fruit, rose Notes according to my bottle: top - blackberries, rum; middle - Chambord liqueur, blueberries, red wine; base - pipe tobacco *Update: 1 month later and I am still in love. Definitely a must-have unisex tobacco!*

This is an exceptional scent: its probably the nicest tobacco fragrance I've smelled - certainly the most unique and best blended - but with a lot more to it than tobacco. As Enigmatic said, the spices are an upfront hit but quickly fade to the background (they don't completely disappear on me), leaving the liqueur, tobacco, and a perfect mix of vanilla, woods and, to me, a good amount of rose. The rose, and the general softness of the blending, make this a unisex fragrance; women would have no problem wearing this in most evening settings. It's definitely a fall and winter one, or on cooler spring evenings. Best at night I think: the liqueur note might be a bit much first thing in the morning. I want to try more from Meleg, given how wonderful this one is! Highly recommended.

A very leafy, green tobacco. More herbal than sweet. Aromatic liquor, very smooth; not harsh. I usually hate tobacco and boozy scents. But this is a masterpiece! I love it! It has nothing to do with cloying, sweet tobacco. Completely different than Spicebomb or other designer fragrances. Golden Gai has actual tobacco tincture, so according to Meleg he does not recommend to be sprayed on the skin. But I am a rebel, so... I did feel a slight kick when spraying it; a very mild rush. It could be my imagination. Just be mindful if you are sensitive to tobacco or do not like nicotine. For me this added even more magic to the experience. Golden Gai may not be a safe blind buy because it is so different to the idea people have of tobacco and whiskey scents. Buy the samples first!

Golden Gai is so very delicious. I must admit that I am still relatively new to the body fragrance world, but I got this perfume as part of a sample package from Meleg Perfumes and it is simply yummy. In my opinion, it is perfectly unisex; I have absolutely no problem wearing it as a younger female, and I’ve gotten a number of compliments from people about how good it smells. I actually personally get a lot of apricot from this perfume; like a very sweet, jammy, boozy apricot (noting that there is apricot accord in there) and it’s just divine. I’d definitely recommend people try a sample set from the brand to see if this might be a good fit for you!

Golden Gai is soooo good & really doesn't remind me of much else on the market. If you like the idea of boozy scents but find most not very wearable, or if you just love tobacco scents with a creative twist, this really is a must-try. The Chambord/Tobacco tincture is the business here. Performance is solid & the scent is pretty killer, with fruity tobacco nuances throughout the wear. Calaj's The Last PH would be the closest scent that comes to mind & both are nice, but Golden Gai's berry-fruitiness gives it the slight edge between them, IMO. Definitely worth sampling & will turn into a full bottle for many who do.

Thanks to MrSmelly1977 I discovered Matthew's creation and purchased Golden Gai as well as Meleg Fougere. Golden Gai smells a-ma-zing -- even if I cannot pick all the notes in that fragrance I can say it's an incredible creation from Matthew. 9.5/10

Pipe tobacco, syrupy liqueur and cedar. Very smooth. My favorite from the line. Looking forward to trying Cherry and Horus!

The overall impression here is sweet, boozy, and fruity, with a supple, vaguely mentholated tobacco note at its core. All together, Golden Gai has an ultra-smooth, malleable texture that reminds me of a combination of cherry cough syrup, buttery leather, and Silly Putty. That doesn't sound like a winning combination, but there's something about it that I find distinctly addictive and hard to pin down. It's like it's been paused in the middle of phase-shifting between natural and synthetic, cozy and kinky, mellow and medicinal. It's reading a Robertson Davies novel at a sex club. It's latex paired with corduroy. It's finding your favoring cherry-cola Lip Smacker from when you were eleven and wearing it to a techno rave.

Quite the spicy tabacco scent. The liquor notes add a warm accord to it that makes it ideal for the colder seasons, it leans more masculine so I layer it with more girly sweet perfumes to balance it out. theres a subtle green accord and sweet accord that crawls through though I wish they were more prominent. A very herbal drydown that I am still unsure about, I like this scent but not something I reach for.

Opens sweet boozy with some spices and I get some kind of anise in this like I did a bit in the kyoto incense, which doesn't seem to agree with me. I don't get too much of the wormwood as is noted, maybe a little, which along with that anise thing I guess supposed to be giving off an abinsthe accord? I thought I'd really like this going off the notes but I'm not feeling it personally, it's like some wine and anise cocktail I wouldn't want to drink.

Strong stuff, but definitely packs a punch. All booziness with a lot of berries. It is honestly too much for my nose and gives me a headache from 1 small decant spray. Pass for me.

This is a beautifully blended classic masculine fragrance along the lines of Old Spice but with gorgeous materials that elevate it above and beyond anything you might find in a shop. I’ve got the sample set from this house and so far I have been blown away by both the quality of the materials and the exquisite blending. The fragrances are very wearable and beautiful and the generous use of rare animalics, precious woods and IFRA banned muscs make this line a “must try” among indie perfumeries but also a monument to all that has been lost in modern perfumery.

I generally jump at the chance to support a small Canadian house but Meleg has always turned me away. The misspelled product briefs, the cats in the living room where perfumes were originally mixed, the guy who was run out of Basenotes for harassing people online. BTW, Golden Gai for those who haven't been, is a seedy, potentially dangerous area in Shinjuku-Tokyo that attracts mostly weird Hipster tourists, not surprising Meleg has such fond memories. The Japanese stay far away from the area except for the unfortunate bar owners serving these people.

Walking down a South Philadelphia street on a cold windy day. Paperboy hat, pinky ring and snake skin boots. Passerbys catching a boozy sillage, and the only thing they can say is " that dude is a Golden Guy!"

Similar to Xerjoff Naxos, but doesn’t have the honey so slightly bit less sweet. The tobacco note in the drydown is nearly identical. Nothing groundbreaking or mindblowing. Just a nice tabacco scent.