Madeline Peach

As of right now this is probably my favorite Meleg perfume. This has a very old vintage chypre vibe to it, but not in a modern new bottle of Mitsouko way. This smells old, as in aged. I am sure a lot of people will think Mitsouko when reading the notes, however this doesn't have the same C-14 Aldehyde peach smell to it that is fairly identifiable. If it does, it is balanced with something else to give it a much rounder opening than typically found with aldehydes. Through the top notes you definitely get some of the oakmoss that opens up more in the dry-down, however you get a stinkier funk with it, which leads me to believe there's a dose of civet in there. I am not sure how natural all of the ingredients are, however I get the sense there's real civet because it lasts a long time and top notes seamlessly blend with the heart of this fragrance which typically happens with good fixatives like real oakmoss and civet. This is a staple for me and I will always have a bottle as long as Matthew keeps making it.

I am writing the same general review for my favorite Meleg perfumes - Civet Cat Chypre, Birch Tar and Russian Leather, Honey and Deer Musk, Madeline Peach, Oakmoss Forest Florals, and Mushin. I am very particular about perfume, and it is not often that I find something I really love. I expected to really like 1 out of the 10 samples of the sample set I received from Etsy, but there were 6! They are very special - unique, smooth, well blended, interesting, wearable, beautiful, and addictive! Nothing weird or harsh standing out, and nothing like I’ve smelled before out of the over 1000 perfumes I’ve encountered just in the last few years.

Definitely contains real civet. The stinky animal peaks through right away on first blast and stays till the very end, which is almost a day on my skin. I would describe this as a floral civet chypre with lots of vintage florals and very little peach detectable.

There's an opening note I am not familiar with in this fragrance and I'm wondering if it's real civet. I acquired his sample pack from Etsy back in April. It took a few months to arrive, but the perfumer gave me a head's up and quite honestly, it was worth the wait. The peach here isn’t your Colorado Palisades Peach; this is a peach that’s been lolling in velvet sheets on a Sunday morning. It’s borderline overripe and slathered in something naughty. That something, of course, is what I can't put my finger on right now. It's definitely a little musk bomb that says, “I’m not here to please everyone. I’m here to haunt the subconscious." Perhaps it should be called Magdalene instead of Madeline. I expected something lighthearted, maybe juicy, sweet, even a bit feminine and flirty. What I got instead was a fragrance that strutted out of the bottle with all the confidence of a bare-chested 1970s movie star, chest hair scented with real civet and mischief. More Kris Kristofferson than Steve McQueen. It's only been an hour since I spritzed, so time will tell if I feel this fragrance is a statement or a warning. 02.08.26 Update: Wearing this for a second time on Super Bowl Sunday and its richer, more complex character works far better in cooler air than in warmer weather