Inverness

If you’re looking for a straight up unisex woody fragrance that’s got a buttery orris, but never lipsticky or too powdery or too sweet, I implore you to get a sample of Inverness. Think Le Labo Gaiac 10 but denser and textured, almost velvety. Wood forward with a gentle smokiness and warmth. My favorites to layer it with are Gaiac 10 or for more vanilla and iris, Iris Malikhan. Beautiful on its own though. Inverness is for those who like sandalwood, iris/orris, and a soft smoke from guaiacwood. And just to clarify nothing it’s nothing like Santal 33 or Dior Homme Intense. If you like fragrances such as Gaiac 10 or Prada L’Homme, you’ll probably appreciate the simplicity and beauty of Inverness. Perfumer Nadege La Garlantezec Official notes: Top: french orris butter, Mate absolute Heart: Australian Sandalwood essence, Amyris essence Base: Cedarwood essence, Guaiac wood essence from Atlas Mountains of Texas

OH. MY. GOODNESS. If my early blind-buy purchases this month are any indication of how the rest of 2024 will be, then I will be the luckiest person in the world!!! Inverness...this is THE sandalwood fragrance for me! Yes, it somewhat resembles Gris Charnel, BUT, if you replaced the fig with a heaping dose of Iris (and a well-done one at that), and eliminated the cardamom and dialed up the sandalwood, then you would have Inverness. There's a very soft, powdery floral aspect that runs through this fragrance, too. Sorry Sherwood, but Inverness is the star of this sandalwood show! This fragrance has one of the most alluring sillages' that I've had the pleasure of smelling. And the longevity is out of this world ---to the point that even after I showered, I could still smell it on my skin. The bottle is stunning as well. An amazing blind-buy success!!!!

Wow! I see I am not the only one who is thrilled with a lucky blind buy (not something that usually works out well for me). This fragrances is everything I want. It's woody and slightly powdery. It feels light but substantial and just spicy enough. The longevity is fine and I love the way it reacts on skin - this warm, coziness, a feeling of calm. The wood notes are realistic and natural. I thought I detected the tell-tale sign of ambroxan but I am not sure if it was used in Inverness. If it was, it was used at a quantity to not bother me or make my nose itch (as it does). The only downside to this fragrance is the bottle - I agree that it seems to reference Burberry. It has a distinct tartan pattern and the plate gives an expensive look but I don't love the design. But who cares! This juice is amazing.

I totally agree with one of the other commentors here as Santal 33 came to mind because of it's image and aura and well...I really don't like Santal 33, which is a shame but I just think it's a bit harsh. I'm not saying this is trying to be that fragrance but this is far better. Smoother and a bit more complex, if that's a basic way of describing it. Not harsh and really great wearing this whilst walking around a park on an autumn day, maybe just wearing a grey polo neck if you like that sort of thing with brown trousers and Chelsea boots and a scarf. I'm no poet but I think you catch my drift. If you do go to Inverness in autumn or winter there is a high chance that you will experience the fog, possibly the rain and the cool mist, which is absolutely the perfect weather to be wearing this fragrance.

This was probably my most exciting blind-buy of Winter. While there are vague similarities to Gris Charnel, my opinion is that the only thing Gris Charnel does better is longevity/projection. There’s a deeper sandalwood and iris here. This scent is warmer, cozier, and infinitely less synthetic. Very moreish, very mysterious. I can’t seem to get enough of this, which is worrisome because whenever I fall for a scent, it ends up being discontinued. What I did find problematic was that upon first usage, I was not transported back to 18th century Scotland and into the arms of a handsome highlander. This was somewhat of a disappointment, and for the price tag, Memo could’ve gone the extra mile.

This was love at first sniff. Very cosy, lovely, confortable. Creamy, woody, earthy. I’m definitely travel in Scotland when i smell it! This will be very nice in cold weather. Now for this begging hot autumn, Inverness is nice too, but this winter it will be perfect for me. In my skin the longevity is very nice, many hours at least. In comparaison with other santal perfumes like santal calling, Inverness is more strong, powdery, earthy and creamy. I was searching for a good sandalwood, i think this is it! Immediately add in my Christmas wishlist!!! Edit : hooray I have it. Very cosy in this cold weather. It last all day! I am in so happy!

Amazing! Starts like it will be a weak scent but it develops beautifully in this creamy, slightly sweet warmth sandalwood, that I can smell projecting no me 6+ hours, close to the skin like 10+ and I can still get a hint from my hair the next morning at the shower... dry down it’s almost like salted vanilla, super pretty and unisex. I have a sample from gris charnel but I’m glad I didn’t get it, it’s a good scent but it has something that I find not smooth enough, it’s too strong, it gave me headaches and this is what I was hoping GCh to be like. Lovely, signature scent worthy and currently my autumn 🍂 fragrance 10/10

Oh my gosh, why does no one talk about this? Inverness is a stunning perfume! An ideal blend of woods, iris/orris, and although not listed I also detect a slight lactonic muskiness. I don’t pick up on any barbecue, but then again I enjoy guaiac wood, cedar, and sandalwood when done well. I don’t think Inverness smells particularly similar to Gris Charnel, which I am not fond of. It’s much closer to Piano Santal, Milky Musk 39, Santal Carmin, and Sandalwood Temple. Soft, cozy, huggable, comfort in a bottle. I snagged the older bottle with blue tartan and it’s a beaut.

I'm going to need to give this another test on skin. Orris and Sandalwood are there but there is a sort of burnt/charred note present throughout the entire wear. I'm wondering if that's the guaiac wood? Not sure. At first it bothered me but after a while I found it really interesting and mysterious. EDIT: On a second try I appreciate it even more. The smokey note is no longer dominating but complementing. It's an earthier iris instead of a lipstick/creaming soda iris. Wondering whether to buy this while the original bottle exists or wait for the new design.

I am desperate to try Inverness. Apparently it has more sandalwood than Sherwood has. I own a FB of Sherwood and love it so much. Blind buy is no no for me. Might have to order a sample directly from Memo first. Can anyone compare the two please ? Got the sample and YES, it is amazing. Very unisex. Creamy, comforting, addictive super luxurious. If I could compare Inverness with Sherwood I would say Inverness is more woody and Sherwood is sweeter. (I won’t be able to breakdown the notes )

To me, this initially smells like fresh, green moss in a wooded area just beside a cliff in the highlands, the cool, moist air blowing through the grass. The ruins of an ancient church, an old church pew... and then the dry-down is creamy sandalwood, palo santo, and a tiny bit of cedar. A surprisingly sweet ending. I love what the opening evokes. It makes me feel alive yet still, strong yet peaceful. It fades into something much softer, which I enjoy, but I don’t fully understand.

I've snagged a tester for this for a great price but it hasn't got a lid. Anybody got a Memo Paris lid to sell? EDIT: My bottle arrived and it's so special. The bottle looks amazing (older blue/gold style). There is just a bit of smoke to it, but very wearable; like walking into a home that burns incense regularly. Or the presence of a distant bushfire. The iris is as elegant as always, without any kind of sweetness. Very smooth, woody, and calming.

My new favourite! I didn't like it when I first received it (it was a blind buy), but after wearing it to work for a full day, I am now a huge fan. I was worried that its sillage would be too strong for the office, but I received an immediate compliment, which put me at ease. I'm seven hours in now and can still smell it in the air as well as on my skin from about 10 sprays. I will be thrashing this one from here on in.

I'm absolutely obsessed with this scent and it's become a new favourite of mine. It is heavy, complex, with a strong opening and a drydown that retains its depth! A masculine leaning unisex scent, lasts about half a day for me with decent sillage.

If Gris Charnel and By the Fireplace had a baby, it would be Inverness. Not as smoky as BTF and no fig from GC, but still smooth and creamy, without being overly sweet. Elegant and cosy. More of a colder weather perfume and unisex. Love!

I really appreciate it, very long lasting, unisex , fresh but mysterious. If you layer this with buddha blend (liquides imaginaires) ... last at least one week on clothes.. and smells like Lost alice but better ..

9/10. Reminds me of Santal 33 but more complex and richer and heavier which I vibe w no cap. Smells very woody and just nice hard to describe fam love this one.

This is a quietly amazing and modern sandalwood that will likely become a very popular fragrance. It's a Memo Le Labo. Smells great in extreme heat.

i love this, so powdery, creamy , woody . it smells like a warm hug in the sweater you love . it’s definitely cozy and definitely on my wish list

Finally got a full bottle of this beautiful take on sandalwood. Very creamy and comforting . Perfect for the ‘autumny’ weather approaching.

This a magnificent blend of sandalwood and cedar. Creamy, comforting scent that lasts really long. Sandalwood lovers you must try this one

Smells like agarwood incense, smooth and comforting

Enbalm me with this if I die, tia

It seems the majority of sandalwood fragrances on the market today, are some variation of orris/ iris/carrot, maybe a bit of tea or cosmetic blend & of course some woody notes. Is it me or.... we can do better right? Some of us already have our orris/iris holy grail & now we're looking for the sandalwood equivalent. Not exact replica. We already have phenomenal iris /orris frags. Now let sandalwood blow us away in the same sense. Could we do this, please? ETA: I think I was a bit harsh on this composition the first time around. It's been sitting for a couple of months. I'm finding appealing & endearing qualities now. Still remains prominent orris & the other notes I mentioned above. However, I'm simply enjoying it more now. I believe I can even discern a light, semi creamy, semi powdery sandalwood peaking through. ETA: I bought it. Feel it's worth it now

What a pointless release. The mate-orris blend in Inverness is the iris equivalent in most sandalwood-iris scents. To me, it's some Gris Charnel with some Tam Dao. I think it's eerily close to if Gris Charnel Extrait had no cardamom & had a more prominent orris note. Spring-fall aromatic. But where's the value proposition at €230 for 100ml vs. you can get the unduped scent for €245 if I remember correctly? Scent itself is good, 8/10. Just lacks originality, no performance upside either (I agree with amanda0727 - it feels like this dies off fast, intimate-to-moderate sillage within 1-1.5h?)

I am testing this scent from Memo Paris official sample. It is a very soft, creamy, powdery-woody scent. Very refined and smooth, enjoyable, a unisex that is leaning ever so slightly feminine. The projection is moderate at best. From what I can remember this smells similar to Sacred Wood from Killian (take this with a grain of salt as I have not smelled this perfume in a while). It is also similar to Sherwood from Memo, but without the rose opening of the Sherwood.

Testing from a very small sample... applied on skin this starts with Gris Charnel and dries down to Sacred Wood. Extremely weak, I have to look for it and sniff around the area where I applied it to smell something. Maybe it's the limited size sample but I'm really disappointed in this. I love the scent profile and I really wanted to buy it but NOT when it's this light :(

On me this smells almost exactly like Parisian Musc. Notes are completely different but both smell green, fig, creamy with sandalwood. Quality is comparable, both have a good longevity and sillage on me. You could also see this as an easier on the nose version of Santal 33, although the similarity is not near as close as Parisian Musc. Nice for spring/autumn.

Iverness is to me a great fall scent. The scent is almost like a texture, discreet and fluffy. Starts off a bit masculine but it gets almost sweeter with some time on the skin and dries down to a true unisex scent. Very earthy, woody and powdery. I agree with the comparisons to Gris Charnel - but this one is better without the exaggarated cardamom note.

I've been craving a woody perfume for fall/winter and I'm trying to decide between this and Super Cedar from Byredo. This one is a very creamy soft sandalwood, really lovely! Love the bottle design, with that tartan pattern, and love the name; I love all things scottish.

As many have mentioned, definitely brings Santal 33 to mind. I was never a big fan of that one, it felt a bit too dry and harsh on my skin. Inverness is creamier, smoother, and much more wearable.

It instantly reminds me of Le Labo Santal 33, but Inverness is deeper, woodier, and heavier. Easy on the sprays if wearing to office or daytime.

very soft sandalwood, woody, and aromatic, slightly creamy and powdery. suitable for use at any time

Winter sandalwood, unisex. Dry & woody with a nice balance of sweetness, 8/10

cashmere sweater perfume. birthday present for my best friend(:

A quite basic (dare I say boring) sandalwood fragrance. The very prominent sandalwood gets an extra hit of creaminess/powderiness from the orris. I get very little to none of the mate, amyris, or guaiac. After smelling a few of the other fragrances from this house (which were incredible) I was left a bit underwhelmed by the scent of this one. Performance, on the other hand, is phenomenal. Lasted me all day and projected for most of that time!

This was a blind buy for me and I am regretting a bit. I was not expecting sweet and this is not sweet, but on my skin I get no iris—just creamy guiac and woods, amber. I was really hoping for a little more complexity. This is no spice, nothing remotely aromatic. I am hoping it wakes up a bit on my husband’s skin. As it is, this is just Commodity Gold with better performance, in my opinion, and I really disliked that one—oh well.

I can't smell anything....just very very faint woodiness that is slightly sweet...pass. Update: Gave a full wear (emptied my 2ml sample), and my conclusion is that this is a sandalwood dominant scent with some mate and only light hints of iris, and has a subtle scent profile that is very pleasant. Longevity is excellent, I can still smell it after 5 hours. Upgraded to like but not love.

Immediately reminded me of Molecule 01 + Guaiac and not in a good way. In the way that I thought of bacon or some other smoked meat. It does dry down to something less meaty and more sandalwood with a bit of iris but I would honestly just reach for Gris Charnel (or almost any of its dupes) over this if you like that kind of profile.

The bottle... I cant avoid mentioning that it reminds me of Burberry fragrances. Havent they thought about that, before choosing that print for the bottle design? i understand the meaning and idea, but the association is very instant to Burberry fashion house fragrance, i cant help it.

It's available in London already. Very beautiful perfume, creamy sandalwood with powdery iris, its cosy, it pleasant, somehow not sweet which I appreciate.

Creamy smokey sandalwood with a buttery smooth texture. Great scent, garbage performance.

I tested this in a department store and bought it a few hours later. It is one of the most expensive perfumes I have ever bought, on a per ml basis! But it’s amazing and worth it, like being wrapped in luxurious cashmere or silk (works for both winter and summer). On first spritz there is a definite cool, dark green, dewy mossiness to the composition which does conjure up the Highlands. The iris adds an elegance and touch of sweetness before the scent settles, to my nose anyway, down to something very close to actual mysore sandalwood oil. Which makes this quite a bargain. Husband loves it too. Sillage is probably intimate, staying power moderate.

Inverness is a city of Scotland: surrounded by nature, near Lake Ness, with Cawdor Castle: this beautiful castle,linked to the events of Shakespeare's Macbeth. A fragrance that in my opinion goes a little outside the olfactory signature of Memo but which I found wonderful: on the other hand the sandalwood / Iris mix could not leave me indifferent. She is comfortable, warm, delicate, elegant. It ended up on the wishlist. Ideal for the colder seasons, a real cuddle with a fairytale character. “There is no night so long that there is no hope of morning” “Macbeth and the Witches” painted by L. Michel Eilshemius.

Green, rich and happy. This is no melancholy moor. The opening evolves rapidly. It opens with a very damp, foggy mossy note which quickly turns to a fresh woodiness ranging from the citrusy, pine resiny amyris to perfumey sandalwood to just-ripped bark. This is prevented from smelling like car freshener by the tempering peaty effect of mate, finally used in the correct place (see The Moon and I by Floraiku for the incorrect place). The overall effect is William Tell, the cartoon.

This was a blind buy fail. . I feel like I've smelt this DNA so many times. A Sandalwood Iris that has those coconut / lavender nuances which i suspect is from synthetic qualities. I was hoping for a woody fragrance that would be soft, powdery and enveloping, based on other reviews, so could be my skin. But this ended up like a scratchy fabric detergent musky scent with those undesirable Sandalwood qualities. Really dry and not nicely finished. Unfortunately a big no for me

I have tried 5 of the 'similar' perfumes and they are all substantially different. The collective's opinions are not to be trusted. Then again, if you already have a creamy, musky sandalwood in your collection this may be redundant. Don't let the similarities stop you from trying this though. I would still say the maté and amyris combo is a unique, pleasant scent.

Just sprayed this at Niemans and loved at first sniff but couldn’t figure out what it reminded me of...sprayed on my arm and now it hits me this is literally The Matcha by Le Labo...if you love that you’ll love this...if this has stronger performance id get it cause Le Labo is so weak on me.

Haunting perfume. Absolute perfection. I’ve never been to Inverness, but this takes me straight to the fog-covered northwest coast of California. I smell the cedar groves behind me as I look out on the dark ocean. I sense the smell of a smoky campfire in the distance. Absolute stunner.

If you like gris charnel but you hate fig get this. It is basically less feminine, complex version of gris charnel. More concentrated about sandalwood and iris. If gris charnel is warm and cozy, this is comforting however more crisp and cold somehow. Nice scent regardless.