Grand Master

I went into Neimans and was excited to see that they have this collection- probably saved me needless blind buys- even decants and samples can get crazy, let’s be honest. When you think you need to smell all of the things like myself, and I’m sure alot of us do. So I tested two Mind Games fragrances first that I’d heard some positive things about (castling and Caissi). Castling was forgettable, I can’t comment on that one-because it was just not memorable enough from that one sniff, and Caissi was a really pretty, sweet feminine leaning scent- but nothing unique to my nose and not my style. The woman did spray Caissi on my hand before I could stop her- so I actually had some time with that one that I didn’t care to have- but it is pretty. All of the others in the Mind Games line that I was interested in trying leaped straight off my radar once I put my nose to Grand Master. I do wish I’d remembered to smell double attack and J’adoube, but, the discovery of Grand Master trumped the rest. It’s a fragrance I would LOVE to add to my little lineup of coffee dominate fragrances. It will definitely be the most sophisticated of the ones I own already. -I am picky as well, btw. I’ve tested, blind bought and sold hundreds of frags at this point, but I do sell them if they aren’t absolutely something I love and will wear. I don’t own a massive amount of fragrances, so, just a like will not stay with me. It has to be really good and worth the money. Anyway, so...standing at the counter by the Mind Games lineup, after smelling Castling and Caissi, I asked the woman assisting me to break down the fragrance families-basic notes in each bottle so I didn’t sniff myself into a nose coma, and the first one mentioned was the coffee note in Grand Master. So I smelled it, and proceeded to spray both wrists and one hand and tested the other scents no further. It was a love at first sniff for me. No weird opening, or an opening you have to let calm down, or settle or wait for a dry down. It’s just Immediately really really good and it stays good. I wore it around for an hour or so and then went back and sprayed more. ***For reference, I absolutely love coffee in a fragrance, even strong coffee notes. Ristretto intense cafe, coffee addict, Black phantom to name a few that I own and love. However, the coffee in Akro Awake, for instance, on first spray and opening I thought I’d found the most amazing coffee frag, but it turned WAY HEAVY quick. The amazing, wonderful realistic black coffee in that first burst from the atomizer, was almost immediately swallowed up completely by REALLY STRONG, in your face, screechy loud notes of CARDAMOM AND VETIVER, like, just swallowed it whole and then there was no trace left of the mastery in the opening. Another giant, sad, hell naw for me. Another “coffee”fragrance I just couldn’t get with was Delox by Tiziana Terenzi. I blind bought a bottle, and to my disappointment, it was a shitty version of roses vanille by Mancera that smelled strongly of alcohol throughout the wear, not the good boozy kind of alcohol- rubbing alcohol. I couldn’t smell any coffee at all in that one either. I like the smell of certain incense too, but generally incense in a fragrance has been a fail for me. I remember really liking vanille incensee? by Atelier, but it was gone the minute it hit the air. I thought I loved BABYCAT by YSL, tried a few times with that one, and it’s absolutely beautiful, but the incense would come out after awhile and punch me in the stomach. However, the incense in Grand Master is light and fluffy and blended amazingly, not in your face. Personally, I love the rose in montale and Mancera’s roses vanille, ristretto intense cafe, etc. but I like it best blended with coffee, and I recognize it may be too sweet for some people. The rose in Grand Master is sweet, but not overly sweet, or as heavy or sweet as the afore mentioned. It has a lightness to it due to the composition and other supporting notes.*** I own Black Phantom, and love that one, but just wear it every once and awhile at very specific times because it’s strong and deep and heavy. Black Phantom is slightly masculine leaning in my opinion, and the two are nothing alike, aside from maybe sharing a taste category vibe. Grand Master is much lighter, softer and exudes a more sophisticated vibe to me. Grand Master puts you in more of a scent cloud where as Black Phantom is more of a scent bomb. Grand Master is way more versatile, but in my opinion, much classier smelling than Black Phantom.I think it’s blended to perfection. -All of this to say, Grand Master is definitely BEAUTIFUL. I think it’s unisex straight down the middle. I would imagine that on a man’s skin, different notes may present differently, but on my skin this was my experience. The rose in this fragrance is present, and slightly sweet but not overly sweet. Then the coffee, is just as present, if not more present than the rose, but it’s a nice, smooth, very slightly sweet kind of coffee note. When I read the previous reviewer say the note is Kona coffee, that totally makes sense. Kona coffee has a less bitter, more smooth smell and taste than a lot of other coffee notes. The incense is also very soft in this composition. It’s not too strong at all and just adds something wonderful to the rose and coffee notes. The violet is SO slight. This is not real powdery to my nose at all. It’s a supporting note that works so well with all of the other notes. I think the myrrh, incense, and violet are just beautifully blended- light, well rounded, and supporting and blending really well the top notes of rose and coffee, with the benzoin playing a nice role there too. I wouldn’t have said there was a wood note without looking at the note breakdown. I also wouldn’t have called out peony or black currant, I can’t smell any of those notes in particular, because it’s just so well blended that the notes all create Grand Master, so instead of being able to pick out all of the notes- they seem to meld together and make their own scent profile that you can’t completely pick apart. I have no idea what panettone is, so. There’s that. 😬The only concerning thing I have to say, is that I couldn’t smell it after a little while. That’s why I went back for more. Given the situation, my nose could have been a little tired-although I really didn’t overdo too much that day. I’m not sure if it’s not long lasting, or if I just couldn’t smell it on myself after a certain amount of time, but it was still there. For this reason, I’ve ordered a decant, that is on its way to me now, to really give it a true wearing away from all If the other smells- because the price tag on this is hard to justify at all even if it had amazing longevity, it will hurt a little when that transaction happens- if the juice has decent lasting power, I’ll be adding a FB one day for sure. I’ll try to remember and update after I have a good wear of it, but..... ⭐️man I loved what I smelled that day. Sophisticated, elevated wonderfully blended, versatile straight down the middle, unisex cloud of coffee rose incense violet goodness with a sick bottle to match. Not offensive, no sharp or sour notes, nothing screechy, not overly powdery, not overly sweet, not heavy either. If there can be a sexy coffee fragrance, this is probably it. Fingers crossed my next wear test will prove this to be at least decent on longevity. Sorry about all the rambling...🤞🏼

I'm really excited about this one because it's one of my very favorite scents I've tried recently (I've tried probably (20+). It's also my favorite one from the brand. I went to Neimann Marcus and was elated to find out that they had testers of Mind Games - the brand that I have seen online (I'm not blind buying a $500 discovery set...). I was eager to test all scents and I wasn't disappointed. Grand Master is the scent I would consider getting a full bottle of because how good and versatile it is. However, I didn't like it immediately after I sprayed it. I had to give it +1h to dry down. How does it smell? It's a perfect blend of smooth, deep wood, coffee and rose with a hint of incense. Slightly earthy and smoky. No note stands out. Fragrantica mentions 'fruity' as the main accord, but it's far from my idea of a fruity fragrance. Grand Master is nothing sweet, cloying or mainstream. Nothing obnoxious or heavy. It doesn't remind of anything else, but if I *had to* categorize it, I'd put it in the same category as Cafe Tuberosa by Atelier Cologne or Intense Cafe by Montale. This fragrance will increase your benchmark of a great, non-sweet coffee scent - it's superb. I imagine an accomplished, confident, calm, intellectual, well-mannered, elegant adult wearing this scent. It makes one feel powerful and elevated. Unisex. Overall, it's an amazing fragrance. I can't get enough of it. It's mesmerizing. I could wear it all day and night, and for any occasion when I want to project competence, a bit of mystery and sophistication. I have nothing negative to say about this scent. Masterpiece. It's a shame that the perfumer behind this fragrance wasn't mentioned by Fragrantica. EDIT: it looks like Fragrantica adjusts the 'main accords' pyramid based on people's votes. The "fruity" accord is not on the top anymore.

8.6/10 in my personal opinion, very high considering I don't typically like resins. On the opening, I get a very soft and sweet Black Currant, and for me it seems to be the star of the show for the first 10 or so minutes. This is my favorite Black Currant opening of all time. The black currant is supported by rose and peony, and is very beautiful and sophisticated, similar to nothing I've tried yet. I personally do not get any coffee at all during the transition, and the transition takes quite a while for the base notes to fully develop, it almost feels like there's two sets of base notes. Towards the beginning of the base notes, I get a combination of roses, incense, and a tiny hint of violet as well as resin. Towards the end of the base notes, I get a lot of Pannetone, Ebony, and slightly softer resins. This is a very specialized scent in my opinion, they stuck to a very specific vision and they managed to accomplish it near perfectly, and I do like the creative touches they put with the pannetone and the transition complexity. I could definitely see this being someone's signature scent, and I personally find it quite unisex. Lasts quite a long time for a typical Mind Games fragrance.

I’m surprised this fragrance isn’t rated higher. In my humble opinion, it is a masterpiece. I don’t have very many coffee inspired fragrances. This is a very unique masculine leaning rose and coffee scent. It’s blended extremely well and literally takes you on a journey as it flows from top notes to the base. In the beginning you get one of the most photorealistic rose notes I’ve ever come across. The rose is coupled with a slightly creamy Kona coffee note. Towards the mid you begin to smell the myrrh and incense, which gives it a sexy and slightly smoky smell. All through the mid you can smell rose, coffee, and incense. This phase is absolutely divine! A few hours later (approx 4 hours) as the fragrance moves towards the base, you are left with mostly incense and myrrh. If you love dark smoky fragrances you’ll love this one. Most people will probably say this is best suited for cold weather and formal occasions. I say life is too short to limit fragrances you love to a specific occasion or season. Personally, I’ll wear this all year around, from casual to formal occasions. For me, it’s a definite 10/10!!!! An absolute game changer.

This house is gorgeous. Grand Master is very rosy, so if you don't like rose scents I'd steer clear. However, it's the most enchanting rose scent. Mixed with just enough heaviness like the coffee and myrrh. The rose definitely is the standout though. But it's hard to give an accurate description because it's just so well blended. I realize that most people will cringe at the price point, but you do get what you pay for. This smells like opulence in a way that similarly priced perfumes such as Delina and BR540 don't quite hit for me. Grand Master is more feminine than Double Attack, but still heavily rooted in the unisex category. It's just beautiful. Pick up the samples at the Mind Games website. All 10 of them go for about $75, but if you just want to sample a few of them, I would recommend Scent Split. They specialize in niche/hard-to-find perfumes