Gotham

So strange, and so good. If you have the kind of mind that can't read the word Gotham without thinking of Batman, you may not be barking up the wrong tree. To my nose, Gotham opens with a strange, almost ominous cold wet clay note that is shiveringly compelling and makes me think of the Batcave, hiding underground in the wet. Almost immediately it shifts into a leathery, peppery accord that could be Bruce Wayne's discrete personal scent-and then it hits you! Animal raunchiness galore! Batman has been out cattin' tonight, and Selina Kyle, rarified sex incarnate with a whip in her hand and a touch of amber behind her ears, has had her way with him. What will Alfred say?

Right from the first spritz I fell in love with this! It’s sweet and fresh and woody in a truly unique sort of way. It’s like citrus and sugar and freshly cut, sappy pine with just a touch of root beer. To me, this doesn’t smell like a menacing city, especially not one as dark as Gotham, home of Batman. Instead, it smells like a sunny day at a small sawmill in the middle of green fields and living forests. The myrtle provides a strong, camphorous note. It’s evocative, but in a happy way, not a sinister one. It dries down into a beautiful amber scent. Gotham is yet another FB-worthy fragrance from Neil Morris.

Yuzu at the beginning. When it dries down, it projects some amber on my skin, kind of spicy amber,with a hint of rose, which is very beautiful. I can't detect much woody note here. For me, It's great for winter. It's worth saving up for, and It makes me keep sniffing my wrist. That's all I can ask from one perfume I really like it, but I have to wait to see if it likes me :)

Quick update: got home, put on yesterday's nightgown because I Am Too Tired, and it was like I'd reapplied this. I've been wearing Afire today instead but Gotham is apparently superpowered on fabric. That is not a complaint. Anyway, back to the initial review: I'm not big on any kind of animalic notes, but leather is one of the few that I can do. This one wears on me as intense, peppery-spicy leather with a hint of florals, warmed by amber. I can kinda see why it's meant to remind of a muggy night out of season, though the connotations of that word usually aren't good, and I mean it more neutrally. This feels to me like it's been raining, and you've just borrowed a friend's leather jacket that still smells like them, pepper and roses, humid and just slightly damp from the rain where it got around their umbrella. I get less of the yuzu than others-- just a brief burst, and the pepper comes out more on my skin and stays there. Initially on spraying, I found this interesting, and liked it all right, but came to really enjoy it a lot during the dry down, when everything feels warmed and blended together. Although this scent does have something foggy or rainy about it, I think the leather and amber makes it a bit much for anything but cooler weather. You could wear this during the day, but I really think of this as a nighttime scent. I found snuggly, more so after about a half hour, because the spices came out more beneath the leather. Impressions, hm. I don't really get a specific person from this, or something especially evoked outside of like I mentioned about borrowing someone's jacket after it's been a little damp. I feel that this fragrance skews traditionally masculine, but could be worn by anyone regardless, comparable to an actual leather jacket. Likewise, I don't especially get a particular personality evoked. It does feel city rather than rural. As for the name, hm. The obvious reference aside, there IS a bit of grittiness to this in the film sense of the word. Every NM frag I've tried so far has been smooth, not abrasive or sharp. It just has a bit of... I don't know. 3am diner-core, looking out the window at wet asphalt and city lights. It's more fragrant than that, has more added in, but that's what it's giving me. Btw, this stuff is eternal, if just so. I wore it for a few hours, went to bed, woke up to get ready for work, and it was still just a smidge above a skin scent for me. Sillage definitely there, projection's strong. Apply with caution if you're going to be in close, indoor quarters for long periods, unless you know it will be appreciated. That said, I -would- enjoy curling up with someone wearing this. Leather is one of the few animalic scents I can do, and I can be iffy on it. Trust Neil to make something that is LOUDLY leather but still works for me. The next closest leather I can do is Teriaq. I also bought a sample of Fetish though, which is another leather-heavy scent, so I'm eager to compare Gotham with it as I move through trying each one.

Very aldheidic at the beginning, turns out to be a well behaved and balanced Chypre. Warm scent - but absolutely not heavy - It leaves immediately way to powdery notes, this is a rose/violet mixed with labdanum and amber. I think the leather accord is given by the labdnum. It becomes cozy and close to the skin, with a faint peppery note, almost masculine. Staying power is average/low. Do not get the name. Gotham evokes something dark, somber, deep and dangerous... this perfume is perhaps dark and "serious" but not dangerous at all. Not NYC in the least. Probably not the most original Neil Morris (there are more outstanding ones in my opinion), but a lovely fragrance and quite easy to wear.

Good first. Performance is very good, as expected from quality niche perfume. 8/10 in each of performance category. Now bad. Scent 6/10 (for me personally it is 4/10 but some might have better tolerance or less sensitivity to components that puts me off, and it does smell better from far away, like on others when you not getting too close) It was a blind buy based on reviews here, so I bought it when saw it on sale. I wish I would buy sample first. To me it smells like amber, sugar and cat piss scented candle all the way from opening to drydown, with only difference is what dominates in process. Opens like all sugar and cat piss, after amber arrives sugar recedes to background, later candle wax smell comes up, in the end candle wax and amber dominate, but cat piss stays close behind them. I thought it's bad chemistry with my skin. The only difference I smell sprayed on paper is that candle wax scent turns into some kind of mix of dirty leather and roses that should be thrown away week ago, but cat piss firmly holds its position. Somebody here told it is child of Dzing and Desert Marocain, and as much as I love them both, they should never have another child together! Not a safe buy, get tester first! On the 2nd thought, I could be wrong. It is Gotham, so most likely it was a rat piss!

Aggressively animalic, to the point of making me feel sick to my stomach. Whatever else this fragrance may have to offer, I'm not even able to find out.

The opening reminds me of Ysatis for some reason, but I try to avoid top notes anyway, so it's not that much of an issue to me. The drydown is a great "dirty" vanilla. It's more of a blended fragrance, so don't expect to detect a bunch of notes clearly. In some ways, it reminds me of my vintage Tabu, but that one is not leathery like this one. The animalic note here does not have the softness of civet yet it's not as harsh or astringent as castoreum, so I guess that is the ambergris, perhaps combined with leather. For me, it's not up there with the great fragrances of the 1980s, since it lacks complexity and note separation, but it's natural smelling and interesting, while providing a pleasant olfactory experience for a long time (with reasonable projection/"sillage"). If you don't like fragrances that have a "musty or "old lady" quality, don't bother to even sample this one.

A complicated and involved fragrance that hovers somewhere between classic perfumery and the present. Up front is a lightly peppered citrus that recalls masculine aromatics, but it’s paired with a leather and something that reminds me of cardboard (not norlimbanol). These notes converge into a rich, leathery amber that’s warm and evocative, yet also quite dark and moody, calling up images of the underbelly of high society. It does smell a tad home-spun, I suppose, but that’s generally a positive thing in my book as it tends to infer the breaking of rules. Gotham stands alone, perfectly reflecting the city of its namesake in which one can be surrounded by millions of people yet remain totally anonymous.

I have to admit that my knowledge of niche perfumes is very limited and that I came by a bottle of Gotham in a blind swap. I had no idea of what I was getting, but was pleasantly surprised! I had never heard of Neil Harris, but if Gotham is an example of his fragrances, count me in as a true fan! This fragrance lasts and lasts on me-which in itself is miraculous This fragrance is very complex and I enjoyed the full 18 or so hrs. it lasted on me! I am interested in sampling more of this Neil Morris line of fragrances if Gotham is any example of what to expect from him! Definitely happy I have a FB! Had thought I would put this up for swap, but I can't! This one is a keeper!

This is a very complex fragrance that goes on smelling earthy, aldehydic, and very French in feeling. This is a scent for grown-ups, no doubt about it. While I can appreciate the complexity of this fragrance, it doesn't make sense to me, and it doesn't suit me, personally. It doesn't remind me of anything goth, nor does it remind me of Gotham City from Batman, so I don't really get the name. It reminds me of femme fatales from the 40s, and hardcore business women. This could be the scent of the gorgeous, yet semi-evil Lilah from the Angel series! Yes, I could imagine this scent wafting down the hallways at Wolfram & Hart

I strongly suspect that Gotham is the illegitimate child of L'Artisan ́s Dzing! and Tauer`s L'Air du Desert Marocain. It is strong so you better spray in the air and walk trough... It starts off very leathery, dark and with some citrus. After a while it become more and more flowery, but also musky in a very animalic way... I can also smell some resin in it. This is a perfume to put on when you are about to visit a hard rock-or some strange fetish-club... or when you wish you did, but didn ́t dare to... If you have problem with strong and a bit tacky perfumes, you should stay away from this one I guess...

Gotham is the first that i ever tried of neil morris huge collection and i find it extremely intelligent.I bought a full bottle but i feel that i have to the right mood to wear it. Sometimes is magical but sometimes it feels stuffy and menacing. Still puzzling stuff.It starts as a green almost pine-y but sweet citrus and gradually becames one of the most dark gothic ( fantastic name by the way) roses i've ever smelled!Musky and with a spoon of salt.To die for!Aw it dies a strong leather note emerges, very sturdy and rough.This scent is not easy to wear but is at least truly unforgetable

I get a strong strong rose, the one I really love: Not the green one, but the fleshy one, that's abit dirty. To me very rose dominant. As Rose de Nuit is the best rose ever created (for me :)), I really gonna play more with Gotham... maybe this gonna be a FB some day. --- I ordered the samples maybe 4-6 years ago and now I really see, how my nose developed and I am able to appreciate NM frags much more. All the frags I smelled are strong, stinky and really like from a bygone era. Vintage lovers should look deeper into Neil Morris frags, if you ask me.

At first it seemed kind of screechy and harsh, but as soon as it dried down, it smoothed and mellowed out. Narcissus seems to be up and taking a bow, but I'm not the greatest at identifying notes.It's definitely changed to an assertive floral, mellowed by the Amber and Labdanum, then at last turned to a velvety, dark suede. This has a vintage kind of feel, without being even a little bit frumpy.

Thus far, the best fragrance I found in the Neil Morris' range. A leathery / ambery oriental with chyprey/musky facets. It could easily be one of those *french* animalic florals from the 80s. Dark, velvety and kind of gothic too yet not particularly distinctive... Nice though... Rating: 7/10

Starts nicely vintage with a black pepper kick and sense of formal aldehydic floral, but ends with that unfortunate medicated foot powder scent I sometimes get with vintage types. Too bad. Well blended, deeply layered and intriguing before that unfortunate final.

I love this, the black pepper opening really tickles your nose, then it darkens and deepens with a fabulous long lasting dry down. this would be equally good on a man or a woman.

Gotham is sexy man in a bottle. Very leathery and rich. Overall very complex.

A Summer night out in November? In NYC? HUH?