Troubled Spirits

Comforting, warm, cozy and boozy. All the things that make one feel good, in bottled form. I live in Canada, the perfumer is Canadian. This review is done in March, and although other parts of the world have warmed up, we are still on the cooler/ colder side. I think he has bottled this creation to beat the dreary Canadian winter and it is truly unisex. I ordered "sex & jasmine" from the house, which leans more feminine and if I wasn't constrained by budget, I would have loved to bundle this into the order as well.

This is one of a handful of boozy fragrances that I will wear. Absolutely love everything about it. Totally masculine. The oak note is really great. 10/10 for wearability.

I recently bought a Libertine Fragrance 8-pack sampler because many of the perfume notes intrigued me. I permanently moved to South Florida from Michigan about 1.5 years back, so I want to "lighten up" my usual go-to fragrances. The Libertine line seemed hopeful. Out of the eight tried fragrances, Troubled Spirits is probably the Libertine fragrance I like best. Of course, the Troubled Spirits' fragrance notes include several of my beloved fragrance notes, so I guess old habits die hard-smile. To me, most of the Libertine fragrances are fairly simple and straight forward linear wears. This fragrance opens with a strong, aged, boozy note...an old whiskey note, which I imagine is the oak, amber and bourbon vanilla...to my nose, lots of aged oak-barrel booze initially appears. Once the initial blast passes, Troubled Spirits quickly morphs into a pleasant rose-very slight incense-musk fragrance that gently moves about. However, the sum blend dry down is a VERY light, close-to-the-skin mixed balance of musk, & wee-rose. Over time, I smell very little (if any) patchouli/incense, which is fine, except this one is billed as an incense-y patchouli kinda fragrance. Silage is minimal, as this fragrance remains extremely close to the skin, something I discovered with all Libertine perfumes. Longevity is okay but not great at about 2-3 hours. Not sure this is full bottle worthy but all-in-all, this is a pleasant, light, wearable, floral wood-rose perfume. Very feminine to me...not sure I can see this on a man. If you like any of the recent onslaught of "rose-wood-oud" fragrances that have flooded the market, Troubled Spirits is a great Libertine find.

Smoky, boozy, woody... Very sensual. Reminds me of dimly lit whiskey bars. Even though there's some slightly sweet spiciness from the vanilla/cinnamon it leans masculine to me. Unfortunately the rose comes through on skin more than it does on paper for me - I thought this was absolutely divine when I sprayed on paper, absolutely irresistible. I dislike rose quite heavily in fragrance, I simply don't have good scent memories with it, so most fragrances where rose is detectable lose some points with me. I'm sure that this would be an extremely easy and delicious evening wear scent for the average person though!

A nice scent. Opens extremely boozy, like sniffing a whisky barrel, but that mellows out quickly into a smoother bourbon vanilla. I find the whiskey notes wear off within the first 10 minutes or so, which is good because as nice as it smells I would be afraid to wear it out in public if it kept up like that. The dry down on my skin is a warm, spicy, amber vanilla, with a smoky, woody element that makes it feel quite unisex to me. I'm not usually a vanilla fan, but I quite enjoyed this. A nice surprise.

Oak barrel for sure and an initial hint of vanilla that grows over time. Gets sweeter and sweeter to eventually disapear, probably faster than the other Libertine I've tried. Would say it grows from unisex to slightly more masculine. A fun fragrance.

This is so boozy and gorgeous. Once it dries down the rose comes in and compliments the bourbon SO WELL which I did not expect. it's spicy and floral and feels like a cozy night out in the fall.

Very boozy on me, like Jamaican rum or a smoky whiskey. Lovely for winter.

I liked ok but my husband really liked it.

It's alright. I've had to marinate myself in it because my sample sprayer was broken, so I just took the sprayer out and poured the perfume over my arms and legs. I hope it doesn't end up driving me crazy for the rest of today. I smell like I've been sitting in the described oak barrel filled with whiskey and a heavy dose of cinnamon. I don't mind it but it smells imbalanced to me. Like too much cinnamon spiced fruit? Too much wood? It smells like a room, not a person. Would be a great scent to use to perfume a jazz lounge. There is a slight similarity to Patchouli Patch, but that one feels fresher and a bit more wearable to me.

A pleasant if slightly synthetic feeling scent that reminds me a little of Baraonda with an anise twist. However it is quite close to the skin and its most pleasant notes start to die off quite fast so this is quite poor value I'm afraid. You would be much better served buying Baraonda instead it is similarly priced with better scent, performance and presentation.

One of my few scrubbers -- just couldn't tough it out. The boozy notes were just way too overpowering. I can't imagine wearing this in public -- my classmates would think I'd snuck a flask in! Very harsh, made my nose burn after a while.

OMG i <3 the immediately whiskey aroma and i <3 the floral/vanilla notes afterrr. perfectly unisex and super warm and comfortingg. its like not too bold or forward, like a nice lingering pleasant smell, if i had a partner wearing this i wud want 2 be w them all the time. it's me, i'm the partner. Want to add that this fragrance truly, truly shines in the cold. Feel like I'm opening a wooden chest in a vintage store, in a small town in the evening in the fall. Magical.

The very first time I tried it, I was not overly impressed, however, I have just emptied my sample. It is warm and comfortable, opening with a oak barrel scent which then adds a light whiskey note and an incense note which wafts throughout. Some days I get more spicy/cinnamon note, somedays the incense seems to lead the way in the dry down. It is something completely different than what I usually wear but I don't think I can resist a full bottle!

I don't normally love boozy scents (If anyone remembers the Scottish collection from DS Indurga, their MacCallan fragrance put me off the style for a very long time) but Troubled Spirits really does it for me. While Libertine scents have a lot going on, even the strong ones have a transparence to them, and never get too heave on me. This is in the top 3 for me along with Eros Fig and Sweet Grass.

Troubled Spirits is being presented with a glass of luxurious, dark golden liquor, inhaling over it deeply, and then having it whisked away before you can taste it. The initial spray is gorgeous, spicy, oaky whiskey, and then it settles down so close to the skin you have to really hunt for it, even just a few minutes after applying. I'm a sucker for Libertine but I wish this had more oomph.

I mostly get labdanum/vanilla amber with some sparkly/woody booze notes. No discernible patchouli or cinnamon surprisingly. It’s quite nice and yes, I consider this a winter-appropriate spicy oak-y cozy scent too. A lot like my own mixes though, so doesn’t smell professional to me so much as etsy niche. Dry down is a bit louder than I love, so not going to seek out more.

Somebody described it as a drunk grandpa fragrance and I can't stop laughing at it, because it does smell like that. It's very warm and fruity, like a cherry infused liquor. I might wear it for a Christmas dinner or a similar occasion when I want that warm and festive aura around me, but it's not something I would wear very often.

This is a very boozy and almost dusty amber. It smells like you just ordered an old fashioned at a jazz lounge with dark velvet drapes that weren't moved in years. It seems to be extremely intimate though.

Troubled Spirits smells like the last thing I remember from a cold night out right before blacking out. Drunk spit warmth. Too clean for me though, it could use a cigarette or two but maybe no one offered.