Castley

Castley is an easier to wear version of Bois Imperial which, in turn, is a more wearable version of Ganymede. I own all 3, I love all 3, and the thread that ties them all together is the lab-created note of akigalawood. Ganymede came first in 2019, created by one of today's current star perfumers, Quentin Bisch. Ganymede is challenging, it's otherworldly, and it's literally impossible to describe in normal perfumery terms. The descriptors I've seen generally focus on futuristic, robotic, outer space themes, and these would be completely fair. It's leather seats in a spaceship with its own patchouli plant growing in the kitchen. 8.5/10. Mr. Bisch then moved on to a new company and created Bois Imperial in 2020. The heart of this fragrance is quite similar, and upon first sniff you can instantly recognize the Ganymede DNA, but this time he brought the scent back down to earth, so to speak. Extremely masculine, a little dark, very woody, very green, and a little bit humid - like a forest right after the rain stops. It's still a bit challenging, but much less so than it's older brother from outer space and much more wearable. 9.5/10 Then came Castley in 2025. PDM took the framework of Bois Imperial and made it infinitely more wearable and MUCH more familiar. So familiar, in fact, that I ran a layering experiment to confirm my suspicion: Bois Imperial + Sedley = Castley. It's not a dead-on 1:1, but it's very close. I'm not mad at it at all, in fact, I'm quite impressed. PDM literally turned the impossibly difficult original framework of Ganymede into an extremely versatile, all-season fresh fragrance that actually performs. The all-consuming projection of Ganymede, toned down a bit in Bois Imperial, is toned down a bit further in the much fresher Castley, making it perfectly office-safe. On my skin, it lasts for 9-10 hours, and whatever gets on your shirt will stay there until you do your laundry. 9/10. While I do enjoy Bois Imperial just a bit more overall, Castley is simply much more versatile, wearable, and likeable. Side Note: you WILL eventually go nose-blind to Castley even while it's still performing quite well. Last week I thought it was gone around the 6 hour mark until my wife asked me if I had re-sprayed, which I had not.

As someone who owns Imagination these are not similar at all. This is like Imagination if it actually had deep mid and base notes and was way less citrusy...so it's not like Imagination. On skin it opens opens stinky/funky/odd from the akigalawood/labdanum. But once it dries down all the funk totally disappears and you get a nice deep wood (that smells like wood, rather than some vague "woods accord") and non-cloying white florals. The combination is smooth, a little soapy, masculine, and almost makes you think there is a drop of leather in here. No idea what this smells like on paper. I put on 2 sprays about 6 hours ago and it's still potent right now. I can't tell you how it projects but it definitely lasts. Some strong fragrances blow you up and you get tired of them but not this one. This has way more depth (without being dark) than people are giving it credit for. Idk if I would wear this in actual hot weather but IMO this is extremely versatile. This seems more all purpose as opposed to a summer freshie like people are acting. IMO this is a wood, black pepper, neroli, labdanum fragrance. This is a banger, IMO the best mens fragrance PDM has released. I'd buy this. EDIT: The comments are getting even worse XD. This is nothing like Imagination, definitely not like Percival (way muskier), nothing like Terre d’Hermes (way more sweet vetiver), not like Sedley at all (way more ambroxan/synthetic) etc. Y’all are either insane or I should be a perfumer because it is clear to me they are all wildly different. Thankfully this isn’t going to be a hype job. More for me.

I’m so surprised with this one. For all the mixed reviews, this is a banger to my nose. Light, ethereal, airy... citrus, pepper, neroli, lavender, with some woody 🪵 tones via akigalawood and slight resin from the benzo/lab. I do not get any powder but almost a sparkling citrus in the opening. Mid reminds me a little of sedley due to the lavender but again isn’t a 1 to 1 with that either. Doesn’t smell like imagination, but has citrus/neroli/ginger in common. This lasted all day on my shirt and about 6-8 hours on my skin. I felt like it was really close to the skin but the sillage was great and kept pushing all day long. This is definitely a good release and came at a time when I was not interested in anything PDM. Lastly, if you never experienced akigalawood in a fragrance then maybe you might get the slightest BO, but the Aki isn’t Bisch aki, it’s toned down and just gives this some legs to stand on in the base. Try for yourself because it’s sample worthy. 8.5/10, I will purchase a 5ml or 10ml to put this through its paces soon. Edit: bought a 5ml and enjoying it throughly. I oversprayed and it leaned more toward the resinous akigalawood. The citrus freshness took a backseat. Just an FYI, less can be more, it’s going to last all day, no need to go ham. So for people in the comments who are experiencing “BO”, pull back on the sprays. My fault, I can go a little wild with the trigger from time to time 🤣. Edit 2: Finished my 5ml and ordered a bottle. I agree that next summer this is probably going to get hyped.

My new signature scent. It certainly leans masculine and mature but does not smell dated or old. It opens spicy and wakes you up with the black pepper, becomes very fresh with citrus, and dries down on the soapy side with the ginger shining through. It may shine in the spring or summer but I can see it being worn year round, day or night. One spray on the wrist and I was still smelling it clearly the next morning so excellent performance on me, lasts and projects better than other PDMs I've tried and up there with all fragrances I've tried. I have it side by side with Sedley and they don't smell alike other than both being Parfums De Marly freshies, so some similarity with their lines but two completely different fragrances. It does not smell anything like Invictus, Hawas, or Bleu de Chanel to my nose. It doesn't smell like Imagination per se, that has a very unique smell you don't get here, but shares some similarities with a soapy drydown with ginger. Haven't smelled Bois Imperial to compare. You could say it's a combination of multiple fragrances - done in a PDM fashion - there aren't any out which do this. It may not blow the minds of the audience but it's perfect for me as someone who loves fresh spicy scents and fougères, but isn't into overly 'blue' or ambroxan heavy profiles. Super safe blind buy for those who enjoy black pepper/ginger and are looking for a versatile & masculine fresh fragrance.

Having both and seeing the comparisons... i feel like this is better than Imagination. As its more interesting, has more character. Imagination on the dry down is a dryer sheet. Love the opening, and its a safe easy wear, but this one has way more personality. I enjoy the spice up top, and while it has a fresh (far less soapy) drydown than Imagination, this one brings in a woody base that it sits on top of. Imagination is fking boring, I said it. Imagination will last longer than this, so points off for longevity, in a head to head comparison, but ill take a somewhat shorter lifespan (10+ vs. 8+) for a frag that is still fresh, while having a little more going on. People crashing out for this smelling designer... Same people who will spend 400+ to smell like hotel bar soap.... So, let's not throw stones. Also. As an owner of Sedley, as well. Very different fragrance. And no its not those two combined either. Probably saw some tik-tok clown say it, and now 10k followers are repeating it ad nauseum. Is it groundbreaking? No, but the only stuff that is groundbreaking people say "It's too harsh, its confusing, too strong, I'll never find a place to wear this." If you want groundbreaking that's the path you need to go down, hard-core Niche and Indie.