Dogon

I blind-bought Dogon by Pascal Morabito, with only a few brief reviews in French and German to inform my decision. I found it on clearance at TK Maxx, so the investment was minimal, however I’m pleased to report that this scent is lovely and worth much more than the pittance I paid for it. I’m not sure about availability in stores, but some French online retailers carry it, including Amazon. Longevity is excellent for an eau de toilette. Dogon is an all-day scent that evolves for about 6–7 hours before coming to rest on the durable base notes. With 5–7 sprays on the neck/chest area (including 1–2 on my undershirt), sillage is minimal, so it could be suitable for school or the office. Granted, I’ve been wearing this in cool spring weather; it remains to be seen how this fragrance would fare in warmer temperatures. Based on the opulent amber base struck through with cedar accents, I’d categorize Dogon as a woody oriental fragrance enveloping a really nice tobacco note. I was worried that it might be sweet after I read some comparisons to Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille, but thankfully the composition is actually quite dry. This fragrance has a core of flavoured tobacco connecting the woody and oriental components, which makes it sort of like rich honey vanilla pipe tobacco sitting in an amber-encrusted cedar box. To me, this scent is not at all gourmand, evoking honeyed vanilla in a purely tobacconist way. Dogon starts out with refreshing and slightly bitter citrus notes that sparkle on top of a sharp cedar. In the first blast, the wood is almost camphorous, reminding me a bit of Hinoki by Comme Des Garçon for Monocle. There is also a hint of spice in there, as well as the foreshowing of tobacco and the oriental base, but these are definitely in the background compared to the citrus and cedar. The top notes start to fade fairly quickly, although they manage to hold out for 1–2 hours before disappearing entirely. The heart brings un-smoked tobacco to the fore, where it remains prominent well into the base. Amber and tonka are peeking through, but they mostly serve as topping to the tobacco at this point. The central pipe tobacco aroma is nicely complemented by mellow woody cedar that has lost the bite it had at first. The official notes list lavender, but I haven’t really noticed it. Base notes are where this fragrance sings. The tobacco becomes blended with warm tonka, amber, and musk, creating a really luxurious vibe. The musk is very clean, and not at all animalic. There is still a bit of cedar lingering around, but mostly as a whispering dryness that counter-balances the oriental notes. Overall, I’d recommend Dogon. The ingredients appear to be high quality, but it can be found inexpensively. As a tobacco-oriented woody oriental, it isn’t exactly ground breaking, and yet it doesn’t smell like the average mainstream designer either. Dogon is classy, and it’s versatile enough to wear day or night.

This is all about warm, ambery, tobaccoy, spice with a hint of sweetness - not overwhelming, but quite moreish. I've had it for a couple of years, and regularly return to it. It's quite unique - although I keep thinking I can detect another perfume, I haven't been able to put my finger on it. Initially I thought Spicebomb, and also Potion - but they have the cinnamon and saffron, which Dogon doesn't have. Ho hum... Anyways - it's definitely a worthwhile scent, not one to be overlooked. In terms of performance, it's just fine - easily lasting 6 hours, and projects ok. Great value too, if that rocks your boat.

Just returning to Dogon after a few years. My original review stands - but just wanted to reaffirm that on opening this scent has a wonderful grapefruit zest/pith — moist pipe tobacco vibe.

EDIT: I recently tried Montana Parfum d'Homme and it is very similar. Dogon is like a more modern, less complex version of this. In the opening the tobacco/amber combination is prominent. The bergamot and lemon are very subtle and only seem to be rounding off the top end. The tobacco sweetness dies down fairly rapidly (within minutes), and what's left is the cedar and amber. As cpmcg has said - this isn't at all gourmand. It smells clean, boxy, papery, and the amber makes it smell like some kind of 'wood-caramel'. It's quite different. Better as a work scent than a date scent. To me, it smells like I'm in a tidy drawing studio, and somebody a few desks away brought in some almond croissants. That's from far away. On the skin, the tonka bean and musk are more noticeable. The skin scent is actually really good.

Opens with a blast of dark citrus, spice and incense. The amber is always present and the musk is similar to Prada Amber pour homme. A great scent for Winter and layers perfectly with any fragrance with apple and nutmeg; This creates a gorgeous biscuity vibe. Excellent value and a bit of a hidden gem.

Blind bought my bottle in TK Maxx for 17 EUR. I wonder if this is an original creation or it was meant to be a Spicebomb clone as both came out in 2012. It most definitely has Spicebomb vibe. I do not own Victor & Rolf in order to directly compare them side by side, but from my recollection it is pretty darn close, especially in the drydown. Opening is sharp citrusy cedar, but as it dries down unmistakable ambery base shows itself very clearly. It is definitely not as sweet as Spicebomb, which for me is a good thing. Quality and longevity are very good for that pricetag. I'm just a little disappointed by the fact that tobacco note is not more pronounced, but I did not have this kind of fragrance in my collection and I can definitely find a place for Dogon there.

I blind bought after some hesitating, then reading all these reviews. It is cheap at 13 euros. The bottle looks cheap. It smells cheap. It is very basic, unoriginal, and I disliked it right away. I have owned a handful of Pascal Morabito fragrances and they usually smell ok to good but lack some performance. This one smells crappy and has the same performance. How am I going to get rid of this.