La Whatever

Rasei Fort La Whatever is a limited edition of 73 bottles sold by Luckyscent early this year, and I’m glad I acquired a decant to try out. It lives up the billing of being a strong, boozy mix with fruity tones, sort of “apply brandy with rum and woods,” and a sort of resinous funk that prevents it from being over-the-top sweet or gourmand. It’s very nice, only slightly grapey (as brandy is a fortified wine) and instead a sweet but balanced rum/apple/brandy. This is certainly something I’d recommend fans of boozy or fruity, or more specifically, brandy/cognac fragrances should try. La Whatever not as sweet or tangy overall as another recent cognac release, Happyland Studio Fragrances El Goodo, but La Whatever does have a bit more resinous depth and density, so it packs a bit of a darker punch than El Goodo, one of my favorite releases from Happyland, and the first fragrance I thought of when reading about and smelling La Whatever. La Whatever was not inexpensive, at $235 for 50ml, in line with the more expensive offerings of the Fort & Manle line, like Suleyman Le Magnifique and Bojnokopff, but its concentration is extrait, unlike the F&M EDPs, so one could argue it has a higher content of fragrance oils, relative to cost, than the F&Ms. Regardless, it’s very rich fragrance and appeals to some of my specific tastes. 8 out of 10

I've owned my bottle since this fragrance was released back in 2020 and every time I smell the fragrance it brings me joy. I tend to be a sucker for boozy and gourmands so this was a no brainer purchase for me at the time, and I'm so glad i jumped the gun. The fragrance starts with honeyed fruits with the fresh aroma of green apples, sitting on top of a warm woody base. The booziness is not super strong in this fragrance but I can still pick it up throughout the composition, think of it as a supporting player rather than being the main star. The vanilla in this blends everything up very nicely as it creates a festive and cozy sort of vibe, which I appreciate for what its trying to achieve. longevity and performance are pretty good on me, sitting at a strong 8-10 hours on skin and even more on clothes. only down side is this fragrance was a limited numbered release so its not widely available for purchase. hopefully Rasei Fort eventually brings this one back for everyone to enjoy. Score : 10/10

In Rasei’s signature style, La Whatever is a superbly blended cocktail of sweet fruits and florals on a distinctive rum base. Hints of florals weave in and out of the cherries, before gaining more momentum over the initial 20 minute development. The feminine leaning scent comes in stunning presentation, featuring a hand made wooden box and a stained cap, representing aged rum barrels. I’m excited to be one of the first to smell this very limited offering. Those familiar with Fort and Manlé will be pleased, however others new to the style may find it a bit sweet. The rum is definitely present, but don’t expect to smell like a drunken sailor! La Whatever is the siren who’s come to drown the sailors by alluring them with her beauty and intoxicating scent.. This grows on me each wear. Good performance and lasts especially long on clothes.

This is a tangible boozy fragrance. Pure perfection! The fruitiness is thick, sweet, and very ripe, and when mixed with the warm bite I attribute to the rum and brandy, and the dry earthiness of the aged wood, it becomes a masterpiece where the canvas was cleaned with aged spirits, framed in old oak, and painted with ripe fruits. I'm so glad to have 69/73!

Couldn't agree with mrmorel and rbalkris more,"Whatever" is a fitting name. Perhaps I got a little too excited when reading about this being extremely boozy and the "limited edition!" marketing angle roped me in, but this is an extremely been-there-done-that affair to me. Yet another "boozy" (Read: diabetic) fragrance loaded with indistinct chemicals and cheaply shampooey fruity accords placed over a crowd-pleasingly generic woody amber base. I am reminded of Baraonda with every animalic spiky corner rounded off. Or perhaps an overclocked rendition of Boss bottled. Or even a Serge Lutens B-side with a minor head injury. Or, most damning of all, La Whatever is reminiscent of some mens body wash I once sampled at Bath and Body Works, perhaps Bourbon. Fantastic performance unsurprisingly, and I love the little barrel cap, but I'm struggling to feel any real excitement from this one. Seeing as how this is probably impossible to get for a decent price now considering it's in-built scarcity, rest assured that you're not missing out on anything essential. Glad I went with a sample.

I swapped 2ml of my Cielito and Kolonya for 2ml of this and have been wearing today. It’s not bad, pleasant mix of dried and tart fruit and a sweet vanilla rum. Think of rum and raisin ice cream, that kind of very sweet type of feel with a caramel vanilla ice cream and “rum” soaked raisins at the top-mid (with the apple note here also mixing in giving a slight tropical feel) over an amber and nice tobacco base. Decent, not sure its full bottle worthy personally though even if it was more widely available. For my tastes I’d easily take Cielito Lindo over this which is gourmand leaning too but I think has more uniqueness and subtlety. This one is much more a pure gourmand for most of its journey.

A pleasant but unexceptional woody gourmand scent. The perfume opens with notes of rum and apple. The heart is dried fruits and vanilla. The perfume settles into a base of oak, slight tobacco and patchouli and synthetic musk. The unisex perfume has moderate sillage and longevity. It is like wearing a lighter version of a Slumberhouse scent. Overall it’s nice, but there is no need to beat yourself up if you missed out on one of the 73 bottles that were offered and sold out. Enjoy!

Every few weeks, it seems a perfumer I admire releases a new limited edition. Only 100! Only 10! Only 73! I’m not a rich man, but curiosity can get the best of me, and it often does with this perfume proclivity. Coupled with my birthday, well, “Here’s a present to myself,” I thought. Though there’s something a little sour up really high in the register, a sort of wafting whiff of evaporating liquor, this is a huge baritone barrage of sugar. Not dark brown, but pure cane sugar. Stewed fruits—sure. But this is more the syrup around the fruit, maybe a splash of rum to cut it a bit. And some oakwood very far in the drydown. And lots of vanilla. But still sugar. Lots of sugar. Unfortunately, the name of this perfume already gave away the punchline. Meh. Whatever. I’m not saying this is a bad perfume, but I knew right away this is not one I’d reach for with any regularity. To me, the point of a limited release is to do justice to a really special material, or a really out-there idea. I’m pretty sure ethyl maltol and vanillin were never expected to be treated with such pomp. Fans of Rasei Fort might feel inclined to track this down, but I’m here to say: Don’t fret. There will be more limited editions of 73 or 81 or 13, and whatever they smell like, they will likely be just as good, or hopefully better. My review here is only based on two sprays—one on my arm, and one on a test strip, where I can still smell it even as the bottle, now sold, is on its way to its new home. So, it at least has longevity going for it. But overall, a resounding “Whatever” from me.

Put simply, this is the best ‘amber’ fragrance around, but so much more. Also one of the best boozy smells around. It is the perfect marriage of the boozy and amber style fragrance genres, all in one. For any fans of ambery or boozy fragrances this is a must smell. A solid contender as one of this perfumers best works so far. The perfume smells like rum, butter, apple cinnamon, pineapple and amber. It is a worthy edition to the Rasei Fort lube, but unfortunately is sold out already, as there were only 73 bottles ever made. If you’re an amber frag or boozy frag lover you need to smell this!