5 The Guardian Master

With spices, tobacco and amber, this perfume is very warm and bold. Perfect for cold days, it is very cocooning and sexy too. The longevity is excellent. I prefer this scent for my husband. "Spicy cinders of Nutmeg and Cardamom make a cheerfully woody bouquet of Chilli, Pepper and Turmeric crackle. Under an overdose of mercurian resins, Opoponax with accents of caramel, Labdanum and Vanilla, Tobacco Bourbon and Tonkalactone develop their intoxicating scents and pour them into a bouquet of Jasmine spiked with Cinnamon. Sizzling spices and balmy flowers, they resolve their tensions in a base of dark, dry woods, where smoky Cedar and milky Sandalwood blend with Vetiver virilized by a touch of Leather to deliver a magnetic and charismatic trail. Sacred resins, luminous spices and heavy wooden totems, The Guardian Master assumes and magnifies the protective talismans of yesteryear to become today's. "

This is my second favourite out of the whole range. Opens sweet and spicy, gives me middle eastern vibes. Later turns airier, but I can smell something boozy, slightly medicinal about it. It's very well blended. I find it hard to distinguish between the dozens of notes listed, but the scent itself smells familiar, like something my husband used in the past, but I wouldn't mind wesring myself.

Testing this blind, I get an animalistic leaning musky scent with some elements of dry floral. Again, (this not being the first time) looking at the notes I'm tricked by the preponderance of many more herbal notes, but I'm getting a more animal-musky vibe from them. The amber is kinda there, but this feels far more dry and powdery than ambery. Really what sticks out to me is the Musk and Tonka Bean, Frankincense, Labdanum, Turmeric, and Jasmine. Woods don't seem all that noticeable, and some of the other peppery elements feel fleeting, while vanilla, plum, etc. I'm not getting it at all. The overall feeling is dry floral musky, with floral taking the backseat. It's cautiously pleasant at times, but that animalistic element I'm getting isn't intoxicating or mesmerizing enough, even if it isn't in the notes. While it may not be conjuring up long-forgotten memories nor feels specifically characteristic of a particular wearing scenario, the longevity is good. I think if one is exploring musky scents it is worth a dive into.