Don

Don from Xerjoff is an under-rated subtle and absolutely beautiful fragrance! I chanced it by ordering a tester from Xerjoff a couple of months ago, along with a few hyped heavy-hitters, like Accento Overdose (love it!) and Uden Overdose (meh). Among the other testers, Don didn't seem to warrant much attention from just smelling it on a piece of paper. So that tester sat in my tester drawer for a couple months, just macerating. That is, until I had to fly north for New Years and it was time to pick some testers to take with me. I threw the Don tester in the bag along with about ten others, not thinking much about it. Fast forward about 5 days, I'm in the mountains, snow's piling up outside, but I made an acquaintance with a wonderful barista at a local coffee shop, who also happens to be from the same hometown. So, one morning, I decided to give Don a chance, while making my coffee run, which was the majority of my social life while I was up there. This morning the snow let up enough to allow me to walk, and walk I did. Having sprayed about 4-5 times from the tester, I really didn't expect anything phenomenal from Don, but boy, was I wrong! And, in a good way! Okay, so a little tangent about Don's notes and performance. I cannot testify to it having a strong tobacco note. It is subtle - more subtle than in the Naxos even. I detect a bit of green, patchouli-esqueness there. Overall, I would describe the scent as a beautful, fresh, blue/green scent that leans very masculine on my skin. Longevity was about 5-6 hours from the tester, but now that I have a bottle, it seems that it stays longer and projects better. Back to me, working my way through sidewalks of a small mountain town with about 3 feet of fresh snow, on my morning coffee run/social visit with my new lady-friend. After about 5 minutes of walking in snow, as my body started work up a bit of heat, I started noticing Don coming through, even through the layers and a puffy jacket. At first, I thought it could've been some left over Accento Overdose from another day, but the character of this scent was something completely different. Accento Overdose, by the way, is an incredibly sensual scent. I'm not sure I can pull it off, but I do own a bottle of it and do wear it occasionally. Anyway, the smell that was hitting my nostrils eventually became distinctive enough and that's when I finally realized what Don ACTUALLY smelled like. When I came back to the cabin, I ordered a bottle of Don and now, couple weeks later, just received it and put it on my shelf. To me, this is what collecting scents is all about - memories; memories of travels and of amazing experiences we all have every day. Maybe to most people walking a couple miles through 3 feet of snow isn't a big deal, but for me, living in Southern California, it is pure poetry in motion. Don, coincidentally, is poetry of fragrance - it rhymes, it has a wonderful rhythm and it is beautiful. It is subtle, rare and underrated - so much so, I hesitate to even add a review for it. But hey, if you hate it - that means there's more of it for me. I love it, I own it, but I won't recommend it to just anybody ;)

Presentation is textbook Xerjoff and as always is beautiful and luxe. The bottle and cap are made of plutonium or something cuz these bottles are heavy and the glass across the JTC line is a gorgeous deep blue that's in the actual glass itself not a paint finish. These are front of the collection kind of good looking. The fragrance does not disappoint. Make no mistake, this is not a "my first aftershave" kind of frag and it is going to challenge some people. If you enjoy a deep, dry whisky and tobacco that sits close until it's moving and the scent trail is just mind blowing. It opens with a rather metallic, medicinal note that has a camphor like vibe but that settles out rather quickly to a subtle under note. Anyone who knows the smell of cordite will instantly recognize what a lot of folks will get as gunpowder. That note settles down and lifts the now emerging whiskey and tobacco notes. The tobacco is not a honeyed or cherry pipe tobacco but more of a cigar leaf but not as sharp. The whiskey is in and out as it trades places back and forth with the tobacco and it's a peaty, aged bourbon sort of note. It all works together in a nearly perfect harmony, There's a sweetness in there that's never at the front and it reminds me of the wax sugar syrup cone candies we had when I was a kid. It's a sweetness that's not cloying. In the drydown it settles in close and yet will still project if you are a little bit active. It goes to a deep, rich amber note with some sweetness and the occasional returns of both the tobacco and whiskey notes. I'm baffled at some of the negative reviews on this but as I stated it can be a challenge to newer noses with that bit of camphor (and cordite) in the open. Presentation - 10/10 Fragrance - 9.5/10 Longevity - 8.5/10 Sillage - 8.5/10 If you appreciate the notes above and enjoy the Xerjoff DNA I would recommend this even as a blind buy. If you can get a decant and give it a try you'll probably agree it's great. Strong Recommend.

The bottle and cap are made of plutonium or something cuz these bottles are heavy and the glass across the JTC line is a gorgeous deep blue that's in the actual glass itself not a paint finish. These are front of the collection kind of good looking. The fragrance does not disappoint. Make no mistake, this is not a "my first aftershave" kind of frag and it is going to challenge some people. If you enjoy a deep, dry whisky and tobacco that sits close until it's moving and the scent trail is just mind blowing. It opens with a rather metallic, medicinal note that has a camphor like vibe but that settles out rather quickly to a subtle under note. Anyone who knows the smell of cordite will instantly recognize what a lot of folks will get as gunpowder. That note settles down and lifts the now emerging whiskey and tobacco notes. The tobacco is not a honeyed or cherry pipe tobacco but more of a cigar leaf but not as sharp. The whiskey is in and out as it trades places back and forth with the tobacco and it's a peaty, aged bourbon sort of note. It all works together in a nearly perfect harmony, There's a sweetness in there that's never at the front and it reminds me of the wax sugar syrup cone candies we had when I was a kid. It's a sweetness that's not cloying. In the drydown it settles in close and yet will still project if you are a little bit active. It goes to a deep, rich amber note with some sweetness and the occasional returns of both the tobacco and whiskey notes. I'm baffled at some of the negative reviews on this but as I stated it can be a challenge to newer noses with that bit of camphor (cordite) in the open. Presentation - 10/10 Fragrance - 9.5/10 Longevity - 8.5/10 Sillage - 8.5/10 If you appreciate the notes above and enjoy the Xerjoff DNA I would recommend this even as a blind buy. If you can get a decant and give it a try you'll probably agree it's great. Strong Recommend.

Xerjoff Don, from the Join the Club collection, is a 2013 release inspired by the mob/mafia that has very interesting notes of gunpowder, spun sugar, tobacco, and whiskey. It’s sharp and sweet, but with some boozy, tobacco-laden depth as well, and particularly with the gunpowder note, feels very unique. I’ve not smelled such a note in fragrance before, and its contrast with the spun sugar accord makes for a great intersection of “opposites” in concert with the mandatory mob contributors of whiskey and tobacco in the background. I’d argue that Don leans masculine, but that it’s not too dark means that it feels a bit more accessible than it otherwise might be, not being quite as intense overall as, say, the first main release from Dua Fragrance, The Mobster, but with leather and some other weight to it. I really like Don for this reason, in carving out a distinction from other similarly-inspired scents. Think also of Wiseguys Vegas Cologne, quite differently a bit of a Pure Havane-esque sweet cherried and honeyed tobacco inspiration. Don lands somewhere in between—sweet, but sharp, with some edges, a little bit of depth, but not too much darkness. Don is sold seemingly mostly through secondary markets like discount sites, at least in the US, like the reliable FragranceX, FragranceNet, and Max Aroma, but it does not appear to be for sale through official/standard retail means (correct me if I’m wrong). Pricing for the 100ml size runs around $200, with a 50ml size also being available, so it’s in a pretty good spot, pricing-wise, under the $2/ml mark at the 100ml size. Overall, I love this fragrance, as it’s creative but wearable and is a fun realization of an interesting (even if perhaps often-used) concept, and it performs well. 8 out of 10

This is possibly my favorite Xerjoff (and Xerjoff is without a doubt in my top 3 favorite houses). It isnt the most pleasant or mass appealing offering from the house, but it's entirely unique. The gunpowder opening doesn't last long before it is replaced with black pepper, and the whiskey and tobacco are sweetened quite a bit by the spun sugar. But what fragrantica fails to list is the most interesting note of this composition: money. In the mid and drydown, the notes of the fragrance combine to create an accord I've never imagined would be captured in perfumery. The smell of cash. Not clean, new, crisp bills. But the smell of used, dirty money. The resemblance is uncanny. This scent is my motivation scent. I wear it for meetings, interviews, anytime that I want to feel the familiar push to earn. It's not just my nose that gets it, I've asked multiple people while wearing it and they get it too. This isnt a compliment monster or the best smelling fragrance in my collection, but it certainly an example of niche perfumery at its finest. The fact that it comes from one of my favorite houses just solidifies its place in my collection for years to come. Also, longevity is great like most Xerjoffs. However, this one stays a little closer to the skin than some of the houses other offerings, and I think this is appropriate for this type of fragrance. Also, don't expect a masculine bomb such as the opening of Jovoy's Les Jeux Sont Faits, because this is much sweeter and lighter. But, this is DEFINITELY worth a sniff and better yet, a wear. Opening 7/10 Mid 8/10 Drydown 8/10 Uniqueness 11/10 Longevity 10/10 (somewhere around the 10h mark) Overall 9/10 Not blind buy safe, but definitely worth checking out. I feel that this is unisex.