Rhinoceros Edition 2020

Prinnnnn!! Lomrossss!!! He’s such an unbelievably skilled artist and in many ways, technician. The precise way his formulas unfold in the air is nearly magical. The overall theme I get from Rhinoceros - which is one of my top faves from Zoologist - is a “moist” (sorry) pipe tobacco complete with the seemingly oft-used-by-Mr.-Lomros, geosmin (part of petrichor rain on hot soil/concrete) to increase the rich, supple, fresh tobacco effect. This is combined with what I perceive as a raisiny, pruny, date fruit accord that brings incredible depth to the tobacco accord. Inside of the prune, date, and raisin accord is a non-specific, tart, juicy, red fruit and gone-before-you-know-it red cough medicine micro-moment, but that is eventually enveloped by the heavier, richer notes to create a sort of symphony of textures and dark hues. Holy man. It’s just so delicious however not “edible.” I can certainly feel a booziness and I suppose there’s leather woven into the texture, but, for humble me, this is all about that deep, moist (sorry), rich spiced raisiny tobacco. I think the boozy notes account for some of the unnamed fruity red cough syrup (for humble me) and the leather seems more prominent after wearing for some time, but again the dark tobacco accord is always lurking and present. Whatever, it’s so very very good. Deep, dark, rich complex but instead of being suffocating and cloying, it breathes beautifully and diffuses its lovely melange of sophisticated and satisfying accords and notes.

OMG I fricking love this. The opening is SUPER boozy as others have said, but it’s classy whiskey not cheap plonk. The fresh sweet hay & tobacco is glorious and if you get a good snoot full there’s that hint of coffee. As the booze dials down there’s a lovely green patchouli undertone... all I could do all day was inhale deeply & swoon. As soon as my partner got home I insisted he wear it too and it’s just as delightful on him! Seems like I’m lucky that my skin chemistry lusts after Prins scents because IMHO the trash talk from other folk about Rhinoceros is nonsense... (yeah I know it’s subjective and different from skin to skin but... cmon.... It’s magic!) I don’t even really understand the skank others are getting but maybe that’s dumb luck on my skin. F*** this masculine/feminine assessment of scent... what the what?! This is unisex. All perfume is unisex. Like, wear the scents you’re into whether it’s barnyard stank, heady florals, or earthy nature... you do you. I also don’t really understand why folks suggest limiting places to wear it, there’s nothing offensive here so that’s a weird take *shrugs* Anyways, this is my love letter to Rhinoceros. I’m no nose and I’m a noob at perfume because I never knew there were options like THIS! Imma edit this in the future as I discern more of the nuances of this treasure. Also worth noting I have a full bottle of Prin’s Eshu which is very similar (and I bought it blind cause I JUST KNEW) but I reckon Rhinoceros is even better. Fight me.

An austere, meditational tobacco scent. The smell of a professor's private office - a freshly packed tobacco pipe and whiskey glass on his leather-topped table, exotic objets d’art lining the walls. This is a rare case where you can look at the note pyramid like a recipe - every note appears in photo-realistic and identifiable form. Let's face it, most modern scents will list (for example) lavender, bergamot and cardamom, when the reality is just a cheap hit of dihydromyrcenol (or the dreaded Virginia Cedar + Vetiver, don't get me started!!). But here you can pick out each element and it smells ... real. The tobacco is a whole, dry tobacco leaf. There is a smoky quality, like the edge of the tobacco leaf was slightly burned and then blown out. Other than the dry, dusty leather this is not an animalic fragrance, although there are moments when it hits you a certain way and you’re transported to a clean barn, hay on the floor. Some of the hay is damp, adding a slightly dank, musty quality to the air. Overall, this plays a similar role in my wardrobe to Gucci Guilty Absolute PH (or a comparable Morillas-style leather scent), but adding a tobacco and smoke element. It’s a bit silly to assign gender to the fragrances of inert things like leather or smoke, but worn with certain outfits, this has a macho, leathery, cowboy at the campfire sort of vibe. Linear and everlasting.

@hfiebert nails it fairly succinctly. I enjoyed wearing my sample thoroughly, and if my current collection weren't reaching near critical mass, I would probably pick up a bottle. It smells like a conglomeration of scents that I've smelled before, but composed in such a way that it is unique. Usually scents that I would describe as "barnyard" (is it the oud, maybe?) would be displeasing to my nose, but here somehow it just works. The leather, tobacco, alcohol accord (rum/whiskey blend), incense, oud AND patchouli are all top notch and well behaved--no one note tries to go rogue and spoil the blend. Truly shocking, considering that's basically a Who's Who List of Often Overbearing and Possibly Problematic Notes. It does lean slightly masculine, but it is definitely more season sensitive than it is gender specific--I can only see myself enjoying this scent at 40°F or less. Worth sampling, and maybe even buying a travel spray blindly if you enjoy the listed notes--not one to be missed from Zoologist. Current Ranking: Beaver > Sloth > (Squid?) > (Moth?) > Rhinoceros > Koala > Hummingbird > Elephant > Camel > Panda > Macaque (Yuzu) > Chameleon > Nightingale > Bat > Dodo > Tyrannosaurus Rex

I picked this up as a huge Trex fan hoping this would impress me to a similar extent. I was initially disappointed, because I was comparing it to Trex and you know how comparing something new to your favorite goes. I was anticipating something animalic and feral and controversial, but I actually find this somewhat gentlemanly. The sweetgrass is. . . odd. It's sweet. It burns away fairly quickly and what remains is smoke, and I find the smoke comparable to the smell of fireworks. I'd say it's predominantly an incense fragrance. The leather is a sort of diminutive background note, there as support. Performance is fine but I'm of that class of individuals that want psychotic performance; I want strangers to complain if they end up in an elevator with me. I like it, but it's not a love. Edit: reacts totally different on fabric than my skin : the sweet grass enjoys greater longevity and compliments the main note far more suitably, all the while more capably accentuates the contrast that makes this fragrance interesting, unique, and successful. In fact, the whole of the fragrance performs better on fabric. I may have to upgrade my estimation. Yes. I do love Rhinoceros.