City Exclusives Sampling Round 2

My method was the same: choose a few, spray them on skin, and pay attention to their development throughout the day. Here are my thoughts after 8 hours:

Baie Rose 26: A zingy, earthy, peppery rose that brings me some way towards the pleasantly skanky opening of POAL, but stops a few paces short. There's a berried juiciness here that feels like various shades of pink streaked with light green. The earthy grit slowly fades, and things freshen into a crisp, spicy rose that goes ever-so-slightly soapy-sweet. I'd absolutely wear this, but I'd love it even more as a home fragrance, especially around springtime. 8.25/10

Musc 25: A sparkly, bubbly, aldehydic white musk. It doesn't feel like a soap or laundry detergent, but immediately smells familiar. There's a vintage, animalic purr here, subtle at first, but it gets pretty dirty as it dries. Despite sweetening up a little, this civet-like edge becomes stomach-churning for me. A couple of hours in, it came to me: a slightly sweeter, less retro Amouage Gold Man - never one of my favourites. 3.5/10

Myrrhe 55: Rich, sultry jasmine and warm, resinous myrrh. It reminds me of the drydown of Psychedelic Love, which I've always really enjoyed. This takes me to the opulent drawing room of the lady of the manor, adorned in deep purples and reds and furnished with treasures from the Orient. But then it changes. The florals become soapy and powdery, while the myrrh loses a touch of its sweet, ambered glow, becoming a little patchoulified and moving in the direction of a vintage chypre. I still like it, but would've preferred the opening to continue. 7.5/10

Poivre 23: Sweet, peppery ink. It has a hint of dental-office mouthwash, but more honeyed than astringent. Still, there’s a medicinal stickiness to the first half that rubs me the wrong way. Thankfully, it soon warms into something more pleasant: ambery patchouli and smoky, vanillic resins. The drydown smells near-identical to my memory of Mont Blanc Patchouli Ink. 7/10