My little decant of Gaiac 10 arrived!

I loved this even before embarking on my recent City Exclusives sniffari, but smelling it again a few years down the line only confirmed it. Comfortably my favourite from the collection, and right up there among my favourite perfumes of all time.

I paid ‘only’ NT$870 (£20) for this 5ml bottle, which, considering the £122 retail price for 15ml, is quite the deal. Not to mention, she threw in 1ml samples of Grey Vetiver and Violette 30.

Gaiac 10 is just totally ethereal: crystalline incense, transparent woods, clean smoke, and the subtlest hint of sweetness that wisps in and out. Nothing at all sugary, but behaving like flakes of sea salt on a caramel dessert - never assertive, simply intensifying the beauty of everything else.

I’m a very happy boy, and can’t wait to get some wears out of this.

But for now, I’m heading to the gym to train some clients, so a few sprays of Violette it is - one of those ambiguously floral, woodsy-musk skin scents. Clean, light, and entirely inoffensive.