Woody
Aromatic
Earthy
Fresh Spicy
Powdery
Green
Release Date2013
Perfumer
BrandComme des Garcons
No. 456 on
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This is probably the most beautiful woods-based fragrance I own and have ever smelt. Sugi, as with anything minimal, is actually really tough to describe. The opening is a sharp, angular lemon cypress note that sticks out quite vividly and sets the tone for the dry-down. There's a tiny bit of spice from pepper, but it's not strong and doesn't last very long before it sits way, way back in the overall fragrance. As the top settles in, a creamy Iris that feels a little old skool and soft cedar dominate, whilst the lemon cypress just rests in the background. The pine is there throughout giving the whole thing a lovely coniferous vibe but the vetiver is very minimal. I love vetiver but here, it's no bad thing that it's not at all dominant as I feel like it might have been way too heavy for this fragrance if it was stronger. For the most part, that's due to the lightness of scent 03, it's simple, traditional but modern and extremely ethereal. That's about it really. It's extremely transparent and minimal and that may sound boring, but it's anything but. It's pure class in blending. I have to admit, there are very few fragrances anymore that move me the way this one does. Utterly beautiful. In an effort to be objective, this is far and away from anything "beast mode", so if you're looking for that, you'll leave disappointed. It's a very light fragrance. Whilst it does project quite well, it isn't dense or bold in any way. It also doesn't last very long, three, four hours tops. Very safe for office wear and possibly one of the best work fragrances available. I'd also dress it up for the evening, though I think it works best during the day. It's expensive for it's poor longevity, but I still love it.
The first icy blast of the top notes from this fragrance remind me of a bracing, ice cold Gin & Tonic. Juniper and quinine, thirst quenchingly then immediately dry. That's literally the first second of application then it becomes a combination of bright pine, dry cedar and sappy cypress, with earthy peppery qualities of vetiver. This woody combination makes for an uplifting, cerebral, incense like scent which stays close to the skin in a peppery laid back drydown. These are all fairly common elements in perfumery but when brought together in such a way they sing, it's a very good achievement, akin to writing a hit song from three common chords. I didn't get huge projection or superb longevity from this fragrance but I enjoyed it for what it is and will be sampling again properly soon.
Sugi has an incredibly beautiful, elegant opening of cypress, pepper, and iris. It almost sparkles! I love what the subtle floral does to the clean, refined woody notes, and the pepper gives it just a little kick without being as intense as many other peppery CDG top notes (Blackpepper especially). The cypress shifts into cedar and the iris sticks around for the heart notes as the pine starts to creep in, but—as most of the other commenters here note—the longevity on this fragrance is truly weak. You get to enjoy just a couple minutes of top notes, maybe an hour of the lovely iris+cedar heart notes, if that, and then it virtually disappears, leaving just a touch of pencil-shaving cedar and the faintest hints of pine and vetiver. By the second hour, you'll be lucky to still detect anything at all, which is really a shame, because I would otherwise say that it's my favourite of the CDG x Monocle line.