oooooh so I got this on eBay for less than £20 in the week of it's release. It feels almost, warehouse rave, punk style launch, like you get the tickets and then ring up for a location in a field near Milton Keynes or something? Some people weren't even sure if these were a legit, real launch from Guy Laroche, like someone just mocked up a new fragrance to sell on eBay. haha Imagine that. But no....it's here it's real, and it's a real.....disappointment. Naaaah only kidding, it's pretty good all things considered. My memories of Drakkar Noir are pretty faded but not enough to completely forget them and this Intense definitively has a feel of the Drakkar noir to it. Hold your horses though Houdini!!! This is Drakkar INTENSE, a flanker to the original Drakkar (yes that's a thing) and NOT the wildly more popular and iconic at this point, Noir version. Yeah well I've never tried the original Drakkar and neither has any other human being I've ever encountered. Is it still in production? I've never even seen one, have you? Anyway this has a pleasant sort of green opening, there's a herbal quality to it and it smells familiar and sort of soapy linalool, lavender soap on a smorgasbord of earthy & wet, ranging to warmer and sweeter leather. It's actually quite a reminder of a Lynx from the 90's (I want to say Alaska?) I think that perhaps will mislead you into thinking this is nicer than it is. I think it's nicer than 80% of new releases these days but it's still not great. It feels cheap, because it was/is cheap. There's reward in the drydown though, reasonable depth and a liberal application meant that it lasted well and transitioned to soft, masculine tones on my skin and clothes.

You (well I) sometimes have to remember that the '...smells like...' section is not a smells like at all, it's a '...reminds me of ...' which is a broader church for sure. However, let's just say for arguments sake it's a smells exactly like... then I don't get eau des baux from this, or Lui or Tonnare but perhaps some of the others with tobacco then sure. I will also just preface this review with the fact that today I'm wearing a perfume called also titled smoke, which I'm glad (much like this one) wasn't just a huge OD of smoky cade and birch materials or even that bacon bbq sauce effect of guaiac wood. It's not that, tonally it's much fresher, un smoked tobacco. I've got to say the tobacco note/accord in this AKRO is pretty spectacular, going from smelling like a rich, real absolute, to a deliberately constructed accord with different resonant frequencies. I think the issue with this is that tobacco vanille by Tom Ford kinda set the bar for tobacco fragrances most of which just wanted to replicate that success, quite deliberately. This has the cherry and fruity tones but it's more manure like with a natural sweetness not coming from a glug of vanilla. As a result this is more bittersweet and tabacco like, so is it just TV minus the Vanilla? In very simplistic terms yes, but I can't help but respect the craft of this perfume and I definitely like it. My tobacco vanille has a balsamic sharpness and I do mean vinegar to it which I can't really abide anymore, this Smoke I could probably live with much better. However, it's rare I find myself in the mood for such things these days. Objectively speaking it's a well made, less cloying tobacco vanille type approximation with a little more about it that your average deliberate, smell alike, which I sense from the spirit of this perfume and it's development on skin, not what was intended.

This is the best one of the collection, an absolute dirt box of a scent. It's clean meets dirty in the most balanced way. I think it's very clever and I don't recall smelling a rose like this?? First of all it opens up and you're like 'okay, they needed to do some more conventional stuff and this is the "rose one" right?' It's a modern, airy rose and it's very nice, immediately sweet but not trying too hard. Then you get this wack of BO and then the interplay between them. It's not straight cumin or musk or some crappy clumsy civet replacer, it's like an air of mild BO, and it feels human, it dances around with the rose in a very specific way. There's a sheerness, there's a lightness to it and that's how it gets away with what it's doing here, spicing a rose to within an inch of it's life, but doing it with a certain elegance and lightness of touch. I was reminded of that bulls blood one from Imaginary authors which is creatively a superb perfume but one I couldn't wear, ever! That is rose and shit though, as apposed to this which is rose and sweat. That's kind of relentless and dense and this is translucent. I like it a lot but it would be a novelty in my collection due to the fact I'd be reluctant to wear it in polite company, as your friends might think you've not had a wash. We all say 'I wear perfume for me' and while that is true, I also care what others think, I do, can't help it. There's something so modern about Night, with it's stark contrasts and strange simplicity. I've gotta be honest I think it's absolutely brilliant.

On a personal note, I don't really like too many boozy fragrances, especially focused on malty/malt whisky effects. This is very malty in the opening, almost unpleasantly so. In fact, I plain don't like this fragrance. Just saying. I get the play of whisky and leather, it works but moreso for me in 'thinner' compositions like Gold leather by atelier cologne this thing is thick, grainy and textured with malt, which some will like. It's not particularly smooth or crowd pleasing which again might give it more brownie points with the hardcore enthusiasts but not with me. It's whisky but this is more bells than Oban, it's just a little rough. Interesting that it's compared to midnight stroll here which does have a turbulent opening settling to a leather/incense for me and that's not quite what's going on in this perfume for me. perhaps I need to revisit both and see?

I mean the name would heavily imply that this is a cannabis perfume and I could've sworn hearing promotion and Cresp himself saying it (perhaps I imagined that?) but I'd say it's supposed to at least be evocative of cannabis rather than a 'cannabis fragrance' something which seemed to be all the rage a couple of years back. First my issue with cannabis fragrances is that they're has not been to date (at least not one I've tried) which portrays cannabis flowers accurately. They do accurately capture the spicy, green, vegetative state of young cannabis plants (mispent youth and trips to the dam is how I know) and this seems to be an accord that has either been arrived at independently by perfumers or has been shipped around/aka plagiarized. Either way I don't want to smell like it as a central theme of a perfume, nor do I feel it accurately accounts for the varied terpene and flavanoid profiles of the bewildering amount of strains of weed available these days. This is slightly off topic but I'd very much like to create a perfume based on cannabis which is truly reflective of this. More about that another time perhaps? Well I'm glad to say that Haze doesn't opt for that cheap option, make a vaguely green, herbal, spicy scent and just be done with it, I respect that Haze is a composition. Just on 'Haze' which is a sub variety of mainly sativa dominant cannabis, I thought Olivier may have been so specific to call it that as he had captured the haze smell. Haze does have a very distinctive smell and many cannabis connoisseurs will often use it as a descriptor ie; 'This bud smells/tastes very hazy.' for instance. ANYWAY this perfume has a very interesting take on creating a cannabis feel because it's soooo slight as to be almost subliminal and although I was bemoaning the 'accuracy' earlier I think be mildly evocative and still be perfume or smell interesting and faceted like the flowers, or kind don't bother, so this hits the former. I'd say it 's very sweet opening gives way to a more green, herbal effect and you get that sage or clary sage just countering the sweetness slightly. However, I find it a bit of an oddball, the opening sweetness is a touch icky, and some of that spicy, hashish accord does bleed through ever so slightly. I don't hate it like some of those other ones from Bois 1920 or whatever but I still wouldn't wear this either and it's nothing to do with cannabis, it's just not a perfume I found enjoyable. (although as a point of transparency I haven't worn it properly yet so an update to this review could say different but I doubt it)

To be honest I felt Dark was a very competent spicy, dry, woody, incense type accord with a hint of the gourmand about it. Dark was the most conventional 'perfume' in this collection so far, the labdanic effects and resinous feel was more AC constructed than natural, which is fine by and makes for an excellent, cozy, tenacious brew. Dark has a dark complexion for sure, which I guess is a plus point in terms of matching it's brief. I like it, I'd wear it with no complaints and enjoy it, but it makes me feel very little.

Sadly, due to social media and my own fascination with Olivier Cresp's own brand AKRO I'd heard quite a bit about these prior to finally ordering the sample set and sniffing them this week. Everyone said Awake was a reference coffee centric or big coffee noted fragrance, what a disappointment then that it isn't. Has a touch of mint and chocolate in the opening, it's not cacao powder or dark, it's more drinking or milk chocolate, perhaps benzoin too. Then clearly the coffee starts to percolate and it's gets a little bitterness in the background which I enjoy, but it's not the bracing, straight up triple shot I was anticipating. If you were thinking it might be along the lines of Kerosene Follow then prepare for disappointment. I mean clearly it's well made and other stuff is happening but the woody, diffusive base and relentless choco/coffee combo is not something I want to smell of and feels like a novelty fragrance I have a hard time taking seriously. I wanted to love it, and as a collection (in hindsight having smelled them all at time of writing this) they hang together somewhat cohesively, but largely as a collection of fragrances I personally don't see myself reaching for.

I'm looking through the reviews here and the amount of fragrances this is compared to is quite staggering, but usually that speaks to a degree of creativity, inevitable tropes which are being carefully negotiated to create something reasonably 'new'. I first got a sample of this years ago and I'm only just getting around to wearing it, the short review would be...yeah. I quite like it. The slightly longer review would say that the opening is mixture of flattened Terre d'Hermes minus any pepperiness or vetiver but with that bitter orange and a lightly spoiled vintage Eau Sauvage, just to add to the list of comparitors and confusion if you're trying to get a feel for this perfume by reading Fragrantica reviews...which is never something I'd advise, especially of they're mine! lol After that settles it's a bit like a fresher Hope by Agonist a sort of translucent, woody accord with that candied orange presence. However, the drydown and remnant on my clothes is a completely different and reveals a base which does indeed give some credence to mentions of Tauer's LDDM and even faintly Obsession for women. It's a faintly sandy, waxy, floral wood. I quite like it. I'm wearing it today and it's not been boring or anything. I mean I tend to like the style of this brand it's kinda modern but I don't like the prices. That's not necessarily me declaring they're not worth it, just if they were about a third of the price I might be more interested in owning one myself.

Smoke is not what you might think given the name, there's many different ways to evoke the feeling of smoke but niche and trendy perfume brands will try to bombard you with overly smoky birch, cade and guaiac fragrances. That's cool if that's what you like but the overdose for me often seems like it's covering for the fact it's not a very good perfume. Anyway.... This is a cool then warm, breezy incense affair which doesn't follow any kind of trope, but also without being anything too out there. It has a wafting, underlying sense of smoke, and that's what makes it a winner for me. I suppose I get the resins, olibanum, labdanum, galbanum listed here but in truth this is a true accord of incense, without a one of those being too prominent. I honestly went into trying this brand with the usual bright eyed enthusiasm I normally display and even a touch of bias because I find Lyn Harris to be a very good perfumer indeed. There's always a respect for the composition, knowing what's best, complexity and depth but with a less is more and a great sense of knowing when a perfume is finished. I thought it was excellent, shame the price point is so high (again not a critique) because they are a little out of my price range and this certainly wasn't my favourite of the three I managed to try.

Since I first smelled Palo santo as a material I've been fascinated by it. Smells like the kind of thing that would be poisonous to humans, strangely enticing but deadly. My perception of the smell is creamier and more opulent than even the finest 80 year aged Mysore sandalwood, thick, lactonic, with lovely woody nuances. Sounds great right? However, it's SOOOO creamy it amkes you dizzyingly billious. What makes matters worse, is that weived into that is a latex rubber note and of all things mint. yeah mint. so it's mega sandalwood with milk and cookies and melted rubber gloves and then unsettling mintiness. It's fucked up frankly. I NEVER thought that anyone could tame it or use it as the focal point for a perfume and if they did they would have to negate some of the those odder facets and perhaps tame it into a great material because it has more than the potential to be something amazing or create useful effects. Up steps legendary master perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour a perfumer I associate with an eclectic commercial style but also somewhat stark, modernism as well, so it's interesting that he's doing this all natural perfume and surely NOW is the time for a great Palo Santo perfume and my wait is over yeah? NO! NO! it's not! I'm still waiting!!!! Petite Fumee is an olfactory nightmare. No that's a bit dramatic, it's a creepy smell, a really odd perfume. It has the sense in the top notes of a kind of implosion, you know something is lurking deep and heavy molecularly speaking, exactly like sandalwood perfumes do. I mean the sense of a kind of natural, hipster santal 33 only different, maybe rosewood, linalool, cuucmber, spunk? Papyrus? but minus any spicy sharpness or edge. Then the Palo santo starts to really come on, like Hunter S Thompson said '... good mescaline it takes time...' to take effect, but it creeps and crawls until it turns you into a raving madman. The only thing I can say is that Duchaufour has succeeded in taming the oil to a degree, it's much less rubbery and the composition sort of compliments the material, but it STILL manages to permeate and dominate everything else in here. It's an absolute creepshow. Strnagely though, I can't stop sniffing myself when wearing it, it's like rubbernecking an RTA, you know you shouldn't but you feel compelled to do so. I just can't hack this perfume but god love you if you can wear it, I doubt other people will thank you, unless they are oddballs too. Worth a sniff if you've never smelled Palo santo or you like briny, weird cucumber and cream cheese notes. I'm steering well clear though.