the opening of this perfume and I'd say the first 15 minutes or so are the best. On direct spray you get all the fruits, bright, fizzy and sparkling but they quickly give way to a glorious 15 minutes of lightly smoked birch and tonka with a herbaceous mossy backdrop. It does feel quite cold, serious and almost a touch gothic, but never straying too far into that territory thanks to the fruits keeping it just light enough. After this, it turns a bit soapy and powdery which is fine, but I prefer it before the soapiness kicks in. The whole thing is underscored by the musk that Bortnikoff tends to be famous for, It's fatty, animalic and urinous. I have to admit, as much as I don't like the use of real deer musk in perfumery, it does smell good blending with the moss and tonka and birch in the base. Could it be done with synthetics? Probably, yes. Overall nothing groundbreaking, but a classical composition done exceedingly well.

This is a straight masterpiece. Yeh for sure it's very barnyard when you first spray it, but it's fantastic and even if you're not into barnyard, it turns into a gorgeous, dark rose and blossom scent layered over dark woods, the whole thing scorched and smouldering with soft smoke. Magnificent. Nothing more to say.

Anamalic? Fecal? By the Fireplace? What?? No.... These reviews are so bad it's embarrassing. This is not animalic, nor fecal and it certainly smells absolutely nothing like By the Fireplace. It opens with a bone dry incense, a bit spicy, a bit dark and then quickly becomes all about a soft suede/leather note which persists through the heart and drydown whilst the incense takes a back seat. The oud in this fragrance is softer than soft, it's barely an oud fragrance at all in my opinion. It's not challenging or difficult at all, the smoke is a subtle suggestion alongside the fleeting incense accord and the leather is clean as clean can be. It's a lovely scent though, a very polite, easy to like leather that will stand out from the usual night-time crap due to its lack of sweetness which puts it a cut above in class. Nothing groundbreaking, it's essentially the same suede-like leather note that is in a lot of the LV scents, but that single accord made front and centre, whilst a subtle incense and dark woods base hover fleetingly in the background. I like it, but a decant is good enough for me for now, which is a shame because I love the bottle.

Hugely overpriced fragrance. The first 5 minutes of this are wonderful, rich chocolate and orange, a familiar scent but unusual enough in perfumery. After that, however, it gets dominated by a clean white musk and the chocolate that was so good in the opening drops off far, far too quickly, leaving you with a synthetic, candied orange and white musk, with the telltale Xerjoff vanilla in the base. I can't smell any oud in this whatsoever, there is a very light, very clean leather-like scent that lies buried deep down that I suppose could be the oud, but it has barely any presence and makes this smell akin to the interior of a new, relatively fancy car. This is not a bad fragrance at all, it's actually perfectly pleasant and about 90% on the route to being brilliant, but I can't help but feel let down by both the promise of something much deeper and richer after the spectacular opening that falls far too flat, far too quickly. If it maintained the deep, thick and rich chocolate from the opening it would be stunning, but without it, it struggles to leave the realm of "just good enough" and for the asking price, that's well... not good enough.

This is okay. The people who think this smells like Floraiku I am Coming Home are just straight wrong. I don't mean "perfume is subjective" wrong, I mean they're embarrassingly wrong. You could not get two scents any more different. I am Coming Home is a minimalistic tea scent, with a zesty, zippy fresh ginger in the top. This is far more complicated, far sweeter, the tea note is not a minimal, photorealistic approach, but rather an abstract concept wrapped up in a ball of sweet resins and amber, of which there is none in the Floraiku scent. Do not buy this based off of that similarity, you will be disappointed. Anyway, now that point is made, Winter Palace. Yeah, it's okay. Overpriced in my opinion. It opens well and is actually very unique for a while. You get a bitter orange and tea note along with some cloudy resins and that is all quite nice, a smart mix of sweet and savoury. After about an hour it falls back to skin level with very poor projection, though on the flip-side, it does feel quite classy. At this point it's basically a mix of a nice, dusty, slightly powdery musk, somewhat irritating bubblegum and soft amber. Like I said, it's alright. That sounds dismissive, but it's not that, it's just that it's not a bad scent by any stretch of the imagination, it's just nothing special either. It does not live up to the hype for me, but is perfectly serviceable and would make a very classy scent for some middle of the road wear, like a dull day at work or maybe a first date where you don't want to be risky, but ultimately it's just a bit boring and uninspiring. I'm also not really sure what this wants to be, honestly. It's far too shallow for a true niche scent, but probably a bit too "weird" for someone who only buys designer perfume. Instead it just flounders somewhere in the middle, waltzing into the realm of obscurity. Unisex, leaning feminine. Poor sillage but 6+ hours of longevity when you get close in. Nice bottle, which is probably the best part of the whole thing.

This is Lalique Encre Noire with slightly better defined wood a spicier vetiver and a more interesting musk and juniper added in the drydown. That sounds like a lot of differences and it iis enough to set this apart to a degree, but they are damn close. One would make the other redundant in a collection for sure. Personally I'd rather have the Rouge Bunny Rouge for the Juniper in the base which gives it a more dynamic and interesting drydown. As it happens this was made by the same perfumer as Encre Noire and all of its flankers, so it's fairly obvious this is a rehash of the same formula. Nothing really wrong with that as the original was a great fragrance adn this just sort of refines it a touch. Go for the original if you want the raw, dark depths and this one if you want the more refined, fancier younger brother.

This smells, to me, like an incredibly expensive version of Valentino Uomo. It's not exactly similar, but it definitely feels in the same ballpark with the lemon opening that transitions into a smooth, buttery, pastry-like fragrance. The big difference between the two for me is the obvious huge leap in quality from MB, it just smells so deep, rich and frankly, like money. The opening of MB is really top-tier, it's a beautiful lemon, peppery vibe with a touch of the sweetness to come and it's really special. Once the opening lifts away, the orris comes through, thick and luxurious, giving the whole thing a very smooth velvety feeling. It's a very classic touch, but at the same time, MB remains completely modern. I think it would be a bit of a crowd pleaser, my only hesitation being that it is really very heavy. This is another of the main differences between this and Uomo; whereas Uomo is light and a fairly close scent that's easy to wear, MB is heavy and dense and you need to be careful not to overspray or wear in a closed environment in my opinion, it could get cloying and oppressive real quick. Overall I'd say the pyramid is fairly true to what you get, except the patchouli, I didn't notice any patchouli at all, even in the late dry down so it must be soft in there. speaking of the dry down, it lasts forever. On me I sprayed it at 10 am this morning, it's now 3:30 am and I'm about to jump in the shower and I can still smell it as strong as I could at lunchtime. Absolute monster. Classic and very beautiful with a heavy modern edge, it's a beautiful fragrance. The bottle and juice colour is just as fantastic. MB is really a great scent, suited to the colder months, possibly needs to be dressed up to do it justice. I'm not sure it's a love for me, purely based on the fact it feels a little bit showy, but that's just a personal preference and objectively speaking, I think it's a very beautiful scent. Worth the price over Uomo? Not for me personally, I actually prefer Uomo as it's lighter and easier to wear, but there's no mistaking that this is a far superior fragrance as far as pure quality goes. Very nice effort from Penhaligon's and difficult to truly fault honestly.

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.

If you like vetiver, this is one of the best in my opinion. On first spray, you get quite a strong vetiver that fizzes on the skin. This slows down and for a while is accompanied by an oily, gently rubbery guaiac wood. I usually struggle with Guaiac wood in fragrances if I'm honest, but it's okay here. I'm not sure I'd be so happy with this if it hung around, but after about 30 minutes, it fades right out to the backseat of the composition, replaced instead by possibly the most beautiful sandalwood I've ever smelt. It's dry, warm and fresh, more like a wood shop than any incense. This is also alongside the emergence of a rich, dark chocolate. The chocolate to me is more abstract than I was expecting. I feel like throughout the wear, it's more of a suggestion of chocolate rather than an obvious, gourmand chocolate. There are some ever so slight, gentle florals, and a hint of a powdery iris note that shows up briefly, but for the most part, they don't crowd the stage and bow out after a couple of hours. At this point, for me, the scent is more or less linear, with no great changes, all chocolate, woods and vetiver, with some balsamic, ambery sweetness to keep it interesting. But that description is far, far too simple. This fragrance has an incredible duality, whilst remaining completely wearable throughout. It is at once dry and sophisticated and sweet and playful at the same time. It flits between the two faces wonderfully and not in a typical "unisex" way, as in the fragrance as a whole takes on the particular gender, it literally swings between masculine and feminine depending on which notes catch you in the air. It's really something special to experience. It's strictly black tie only but can be total rock and roll, constantly subverting itself just when you feel like you have the measure of it. When it feels black tie, it almost makes me feel bad for wearing it in a pair of jeans and when it flips and feels more relaxed, it just kills it, feeling like pure casual class. The blend of these two faces is really something special here and elevates it beyond your average vetiver fragrance. I think the way it wears like this, it is appropriate for any occasion, though it still feels a bit too classy for casual wear for me. This is more for a dressed up affair, whether that be work or play. It would absolutely kill on a date night, but I don't know if I would wear it for a first date as it has quite a unique character, it would really depend on the situation. As far as gender goes, the subtle oakmoss, woods and vetiver nail this hard as masculine, but as I say, it flips equally feminine with soft, rich chocolate and balsamic notes. I think it can be unisex and I also think this would be very sexy on a woman, but you'd want to be pretty confident in your style. As long as you own the fragrance and don't let it dominate I think it would work. Honestly, I think that applies to both male and female here. Performance is INSANE. two sprays are enough, will net you a decent sillage and won't be overpowering, which honestly I think could be easily done. I sprayed this on at 10am before heading to work and went straight out when I finished, I got home at 3 in the morning, crashed out on the bed and woke up the next morning at 8am and I could still smell it like I just sprayed it. Even after I got out of the shower after waking up that morning, I could still smell it. Mental. I could go on, but I won't. Unbelievable scent.