thewintering

I haven't posted a review of a scent in ages, but this one is really something special. The scent is clove forward, backed closely by leather. The clove is not sharp to the nose. It's rounded by the vanilla-saffron notes of the tonka and persuaded away from the gourmand by the sandalwood and leather. It's an unopened pack of clove cigarettes in an old, well cared for leather jacket with a faint hint of skin and incense. Gender neutral leaning a little masculine. Just on the delicious, dry edge of edible, where you might give it a nuzzle or a nibble if you were adventurous. This is definitely what I'll be using to nurse my wounds about not being able to get a new bottle of Hand of Glory. A warmer, well traveled cousin that prowls self assuredly instead of hunkering down for a good skulk in the shadows.

In the bottle: Dusky chocolate. I don't get mint, just a faint hint of the woods and pistachio that keep the chocolate from being cloying. Wet on skin: In keeping with the scent in the bottle, on application this is vastly chocolate. If you focus you can smell the mint, pistachio and a dusky dried wood softening the cocoa. Dry-down: The mint is very faint and the chocolate is settling into place with the rest of the scents. The pistachio, mint, cedar and oakmoss are harmonizing here so that their single note isn't really as important as how they work together. It becomes what I'd describe as an earthy chocolate spiced with precious woods. Overall: It's not a dead ringer for Thin Mints, but you can imagine them in the blend once it dries down. To me this is more like the girl scout gave up selling cookies and went to a cabin in a wood with rich, dry dirt and sat on the porch with a box of thin mints spilled out next to her. How doth the little crocodile evokes a rugged but inexorably feminine character in the wild west for me. Gunslinging and petticoats.