Fuhrankie

I have a bottle of the 2005 sugar cookie, and it's still AMAZING. I'm thinking that seller was a giant butt.

Black Rose from Rapaccini's Garden. Spellbound Whip I definitely second Whip! And perhaps Zombi, for a dirty rose.

Kathmandu for an arid mountaintop scent? It's full of cedar and dry notes.

Google tells me this is likely to be Rosa Rugosa. I haven't found it in the catalogue, nor know of the scent personally. Possibly the Cherokee Rose SN? London (Venerable Victorian Tea Rose… twisted, blackened and emboldened with wickedness) possibly? It's a tea rose, but it could work! Augh I swear I had a scent in my collection with a 'chinese rose' in it that might have worked, if only I could find the name...? Ah, it's Psychodynamic Discharge, though it's a big blend of a lot. (Repressed rage, terror, and subjugated sexuality erupting through fierce bursts of uncontrollable psychic phenomena: black leather and red musk with aged black patchouli, Chinese rose, black pepper, coconut meat, Haitian vetiver, and igneous red ginger) Or, for something impossibly heady and wafty, try The Raptures and Roses of Vice (Red roses, heady Moroccan musk, cinnamon, lobelia, coconut flesh, magnolia blossoms, and tobacco tar) - a personal favourite. In my opinion it is like being surrounded by a rose plume that is sensual and heady, with touches of creaminess and spice. I'm sure there are many others that people will suggest, I'm just going through a personal database with scents that interested me and/or I've tried.

Definitely The Antikythera Mechanism (Teakwood, oak, black vanilla, and tobacco). The teak is wonderful! Also Arana, if you want a similar feel, but actually contains no teak. Boomslang (Snake Oil with cocoa, teakwood, and rice milk) also has teak in it, as well as being infinitely delicious. Habu (Snake Oil with ho wood, teak, black musk, and bamboo), another snake pit, also has teak- though I haven't smelled that one; it sounds a bit masculine - maybe your man might like to wear it? And for one more lovely blend containing teak, White Peacock (Teak, ebony wood, osmanthus, patchouli, red sandalwood, vanilla orchid, tonka bean, tobacco, wild musk, spikenard, and sugandh kokila). My personal notes say (haven't worn it in a while) that is starts off quite strongly woody, but slowly morphs into a light and creamy scent.

Red-Spotted Purple! Add that one! It's so gorgeously zesty and citrus, though that may be the yuzu as well as the lime. White thyme, yuzu fruit, hinoki wood, blue cedar, white carnation, plum rind, white mandarin, and lime-tinted white musk.

I find that scent to be quite champaca-heavy, and the coffee note is quite green. It is definitely a coffee-based scent, but I don't consider it the drinkable version. It comes across as quite planty in the blend. I know there's another good coffee blend that I've found, but I need to install office so I can access my database. I'll edit this in about half an once I've done so. ETA: Get them to try The Turkish VIllage - Thick Turkish coffee, cardamom pods, Damascene roses, and buhur.

I'm still after a rec that's similar to Fuel For Life: Use With Caution by Diesel. I've tried a few with similar notes, haven't found anything that works thus far.

The Antikythera Mechanism smells great when it's on an oft-worn sweater in the colder months. A lot of the vanilla blends do, actually. I love pulling out a sweater I've lazily not washed and it wafts drydown Snake Oil. The woodier blends are lovely too. There's always something nice about Hope and Fear Set Free or Kathmandu when it's freezing out and you want to smell sun-warmed wood.

Judging from today's testing experience with Wild Indigo Duskywing, this might be right up your alley. It's slightly musky, sort of medicinally spicy, and very smoky. Other reviews say they get a leather feel from the notes.

Have you tried straight-up Alice? It may be something in that blend. The notes for Alice say "Curiouser and curiouser. Milk and honey with rose, carnation and bergamot."

A Shunga from... I think last year? The Sound of Insects. It's an amazing fruity tea scent, and to my older sibling it invoked the memory of Balinese shrines. It's a really good, clean scent, with a lot of pep, but not too much staying power, since the blend is almost pure top notes.

If you like Smut as much as I do, you might like Sed Non Satiata (probably the closest GC scent to it) or Miss Forcible (what Smut's great grandmother would smell like). Some scents that remind me of Black Temple Burlesque Troupe are Intrigue (the same fuzzy softness),Titus Andronicus (unisex, and has an almost identical musk) and Velvet. if you two like BTBT, you should Chase down a decant of Carnaval Diabolique! It has a similar feel, but is more rounded than BTBT.

I'm amazed Achluophobia hasn't been mentioned. It's so deep and foreboding!

A really good maple blend is A World Where There Are Octobers. You could try layering it with something fresh and floral like Tamora (great all-round floral) or Thalia (fruity-floral). I haven't tried many maple blends, according to my datebase. The only other with maple listed as a note is Noh Mask and Maple Leaves, but that's pretty much pure woods and clove.