Torture King

[rosered]

TORTURE KING

 

The King of Pain, the Famed Fakir. Frankincense and sweet clove, mandarin and bourbon, lemon peel and leather, grasses and smoke, lime and vetiver, ambergris and deep musk.

 

Me:

Rich and elegant, with a sharp bite hidden in it. Smell the exotic incense while you watch the show, watch the smoke curling up and clouding your vision. There's a fresh breeze from the green field outside fluttering through the tent flaps to keep it from becoming too heavy. Eyes half lidded and feeling pleasently drugged (or maybe it was that swig of bourbon from your hip flask), you see the impossible happen.

 

Incense, but with a crispness to it from the citrus and grass notes. I can feel myself blissing out just from deeply sniffing the bottle. It still retains some of the citrus on me, but it warms up a bit. I tend to get a headache from burning incense, but this is wonderful!

 

Final thought:

 

I have a bottle, and I'm keeping it! If I get a chance, I'd get another one.

[kmasden]

My first thought with Torture King, right after applying, was campfire smoke. That was the predominant smell I got from it. You know when you've camped for 3 days and the jacket you wore sitting around the fire is just permeated with smoke. Not unpleasant but very smokey and strong.

 

As it dries, it seems to sweeten. I am definately getting a sweetish bourbon, lemony feel, a touch of mandarin and lime, leather, those for me are predominant. Another scent that has a quality reminiscent with skin to me.

 

So far, many of the CN scents are really matching a vision in my head. Torture King, is he balding with a big goatee ish beard....no shirt, some type of cigarish thing being puffed on, a bottle of bourbon sitting behind the barrel, oil on his body, a mean streak. I have no idea if that's what a torture king is, but in my head that's what he looks like and now I smell him!

 

I really think it is pleasant on drydown, very tobacco leaf, leather, bourbon, lemon...the citrus is very slights. A bit addicting, i can't stop sniffing.

[olympia301]

Very nice! Lemon and citrus with leather and incense. I had some incense when I was a kid that smelled just like this. I still have it and hoped I could find something similar, and Torture King is it. I can't get the frankincense or clove but I sure can pick up the citrus and leather. This one grows on you. At first I thought it was sort of a lavender, now I know I was wrong.

[WaldorfSalad]

On first sniff, I got a light fruity/sweet note, probably from the mandarin, lime and grasses. However, after application, I get a great underlying spicyness, without overdamping the initial crispness. However, the scent remains subtle enough to wear to work.

 

Bourbon, leather, grasses, smoke -- all there, and nicely set off by the lighter citrus notes. I think this is going to be a great "Men's" scent.

 

Well, at least chalk up one man who's going to be wearing it a lot.

Edited August 2, 2005 by WaldorfSalad

[UltraViolet]

In the bottle

Mmm. Something foody and warm...almost vanilla or a bakery smell like, but muskier.

 

On

Thus far i'm pleased with Torture King. It's kind of fruity as in orangey and deeply foody with spices.

 

30 minutes

There's a small undertone that isn't the best when it dries. It reminds me of a similar ingredient in Snake Oil (which is why I don't wear Snake Oil...I'm way in the minority here). It isn't even my skin, it's my nose, it's just this way smelling it from the bottle. I have the same thing with Lush and their coconut stuff...dunno what it is.

 

Throw:

average

 

Scent category:

Fruity/Foody

 

Summary

At first it's fantastic foody, bakery, yummy and spicy scent.

Then it's sorta weird smelling on top of a bakery.

Then it becomes good again.

Then it disappears. The scent faded so quickly on me.

 

Purchase again?

Previously I'd written "Yes! a 5ml" before but now I'm editing it to be a "maybe". It's good but not a "Wow!" to me.

 

1-5 rating (5 being best)

3.5

Edited August 5, 2005 by UltraViolet

[sheepzeit]

Torture King sounded like a jumble of curious and fascinating things. It has a warm, summer afternoon dusty feel to it, languid and slow. With the sweetness of bourbon and the spiciness of clove and the earthiness of resins, I feel lazy and hot. This is not very unlike The Lion, which conjured a very similar image.

 

I barely smell the lemon except for herhaps a tangy sweetness that adds an edge to the bourbon. I can envision all kinds of strange antique curios from a carnivale tent. I feel like I'm poking through Borgin and Burke's on a summer day!

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

A rich, woodsy citrus

 

On me:

I'm not sure how well I'll be able to describe this, as I find this is a pretty complicated scent. In a good way The first thing that comes out is the citrus - it's not bright, sunshiney lemon though - it's deep, dark lemon. That phase quickly dies down though and Torture King becomes a very well rounded, woodsy/spicey masculine scent. The ambergris and clove are dominant on me it makes for such a comfortable, yet sexy scent. I can definitely get away with wearing this, but I can also say that this is masculine. This scent is just sweet enough to balance out that earthy musky part of it.

 

Final note:

I'm not sure what else to say about this one - it's very pleasant! I love it and my brother loved it. It's also long lasting and has a lot of throw.

[Northernminx]

Frankincense and Lime were the predominant notes in the bottle for me, a sort of more smokey version of Villain, soft and far more subtle than I anticipated. The metallic first touches of clove came in and as this dries down it's incense, clove, and a touch of leather. Vetiver starts to creep in towards the very end. Amazingly complex, herbal and woodsy and masculine. This was a lot less powerful than I feared and while not quite me, also was interesting to experiance.

[pkwench]

Sharp, wicked, smokey, and a little secretive. The first thing that I get is clove. Lots and lots of clove in a very smokey room. There's also distinct leather in this - which I find amazing since I never get any leather smell on me generally. The lime and lemon and something warm, almost vanilla-y come out right in time to sweeten up the smokey clove and leather smell that gets suddenly dark - I assume because of the musk and ambergis. It sort of reminds me of Hell's Kitchen from Candles by Cows, but much darker. It's a very pleasing scent on my skin, one that I find myself growing fonder of as the day goes on. It's that spiced smoke and murky thing that I find myself enjoying so much. It's so saucy.

[Sistinas]

a review of Torture King

 

Vial ~ I think so far this one has become my favorite. It smells so subtle

but yet it is very comforting for me. I am a sucker for musks too.

 

Wet ~ As I smell it I am able to pick out the sweet clove, leather, lime

and vetiver. Of course I can pick up the deep musk too.

 

Drying ~ the vetiver comes out rather strong, with a faint hint of the

lime. I think for some this might be a bit masculine for them, but I tend

to favor those more.

 

Dry ~ Completely dry now, it is grass, smoke, leather, but it is not dry

or dusty as one might imagine. The clove and the bourbon keep the it from

becoming too dry.

 

Fade ~ Definitely need to wear this one more. It also has a nice throw to

it.At one point it the clove faded, but it has reappeared, I might try

layering this with some cinnamon later on.

 

Final thoughts ~ This blend lived up to what I had hoped it would be.

The scents blend well together and throw off this wonderful scent that

is definitely unisex. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give this one a 4.

[Penance]

Preconceived notions:

 

Torture King is a combination of notes I love and notes I hate, so this could go either way. If it weren't for the citrus notes, I'm sure I'd love it, but they could ruin this one for me.

 

First sniff:

 

Yuck, citrus! I smell lemon, lime and leather and it really doesn't appeal to me. I hate to say it, but this really makes me cringe. I don't get any of the notes I love, just horrible, evil citrus and a dose of leather.

 

Wet on skin:

 

The citrus note isn't so horribly overpowering once this is on me, which is good, but it's still not quite me. Now I smell the frankincense and ambergris and clove and the tiniest bit of bourbon (a note I love and would love to see more of) in addition to the citrus notes I got from the bottle.

 

Dry down:

 

All of the offending citrus seems to be gone, but Torture King isn't quite wowing me, somehow. I'm not sure why that is because everything I'm smelling is something I really like. I'm getting frankincense, clove, ambergris and a tiny bit of bourbon and it should be perfect for me, but it's just not grabbing me for some reason.

 

The bottom line:

 

I'm a little too neutral toward this to justify keeping it when I have so much perfume, but I'm going to give it another shot before I get rid of it just in case.

[aidenraine]

Oh... my.... god....

 

 

I love this in the same way I love Urd. Wet it's got that fruity-musk scent to it. It's spicy and sweet, alluring, like it has vanilla in it perhaps even though that's not a listed ingredient.

 

This is one of those rare scents that moves me so much I can feel my eyes tear up.

 

I can smell the smoke and the lemon in it.

Oh swooon.

 

It's just amazing on me.

 

So smokey-sweet.

 

In the drydown it gets more leather- like a jacket that has turned musky and sweet from rubbing up against many types of perfume and body lotion.

 

Torture King was not one I expected to like so much because I hadn't heard anything about it... but GAHHHHH....

 

I can see this on a man, but it belongs on me too.

[nineveh]

In the bottle, I can smell lime, clove, vetiver, and maybe frankincense. It smells deep with a bright, sharp edge.

 

On my skin, the leather, smoke, and musk emerge, but still with the sweet citrus top notes.

 

As it dries, it gets spicier and the citrus becomes less apparent. I'm glad for that, since the citrus notes in the description didn't appeal to me.

 

And now they've completely faded, leaving me with smoky, spicy frankincense and sweet leather (and musk and all the other deep notes). This smells so good.

 

Don't be scared of the vetiver! It's very subtle and well-blended here (on me, at least).

 

I'll definitely wear this a lot once it gets cooler around here.

 

edit: The second time I tried this, the sharp citrus notes stuck around and gave me a headache, so I don't know if I'm going to keep this afterall.

Edited August 21, 2005 by nineveh

[shelldoo]

in the vial:lime, smoke, leather

 

wet: the vetiver come out to bitch slap me in a sexy, masocistic way, the lime is lingering around the edges

 

 

as it dries the vetiver settles down to play a supporting roll, i get mostly frankencense, no clove or mandarin, alot of leather, the lime is hiding now. i think the vetiver must have gotten a bit too naughty for the sweet innocent lime. and the musk is just intwining everything, bringing them all together in a big bondage love fest.

 

 

this is a sexy, musky, sexy, sexy blend. hmmm i may have to "annoint" my dh and see what happens mauahahahaha

[arabella]

First Impresson: Smoky citrus.

 

Dries down to: The only note I can pick out is mandarin. After a very short while, it all muddles together into a faint, dry, exotic blend. Then, the sweet clove peeks out - again, very briefly.

 

Additional Comments: It's a nice blend - at least, I think it is. It fades so quickly on me that I have to stick my wrist right under my nose within five minutes of application to even be able to tell I'm wearing anything.

 

Lasted: Five minutes, before almost totally disappearing on me.

 

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 (It's just too swiftly fleeting)

[sarada]

This is very happy-making in the bottle. Bright, bold tangerine-orange with something slightly darker underneath. Ah, I definitely smell lime, and I think saffron -- okay that's not listed, but maybe that's clove I'm detecting. There's a smooth, comforting warm layer underneath that reminds me of King of Clubs...the leather, amber and musk notes make you want to rub your face up against it. A very passionate, living combination of scents.

 

The orange and lime remain fairly strong though those kinds of scents always fade very quickly -- but the rich array of seemingly disparate components play together very nicely and one never overpowers the other.

 

I love vetiver but I don't smell it at all -- still, it must be contributing to the overall feeling of warm comfort that I get from this, which is spiked with points of citrus. I think of a man with a furry chest and a face full of piercings who is still somehow a warm and inviting figure that you'd want to hug. It's very different on my skin from in the bottle, as that initial super-tangerine burst dies down very quickly and it becomes a different take on the same kind of masculine theme that King of Clubs started.

 

It's very manly though, and while I anticipate keeping it and wearing it, it might be more of a bottle-sniffer than a wearer, for me, even though I favor masculine blends. This might put hair on my chest. I suppose I do have a male sitting around that I can dab it on too though! And this will be another fabulous one for the fall!

[lorajc]

I was afraid to order this because of the vetiver, but I did anyway. The vetiver is detectable out of the bottle, but it does not amp up on my skin. I found this to be a bit too masculine for my tastes. I also don't like the bourbon note. I've not had terrible luck with bourbon in the past either. I like the Lime, clove, amgergris and musk and those notes make this reminiscent of Voodoo to me.

[donsixgun]

Spicy, leathery, smoky, with musk and lemon. I like this a lot. It’s a bit on the masculine side (and its certainly not a ‘soft’ scent), so I hope my sweetie likes it (I got it for her).

[Splendid Molerat]

Torture King is heady, smoky and booze-y.

 

Not really an earthy scent, but it sure ain't 'clean' either. I'd run away with Penn Gillette if he smelled like this.

 

And I'd arrive at a sorry end, too, I'm certain.

[coulrophobe]

In the bottle, I'm getting a strong waft of lemon, mixed with deeper, smokier notes.

 

On: Dark musk and a hint of citrus... I'm not picking up much in the way of other discernable notes. The lemon mellows out, and there's a nice musky scent.

 

I like musk. On the subject of what musk smells like, I always just feel it smells like people - dark/black musk smells like men, red musk smells like women, and white musk smells like babies (nice clean babies, that is!). I'm definitely getting a clean, manly aroma from Torture King... very nice, and comforting. Not torturous at all!

[Krista]

Ahh, the smokey scent. I do not do well with smokey scents. It smells like...pine (?maybe the lemon) and smoke. I'm not a fan of this one really. It is a mysterious, dark scent, but it's really not for me.

[Yagathai]

In the bottle: Lime, vetiver, lemon zest, and something rich and nutty lurking in the background. Maybe the leather and/or musk? No smoke or clove at all, more's the pity.

 

On my skin: The overwhelmingness of the citrus notes vanishes almost as soon as it hits my flesh, though the notes do remain in the background. I get the frankincense and grass in a sweet rush, and maybe a tantalizing and delicious hint of clove, with the musk and leather and vetiver laying down a solid backbeat. This is one multilayered fragrance!

 

Slowly but surely, the darker, greener and more assertive odours take the fore and the sweet fruitiness gets relegated to a supporting role. Vetiver starts to assert control, as it tends to do, and the sweet citrus turns to more of a tangy scent. Amergris and musk and frankincense, normally strong leading players, turn into a backup chorus. No sign of the clove or leather, sadly, but I think that the bourbon and smoke are buried in there somewhere, along with the grass.

 

Final verdict: Dark musk tends to go sweet on me, and this is no exception. In combination with the vetiver, which is stronger than I'd like, and ambergris, Torture King has a very powerful primary odour profile. While there is a lovely spicy, tangy undertone, the primary smells are so strong on me that they all but overwhelm the rest for the first half-hour or so. Once it dries down, the complex notes blend into something quite pleasant and spicy -- though still a bit too sweet. If I want to smell sweet, I'll wear Villain, thank you.

 

This is a scent that I think I might absolutely love on someone else, but I don't know how often I would feel compelled to wear it myself. I like it enough that Torture King will get a second try before I issue a truly final Final Verdict, but it's definitely not going on my A-list just yet.

Edited August 26, 2005 by Yagathai

[Em-]

Another CN scent that I really like. I am getting a lot of the notes out of this one, especialy the woodyness and the citrus, which blend together beautifully. I like it on me, and think it will be fabulous on my hubby as well, but still need to try that out.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Very citrussy in the bottle, but not in a sunny way... this manages to be dark and dry despite the citrus.

 

Wearing: Initially a strong hit of cirtus, the frankincense quickly comes out to balance the fruit. As it dries, I smell a little of the ambergris and dry grasses in the background. Eventually the citrus fades entirely leaving a strange frankincense/ambergris finish behind.

 

Final Impressions: I like this one, but I'm not really sure it's me. It is definitely different and interesting!

[Red_Hot_Mama]

I love the drydown on this one; sweet clove & divine frankincense. There's an initial blast of lime & grasses when first applied but that phase doesn't last very long.

 

This would be wonderful on a guy. Different chemistries will most certainly pull out a variey of notes.

 

Torture King is one I think will get deeper & richer with age.

 

A keeper, definitely!