Port Royal

[lmaunu]

The Sodom of the New World! -- touted as the richest and wickedest city in all creation! Port Royal was the center of 17th century Caribbean commerce, a notorious safe harbor for pirates, and the site of our third flagship store, which was, sadly, destroyed in the earthquake of 1692. Spiced rum and ship’s wood mixed with the body-warmed trace of a prostitute’s perfume and a hint of salty sea air on the dry-down.

Source: Fresh imp from the Lab

On my skin, Port Royal is also more rummy and spicy than woodsy. It has nice throw and staying power, and the spiciness intensifies the longer it's on my skin.

My husband hasn't tried this yet, but I'm going to give it to him since I think that it's a sexy, dark scent that would work well on him. Love it!

[Kimbernunk]

To begin with, it’s immediate wood and something slightly alcoholic. Like someone has taken some driftwood, soaked it in rum and left it out in the sun to dry.

When I wear it, this is an extremely masculine scent. Most of what I can smell at first is a very strong wood scent, but after about 20 minutes my skin starts amping the rum. After an hour, I get a very strong mix of the rum and the wood.

The throw is extremely strong on me – my fiancé could smell it from across the room.

Overall, not my thing but I’ll be passing it on to the boy to see how it works for him.

[Dracoo9]

My Port Royal imp is strangely what I imagined Chimera would smell like

PR becomes a very spicy blend with a lovely driftwood scent in the background. I dont get the prostitute perfume though, which might've made this more floral for me but I love this nontheless. Its amazing and I'll be getting a bottle in the future (evening out all of my sweet vanilla blends )

[savage_rose]

Ozoney yet aquatic, and just a little effervescent and rooty (think Penitence). The rum breaks through every once in a while, smelling earthy and spicy. It smells like high seas adventure...really light and fun, if not something I'd wear everyday.

 

2 hours later, and not only is it still present, but it's become rooty and rummy, and so very delightful. Sooo nice...

Edited April 12, 2008 by savage_rose

[cranberry]

This is a fantastic bay rum/spicy scent. Initially, it was more wood, bay and spice, but the spice and bay quickly overtake the wood on my skin. This is not too sweet and more on the unisex side of scents.

 

Smelling this deeply, this actually reminds me of Russian Tea – cinnamon, clove, tea and orange. This smells so yummy and would make a fabulous room scent. I’ve got that Russian tea association and now that’s all I can smell.

[tinyvulture]

it’s Baron Samedi by the sea... there’s that same warm, sexy spiced rum note, but this time enhanced by aquatic notes. aquatics are sometimes too sweet on my skin, but this really does smell “salty,” as the description notes. and it’s not a strong aquatic – just a light mist of sea spray cooling your skin. after it dries completely, the wood notes come out. they combine perfectly with the spices. this is a great summer scent.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed in imp: Dark peach-amber coloured oil. Spicy - cinnamon and cardamon at least, I'd guess.. Sweet from the rum, a little salty (as in Mary Read). A bit of traditional floral cologne/perfume, some faint dark woods. But mostly this is spicy-foody.

 

For men who like sweet scents, I think this would work well, but it's pretty unisex. Sadly, too sweet and spicy for me.

[greenranger]

Wet, it's wood, rum, salt and a hint of flowers...which is different and unexpected simply because I so rarely get all the notes of a perfume on my skin.

 

 

Drying, it is staying remarkably stable. I don't know that I am excited by the scent itself, but, it is still odd that I actually am getting all the notes on my skin.

 

There is a slight bit of variation, since my elbow is smelling more of the flowers and salt, and my wrist seems to have found out that it was spiced rum...there seems to be at least a little in the way of spices in Port Royal. The wood is becoming the dominant note, but, just barely. It still seems nicely blended, and very piratey.

[goblinshark]

I looooovvvvve this one so much. It smells like rum and cinnamon, but not really boozey, if that makes sense? It lacks that gross alcoholic edge. Really beautiful, although it does threaten to turn craft-store-ish a few hours in. All in all I like it and intend to purchase a larger bottle at some point.

[thomasblackthorne]

Argh, well mates, I'm back for a spell.

 

Imp: VERY RUMMY! THE RUMS NOT GONE! I also detect a slight woody note.

 

Wet: Very spicy and rummy, with a bit of musk hidden beneath.

 

Drydown: Hasn't changed much from the wet stage, some woodiness peeking out, but still majorly just spicy rum.

 

Overall: I MIGHT buy a 5ml of this, but I'm not sure...I may add some editing to this later, see how it is when it's faded for a while...ARGH!

[zankoku_zen]

Yes, I do get the rummy/bay, with a slight herbal tinge, but mostly there is a woodiness to this blend. Very masculine. As it dries, it gets this slight dirtiness to it.

 

I can very well see how this is a dock of a dirty city, full of adventure and sea.

 

Me? I'm a landlubber.

[brsis]

Initial thoughts: I want to love this. I so want to love this, but my track record is against me. All the pirate scents - which all seem to include ozone and wood - just become something bland, soapy and unappealing on my skin. I almost feel sorry for myself subjecting my skin to Yet Another Pirate Scent which won't work.

 

In the imp: Scratch that. Scratch it. I take back the whole last paragraph.

 

What I get first of all from this is a toned down Bakeneko without the cinnamon note. There is Fruit. And Spices. And a hint of wood, to be true, but still. We are back on MY territory, even if it doesn't work out on my skin, this is not just another pirate scent.

 

On the wrist, wet: Forget the rum - this smells like spiced cider. But it's not potent - not at all, it's more like catching the scent through an open doorway. There's also a woodiness, and I can almost get the salty sea air... without it turning to soap either. This is interesting - possibly a little bit light for my tastes, but definately interesting.

 

Twenty minutes later: Well, the good news is that the gentle spicy loveliness with the woody touch is still there. The bad news is that there must be ozone or something similar in there somewhere, and it's turned to faint salty soap. I smell like I've washed with a really good spiced soap. Near the ocean. It's actually rather pleasant - the soapy kick puts me off if I get too close, but the throw is light, discreet but damn fine once you've noticed it.

 

Verdict: Keeper, I'll think on the bottle.

 

Tl;Dr: Spices and wood carried on a light night breeze off the ocean.

[Victory]

I'm kind of surprised how much I like Port Royal, because I hadn't really expected to like it much. On my wrists, the spiciness is strongest, with the woodiness only noticeable when I wave my arms around. The prostitute's perfume is only the very faintest of ideas, and I don't smell the sea air. Behind my ears, it's all spicy loveliness. Spices often aren't my thing, but these spices are wonderful, maybe because of the rum? They're sweet, rather than sharp. Maybe the rum tempers them. I will never, ever, ever use up a full bottle, much less my 50 + bottles, but if I come into a windfall, I might buy myself a bottle of this.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Rum and wood

 

On Application

Spicey rum

 

Dry Down

The wood emerges to blend with the rum as it warms up. Ust when I was starting to think this would be a heavy spicey blend the salty air cools things down and I can detect the prostitute's perfume wafting. Surprising! I like.

 

Rating (0-5)

4

[isisonearth]

In the imp, spices and wood and what might be patchouli.

 

On my skin the scent of the sea air magically blossoms including the hint of salt. I feel like there is a bit of some ambery perfume as well and the spices are still present.

 

The drydown is still slightly spiced and retains that impression of salty air and a base of sun-warmed wood. The spice has a sweet edge to it like allspice...maybe a touch of clove.

 

Absolutely gorgeous. I really hadn't expected this to work on me...I gave away my first imp untried...but when a second came to me I though what the heck. I'm glad I did.

[Josh]

How is it that I've never reviewed this before?

 

While my favorite bpal oils tend to bounce around fairly often, there are usually two that never leave the top of my list, Snake Oil and Port Royal. Mind you, the two smell worlds apart and the only similarity they share is that they smell excellent.

 

Port Royal doesn't have the "base" that other pirate based scents such as Mary Read, The Phoenix, Jolly Roger, Calico Jack, etc, etc use...

 

This one has a slight alcoholic/nutty/salty/aftershave feel to it. That probably sounds rather unappealing on paper, but it smells great and I always receive compliments while wearing it. I must say that I've had various imps and bottles of this stuff and no formulation of it has ever had anything I could remotely pinpoint as "perfume" as the note description lists. This is one of the more masculine scents bpal sells, but it isn't masculine in the typical department store men's cologne way (Dee, Mechanical Phoenix, etc).

 

The closest thing I could say this smells like is a far more sophisticated Baron Samedi, but even that is a stretch. This is one of those "one-of-a-kind" bpals. For guys getting into bpal or ladies looking for something for a boyfriend or husband, this should always be at the top of the list along with the other great ones (Hellfire, Dorian, Satyr, etc).

[AthenaRose]

Delicious! This one smells fantastic on my fiancé. I'm loving the spiced rum. Is that cinnamon? The spicy boozyness kindof reminds me of Dr. McGillicuddy's Fireball Whiskey, haha. Then there's the dryness of the wood, and the saltyness of the sea air, and yes... a hint of something sweet, but i don't know if i would call it perfume.

 

He's a big fan of Old Spice, but this is waaaaaaaay better. Much more complex and not chemically. It's beautiful on him, but i could wear this too. I'll have to try not to steal it.

 

4/5

[sideviewhotel]

When I first tried Port Royal, I didn't like it all that much. But, trying it again (after aging it a while), hooooooooooooooooomg.

 

I definitely smell the rum and oh boy is it delish. Spiced rum is one of my faaaaaaaavorite hard liquors so like.. om nom nom. Add in the hint of musk from the perfume note and the wood and I'm DONE. Now, if only I could convince the boyf to wear my perfume..

 

ETA: Drydown! Hello more woods! I totally kind of want to do myself right now. >>

Edited August 26, 2008 by sideviewhotel

[WickedQueen918]

I got this in a swap with a co-worker and I'm sooo glad she didn't like it, because I love it!

 

In the vial: I smell spices, with a hint of some sort of wood and just the barest trace of saltiness bringing it all together.

 

Wet: Smells spicy...like cinnamon sticks and rum raisin ice cream, but without the uber sweetness one generally associates with it. I'm getting the rum, getting the spiciness...the aquatic note is a little evident now, as is what I believe to be the prostitute's perfume. I don't know what she was wearing, but damn it's good!

 

Drydown: I love how this smells on me...the bf said it was spicy and that's really the only word that comes to mind...besides exotic.

 

Conclusion: Definitely buying a 5 ml bottle of this...it's fantastic! I didn't like the wood note used in Ouija, but the one used in Port Royal smells divine!

[inurbanus]

I put this on last night before studying for my British Empire quiz. It seemed kind of topical. Anyway, Port Royal really surprised me. It's too masculine for me to wear, but it's such an evocative scent that I couldn't stop smelling it. It's exactly what I think a pirate ship would smell like: salt caked wood, a little bit of rum, spices, and something vaguely floral, which must be the perfume. So cool! There's something vaguely aquatic about this, so those who love either aquatics or pirates, check this out.

 

4/5

[Iceblink]

Mmm, cinnamon (I guess that's the spice in the spiced rum) and woods. This is yummy! I don't get any booziness from the rum but the spice in this is fantastic, and it's not overly sweet and foody like a lot of cinnamon BPALs, so it's got a more unisex vibe. Nice!

[donnatron]

Imp: Woodsy, salty. This has an ocean-y edge, but it's certainly not aquatic. I also catch a hint of the perfume element--it reminds me a bit of a wetter Penny Dreadful.

 

Wet: Is there a trace of skin musk in this? It definitely acquires that quick buttery blast I get from skin musk blends. Everything warms and this becomes a very sultry, woody rum. It's a bit spicy and touched with what sort of smells a bit like vanilla.

 

Dry: Drop dead gorgeous. The wood is reigned in the perfect amount, whatever the "prostitute's perfume" (I get the sense there is some sort of "evoking perfume" note the lab uses, because this reminds me of Penny Dreadful, Antique Lace and the Attrocious Attic, all of which have some sort of "hint of perfume" note) is delicate and sexy. The rum is boozy without being clownish and the sea spray is just barely there. Altogether it just smells spicy and sultry and beautiful, but when you get close up it's remarkably easy to break down the components.

 

Throw: Good.

 

Overall: I have bad luck with the salt air/wood scents, so I wasn't too fussed when this showed up in a swap. This is really beautiful and a perfect scent to try if you're iffy on the pirate scents.

[gingiemay]

Wet in imp - Rum, salty sea air and spices. Very similar to Plunder.

 

Wet on skin - A salty, boozy scent.

 

Dry on skin - Still similar to plunder with the rum/spices combo, but the ships wood has come out and the “prostitute’s body warmed-perfume” as well, which is positively delicious.

[djsiberia]

wet: spiced soda, perfume, and shapr biting cologne.

 

dry: still spiced soda and perfume/cologne. not really getting rum...

[Suu4LC]

Hmm. This should be interesting. I love the lab's rum notes, but woods can be a hit or miss, and anything to do with a salty sea is usually DOOM. In the imp, this is a spicy wood. I have the feeling this will be too woody (lol) on me-I tend to amp wood to the extreme.

 

Yum! Spicy wood and spicy rum! Not much perfume or sea air-just lovely rich wood and spicy yummy rum! Warm and sexy!

 

Overall, I do think this is a very good blend...BUT it was still a BIT too heavy on the wood for my personal preference. I love the rummy note, but there are other spicy rum blends I like more, so I don't see myself needing a bottle of this. I still don't get any perfume or sea air from this, but I think "spiced rum and ship’s wood" is a perfect description of this blend! Would be great on a man, a woman, anyone who enjoys pirate-y blends!