The Great He-Goat

[stellans]

The Great He-Goat, Francisco Goya.

Haitian vetiver, Egyptian amber, carnation, black musk, pomegranate, patchouli, and smoked ginger.

 

I knew when I bought this bottle unsniffed from a fellow BPALer via eBay I was going to love it, and I was right. Patchouli is one of my 10 ten notes, and I love vetiver and pomegranate and sometimes carnation too. Black musk and ginger can both play tricks with me, but not in Great He Goat!

At first sniff, the patchouli is all whoa! Love me, I command you! Then the vetiver stands up to be counted, and makes patchouli share my nose: let's call it a draw between the two. I never really get to meet pomegranate or carnation in this blend, but the amber and musk temper the two big guns in this blend to a sexy combination that just doesn't stop, and I mean that seriously. It has great throw and fantastic stay: my scent wafted to me gently from my wrists or my locket (but never overpoweringly), and I didn't have to reapply all day long; plus the q-tip tip in my Cheshire Cat locket is still going strong. Patchouli-vetiver strong, but the amber/musk is there too, just more subtlly.

4 of 5 stars for Great He Goat; if the pomegranate had come out to play, I think the 5th star would have been won.

[arsenicsauce]

This is incredibly dark and earthy. HELLO VETIVER, amping like crazy on me as per usual. Other than that it's very well blended- wet I get vetiver rounded out just a little with a fruity (but not foody at all) overlay, softened slightly by what I suspect is the patchouli. The carnation, amber and musk are there, because it doesn't just smell like pomegranate, dirt, and burnt grass, but I couldn't pick them out as notes specifically in this blend (though I could guess the amber is helping the pomegranate out). Unfortunately from this point on, the vetiver and black musk slowly take over, and they last for hours and hours on my skin being sour and strong as hell. This is completely typical of those two notes on me, however, so other people who can deal with vetiver and musk in other blends probably have better luck. I will say this is the closest a vetiver blend has ever come to working on me; the sweetness of other notes actually manage to tame it a bit, just not enough.

Edited October 14, 2009 by arsenicsauce

[gingiemay]

This should be dark and earthy, but it's light patchouli with a hint of carnation and the smokiness of vetiver. I think my imp is quite old and aged, however.

[megank4]

This reminds me of L'Encre Noir (for him) by Lalique. Just looked up the notes, and it says

"Encre Noire was developed by perfumer Nathalie Lorson, and features two kinds of vetiver (Bourbon and Haitian), cypress, cashmere woods and musk. It is dark and spicy and dirty, with none of the bright, clean feel of Guerlain Vetiver, and has an appropriately inky feel."

 

Guess it must be the Haitian vetiver.

Edited July 24, 2010 by Megank4

[GeorgeJr]

I can not believe that I never reviewed this . This is one of the first bottles I bought for myself after my initial order . Got it at Shell's shop & fell in love with it immediately ( really miss that shop ) . This is sooo dark that I don't think words suffice . Love patch , love musk & love vetiver , so those 3 things alone make this total win for me . I honestly never knew that carnation was in here , now I feel silly not never picking it up before . The addition of amber & ginger just add to the love I feel for this . THIS is what I always wanted a personal ( for me dammit ) scent to smell like . Something that "feels" like I do at times . Dark & maybe dangerous if provoked enough . But also a scent that carries something I never feel about myself , sexiness . Cause for me , this is one seriously sexy scent .

[SophieCedar]

Wet: what a lovely blend. This is like Mme Moriarty's big brother. The vetivert is warm and aromatic because of the egyptian amber and sweet notes. Spicy ginger and pomegranate are dominant with patchouli running behind them. Murky dark black musk is a great addition, tying it together extremely well. (I've seen it tear apart some scents) I can detect a touch of the carnation too. This is so well blended..

Drydown: mmmmmmmmm....egyptian amber, you're my hero. The ginger is still prevalent (yay!), the vetivert is lovely. This is what I wished Death Adder to smell like on drydown. Smoky, sweet, dark, sexy. It's going in the hat for next bottle purchases.

[Ella LaRose]

just got this and WOW!!! This is the perfect man scent for me! I have it on my wrist and all I want to do is have my way with myself! lol!! can't wait for my husband to get home!!

ok,it smells, earthy, tree and pine, sweet and spicy. deep, strong, complex, wow!!!

I will write a reveiw once I smell it on my man! yuummmyyy!!

[Quillifer]

I had reservations about ordering this, and only got round to it because the Salon was closing; I thought it might be just too gritty and masculine for me. I'm *so* glad I did though. It's my new favourite oil. I can't really say how much I like this; it does a lot for me. It seems to reach something in side me - a part of me. I don't get the feeling so much by a couple of hours from application, but since it's strong stuff initially, it will go a long way. I only wish I had more than one bottle now!

[fufu_berry]

I just want to draw hearts all over this scent - dark, inky, bitter, earthy, just a touch of spice and brightness. There were a few minutes where all I could smell was the pomegranate and I got worried because I tend to amp fruits and florals (which aren't my favorites) to high heaven, but it settled down pretty quickly. On me, this is a lot like Cohen v. California's evil twin - a similar "feel" somehow, but with every component darker: the vetiver is charred instead of golden, black musk replaces the black tea, spicy carnation instead of breezy apple blossom, bright tart pomegranate instead of bright sweet apricot. And with a painting by one of my favorite artists of all time to boot! So awesome.

[Almond Blossom]

Just received this one today (unsniffed!) and unfortunately, looks like I have found a new death note - pomegranate.

During the first application pomegranate totally dominated the entire time and ruined an otherwise perfect scent - I could smell the dark and earthy vetiver, patchouli and black musk that I love so much. Actually, all of the notes in this blend apart from the evil pomegranate are total wins with me. Curse you, you evil synthetic sickly sweet pomegranate!

I might wait and test it a couple more times to see if anything changes, but I've got a feeling The Great He-Goat won't be staying with me for long.

[catalyst]

I just got this in a swap, and got an imp as well as a testable sniffie bottle (thank you, Ella LaRose, for the awesome swap). I opened the bottle and I was horrified. It was one of the most rank things I'd ever smelled, and I could not understand the reviews. But, there wasn't anything in the notes I thought I'd seriously hate, and I was in an experimental mood, so I dabbed a teeny bit onto the back of my hand.

 

Oh, hey.

 

I dabbed a little more.

 

This is... this is actually really nice. Very masculine, with strong woods and musk and dirty patchouli. Now, after about ten minutes, the carnation is passing the dark notes in the hallway and coming out to give it a sweeter, more elegant feel, the ginger also coming up to give it a little sharpness (almost too much, wandering into citrus, but right on that line). It's like a satyr in a tux, mingling in a private nightclub, all James Bond style.

 

I like the idea of smelling like a satyr in a tux and/or James Bond. This is very much a keeper.

[vthesiren]

Wow.

 

 

Wow.

 

I was a bit worried about testing this because of my last failures with one vetiver-heavy blend and one ginger-heavy blend, but this one. THIS ONE. It works so well. It starts off as mostly vetiver, but when it dries, it backs off and the ginger comes through. And then the patchouli. It's dark and earthy, but also smoky and sweet. It's spicy, but never threatens to turn into cheap cologne. If I concentrate, I can make out the pomegranate rounding everything out.

 

This scent is pure sex and makes me terribly weak-kneed.

 

LOVE.

Edited June 16, 2013 by vthesiren

[LiberAmoris]

The Great He-Goat opens with a reallll strong vetiver note, wow. Serious vetiver! It takes about 20 minutes for it to fall back on my skin, while the Egyptian amber (yum), carnation, and black musk come forward. The pom, patchouli, and smoked ginger are harder for my nose to find, but this is rounded off in a nice way and I think I can smell the smoked ginger from time to time. It smells great on the drydown, but I'm not sure I can make it through the vetiver stage again. This will be great on my husband, who loves vetiver!

[milo]

A lovely frimp that I haven't tried!! In the imp, vetiver. Yuck. It doesn't seem to be changing, unfortunately, and it's stinky vetiver, and it's getting another scent in there thats really unpleasant on me. So, a fail.

[Lucchesa]

On me, the Great He-Goat starts out all vetiver and patchouli, and as it dries down I get the amber and black musk smoothing out the rough edges of vetiver and patch. Carnation is a great note on me; pom and ginger are iffy (though I was looking forward to trying smoked ginger); I don't really get identifiable portions of any of them. This is dark and retains a bit of the initial harshness. It works well on me, though, and I will keep it for future Goya lectures.

[mandragora369]

I got the new 2018 version, haven't known the original.

 

Got it as decant and definitely will need a bottle, or two! It's amazing!!😍

 

First I get a heady (--> Carnation 💗) patchouli with sweet pomegranate. But the patchouli isn't strong, it doesn't scream cemetery. It's justa bit earthy and a bit more sweet from the pom. There's hardly any vertiver noticeable, the notes soon blend into each other. It's like a heady sexy store bought scent, but soooooooooo much better! 😍 Definitely bottle worthy!!!

 

Sweet, sexy with balsamic earthy base. 💗

[zankoku_zen]

2018 version

 

This is infinitely less goaty - and way more approachable. Or maybe I've matured as a BPAL consummer? It's got less vetiver (its still there and its nice and smoky), musk, amber and whiffs of carnation, ginger, and pomegranate. It's much more balanced for me this time around. Much more wearable. Good throw, low wear length.

[artisjok]

Not sure what year... 

 

The most prominent notes are Egyptian amber and Haitian vetiver. Yum. I get carnation’s spice in the wet phase, yet it is gradually eclipsed by the two former notes. A musk adds to the warmth of the scent, yet it does not seem like black musk... much gentler, very behind-the-scenes. I’m surprised to be missing patch & pom. The ginger... well, I want to say I detect it, yet I also feel like I could be contriving my recognition... In any case, I do really like the grassy note of vetiver and the resinous warm amber so much, I’m not regretful of the missing notes. I’m actually thinking that if the other year is different, I’ll hunt down a bottle. I bet any ration of the notes will be pleasurable!