The Sea Rat

[femmefatale]

"Right," replied the stranger. "I'm a seafaring rat, I am, and the port I originally hail from is Constantinople, though I'm a sort of a foreigner there too, in a manner of speaking. You will have heard of Constantinople, friend? A fair city and an ancient and glorious one. And you may have heard too, of Sigurd, King of Norway, and how he sailed thither with sixty ships, and how he and his men rode up through streets all canopied in their honour with purple and gold; and how the Emperor and Empress came down and banqueted with him on board his ship. When Sigurd returned home, many of his Northmen remained behind and entered the Emperor's body-guard, and my ancestor, a Norwegian born, stayed behind too, with the ships that Sigurd gave the Emperor. Seafarers we have ever been, and no wonder; as for me, the city of my birth is no more my home than any pleasant port between there and the London River. I know them all, and they know me. Set me down on any of their quays or foreshores, and I am home again."

"I suppose you go great voyages," said the Water Rat with growing interest. "Months and months out of sight of land, and provisions running short, and allowanced as to water, and your mind communing with the mighty ocean, and all that sort of thing?"

"By no means," said the Sea Rat frankly. "Such a life as you describe would not suit me at all. I 'm in the coasting trade, and rarely out of sight of land. It's the jolly times on shore that appeal to me, as much as any seafaring. O, those southern seaports! The smell of them, the riding-lights at night, the glamour!"

Seaweed, ambergris, and sea buckthorn berry with exotic herbs, incense smoke, ship wood, and Burmese musk.

First off, I just love this label.

In the bottle....wow, it's all wood and musk and smoke with just a hint of seaweed and herbs, not much berry.

On my skin, this is just gorgeous! I actually expected this to be far more aquatic than it is. I expected it to be more the sea with a hint of the ship, but this is all ship on me with the barest breath of the ocean. This is what the captains room smells like.
As it dries it is just so well blended. It's also very interesting as it seems each time I smell it I catch a different note. This is the aquatic for people who can't do aquatics. Some might find it a bit manly at first, though I find it to be more unisex. I can't wait to see how it smells on hubby!

[Lycanthrope]

Echo above. This is not an aquatic, in the strictest marine/ozone sense of the word. This is soft, sweet, musky, and there's the spirit of ships in the background, but as the Sea Rat says ... this guy is a swinger who loves the coast! The buckthorn is what I'm assuming gives this the tiniest of fleshy berry punch, but for the most part this is a dashing rogue's musk, cuddly pirate. The dry down is sweeter, and I feel like it's creamy in that resin/amber way.

[GypsyRoseRed]

When I saw the Lab had created a Sea Rat scent, I never thought I'd be able to wear it because I'm not a lover of aquatics. Thankfully, there's more to this old sailor than just the ocean - it's mostly wood, herbs, musk and underlying it all is the warmth of ambergris. It's really surprising and distinctive.

[porcelina]

this is a sea rat on land, as some others have said- it's not overtly aquatic, but there's a touch of salt and sea air clinging to the sea rat's whiskers. the musk is gorgeous and blends very well with the smoke and wood. this is amazing on my bf. on me, the berries go a bit sharp, but it still smells wonderful. i'm hoping aging will tame the berries some. i knew i would love this one!

[msbcozad]

The Sea Rat

 

As the other posters have noted, there's very little "sea" in this rat. I found the Sea Rat fairly masculine when wet; the musk was a heady player. But as it dried down, the the musk softened into incense. After two hours of wear, Sea Rat morphed into a soft, feminine scent and the berries came to the top. There was also the tiniest hint of mint, but it's very thin and subdued. In three hours, the scent was completely gone.

 

Beautiful, but short-lived morpher.

 

Edit (11/23/08):

Today I wore more than a tiny dot on one wrist to test the scent and that made a huge difference. The perfume was strongly masculine again, almost alarmingly so, but it settled down into more feminine territory. It's now been six hours since application and not only has The Sea Rat stayed with me, but the sea notes have finally come out (around hour four). I can definitely smell the berries, but they've taken on a salty chill. It's like standing on a rocky beach on a chilly evening. Looooooovely.

Edited November 24, 2008 by MelanieSuzanne

[PersephonesChild]

I got a lot of decants from the Yule update, and this is the one I decided to skin-test first after sniffing it. Why? Because I'm going out tonight, and in the imp this smelled-- "trendy". A spicy oriental of a more conformist flavor than BPAL usually offers, but it seemed like nice variety.

 

Once it hit my skin, the berry kind of popped out and took over-- funny, because in the imp I smelled no berry at all.

 

After a few minutes of drying, it smells slightly like a Christmas candle, but more like old man cologne. Ick. Well, that'll teach me to slather before skin-testing.

[surlygurl]

Oh yum! This is lovely! (The 'candle' description above makes me hesitate, but it's still lovely )

 

In the vial: Interesting, if a little masculine.

 

Fresh on skin: There's the masculine, but it's surrounded by deep purpley-red spices, like a sweet Port Royal.

Wait? What is that? Berries!? No.....Yes!....Noooo..... Huh. Must be sea buckthorn berries.

 

Drydown: As it dries, it retains the sweet & spice, but the 'ships wood' and the musk join in. I don't smell seaweed (thankfully) and I don't know what ambergris smells like. And the berry is really the only thing I can identify. Later on, the berries get less sweet as the incense comes out.

 

Overall, a sweetly spiced musk. When I first tested this, it went on my Bottle list. Now I can't stop thinking about Bayberry candles. Hopefully the scent will age away from that, because I really do want a bottle of Sea Rat.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Quietly stunning, water, incense, and a rich dry musk. The musk is quite striking with the sea scents. The wood and herbs are understated, but charming with the other elements. Wet: This is surprisingly rich and a beautiful embodiment of the concept. It really does evoke a rat sailed ship at sea. Musks can often be too much on my naturally musky skin, but this one is light and so nicely balanced I have hopes that I really can wear this one. The buckthorn berry is fascinating, the incense light and complex. Dry: The Burmese musk goes rather patchouli, but not in a bad way. The effect ends up being dry wood and sea.

[Seismogenic]

Pirates? Small fuzzy critters? Being from a storybook I loved when I was little? Also reminding me of Redwall, never mind that the sea rats in those books are the bad guys? Yes plz!

 

In the imp: Rather cologney, but also sweet. I can't tell what's contributing to the sweet yet. It's not unlike how Frederic smells in the bottle.

 

Wet on skin: This immediately gets more complex and less overtly cologney. I'm getting wood, something berryish, and a few herbs.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, it's spiced incensey wood with berries and musk. No seaweed yet, and I'm not sure if I'd know ambergris if it punched me in the nose; it could also be in there. After about an hour, it's pretty much the same combination/balance of notes, though perhaps more seamlessly blended.

 

Five hours later: Seems like there's more musk and less of the berrylike smell now, but the overall effect of sweetened spiced wood remains. The throw has faded somewhat, but the scent is still quite present.

 

End of the day: A faint bit of muskiness remains, if I sniff for it. This faded pretty quickly past the five hour mark.

 

Overall: I think this nails the character: piratical but refined, not to mention furry. However, without thinking of the inspiration and only comparing to other smells I have sniffed, The Sea Rat really reminds me a whole lot of Frederic. The specific things that make Sea Rat sweet are different from what make Frederic sweet, but they're close enough, and the other notes are also quite close, which makes them very comparable on my skin. The Sea Rat is what you'd get if you went to a staging of Pirates of Penzance in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals! This said, I like Frederic a lot, which means I also like The Sea Rat a lot, but since I already have a bottle of Frederic, there's no urgency in upgrading Sea Rat.

[blu°]

Wow, this is wonderful, and I wouldn't have thought so.

 

It's not really aquatic at all, as everybody else has already mentioned. I get some intense woodsy smokiness, similar to the one I usually get from patchouli leaf. I'm stunned that I like this so much as usually ambergris is not one of my favourite notes and tends to make scents lean too much on the masculine/cologne-y side for me. But so far, I don't smell it in Sea Rat at all.

 

The scent is quite strong and throwy, and all warm and smoky with just a hint of something fresher hidden inside and a touch sweetness from the berry and musk. It would work very well on a man, but it's totally something I can wear and enjoy on me, too. It smells kind of wild, yet clean *and* snuggly.

 

I've been testing a bunch of Yules the last two days, and this is my favourite from those first quick skin tests.

 

The longer it is on, the warmer and sweeter it gets. While retaining the smokiness, the slight fresh aspect retreats, and I think it reminds me a bit of Devil's Night now. Or maybe even the original Hex. I'm a bit sad as I liked the clean feeling it had at first, and I hope it doesn't get too heavy with warmth and sweetness. Will certainly report back on this.

 

ETA: After several hours, this is still going strong, and does indeed remind me of the original Hexennacht most while retaining some of the woodsy smokiness I get in Mme Moriarty and Crypt Queen. I'm curious whether it's like this for others, too.

Edited November 30, 2008 by blu°

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is wicked strong d00d cologne...

 

i have nothing else to say...

[hlinspjalda]

In the bottle: Salty, almost a bay rum kind of bite to it, and some spices. Of all the nautical scents I've smelled so far, this one is the closest to capturing my idea of what a pirate ship should smell like. Of the whole WitW line, this is the one that made the strongest initial impression on me.

 

Wet: Very strong tannic and evergreen impression, like hemlock berries. But there's also an herbal note, a trace of the ambergris, and the sweetness of burning incense.

 

Half an hour: A little crittery, a bit like weaseljuice only sharper and less sweet. Lots of ropy evergreen notes, sitll reminds me of hemlock or maybe juniper. Underneath everything there's still that faint sweet smoke note. A very complex scent, it reminds me most of what Scorpio 2007 did on me except for the missing basil/anise-type note.

 

One hour: Still crittery evergreen smoky spicy. Definitely the most intriguing of the line.

 

Two hours: Not much change. This one is strong and long-lasting on me. And it still smells rather like bay rum, or maybe it's spiced rum, in addition to all the other notes. Very nautical, very piratical. I'm liking it a lot.

 

Three hours: I love the Sea Rat. Not only does he talk purty, he smells purty too. This scent is not me, but if it smelled on my husband the way it smells on me, he'd never leave home!

 

Ten hours: Herbs, smoke, musk, something spicy. I really like this one. It has a lot of staying power, too I'm going to try to get my husband to try it.

[rayvn1]

Wow! This is really strong and masculine out of the imp.

Really. Strong.

There's a faint green-water edge in the background that might be the seaweed. Once it fully dries there are warm berries and musk. Pretty!

[iiinterstate]

Like some other reviewers, I didn't get any berry at all until it touched my skin. Now it's mostly berries and herbs with a heavy musk base. I'm really not sure how I feel about this yet... it's so STRONG.

 

After a little while it gets salty, which is appropriate, seeing how this is the SEA Rat. I do rather like it, but I don't see myself wearing it often at all.

[Hayet]

My husband says this is straight up Irish Spring.

I like it, but it's extremely strong and long-lasting. An imp will be fine!

 

ETA: I'm considering getting a bottle of this one...I think I'm a secret fan of Beth's ambergris. This actually smells like a masculine, spicier version of Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, one of my top ten.

Edited December 17, 2008 by Hayet

[Lamia]

NUMMY!

 

This started generically masculine and boring - something that would be nice on the right man but otherwise meh on me.

 

It ripened slowly and methodically, turning more musky, and then spending a lot of time developing a fantastic red fruit note, similar to "Frumious Bandersnatch". The fruity note finally died back after nearly an hour, and there is a strong salty fiberous-wood scent, sparring (HA GET IT SPAR) with the red fruit.

 

If it had stayed with the strong red fruit, I'd likely get a 5ml of this. However, the strong wood scent pulls this down to being content with my half-imp. Still nummy though!

[Ravenclaw79]

First sniff: Muted Old Spice?

 

Drying down: Something sweeter and a little soapy, with some masculine spices remaining.

 

Later: Where'd it go? There's a faint woody-soapy thing going on, but it's almost gone entirely, and it hasn't even been that long.

[Suu4LC]

I won't lie, I'm a bit nervous about this one...bpal aquatics are usually doom on me, especially seaweed. But I received this as a generous frimp, so I gotta give it a shot.

 

Smells actually rather nice in the imp, rich wood and incense, with a hint of aquatics. Very cologney on my skin, masculine and spicy. Not the sharp aquatic I was expecting at all! This is gorgeous!

 

Honestly, I would not buy this for me...it's a bit too masculine for my tastes, but I think this is an amazing blend. A perfect spicy, woodsy, incensey blend with just a hint of (non-sharp) aquatics and dark berries that is masterfully blended. Very sexy and warm!

[zankoku_zen]

This is one in which I wish my husband's skin chemistry was exactly like mine. On me, it smells like a rich, complex, slightly sweet musky incense. GUH. So good. I'd jump on a guy like this. I might go and sneak off to go hump my wrist....

 

TMI.

 

On my husband, it smells nothing like this. It's woodier and muskier, but the musk just smells dirty. SAD.

[Little Bird]

Sniffing this in the bottle, I immediately wanted to slather it on my boy (and so I did). It's a sexy, masculine fragrance. Warm musk, clean aquatic, and what smells like a warm, spicy bay rum to me.

 

On my boy, the scent instantly goes sharper and smoky. I also smell something like a tart red berry. It actually reminds me a lot of Australian Copperhead.

 

In the drydown, it's not as sharp. This is a really sexy fragrance. The Sea Rat is like a smoky, masculine musk-vanilla-spice combination with hints of a tart berry. It's very manly, but also warm and comforting. There's no aquatic to be found at all.

 

I liked this so much on my boy that I've just given him the bottle.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Deep goldenrod-coloured oil. INCENSE, smoke, wood. A bit of salty seaweed, that sweet waxy ambergris, and some rich musk too.

 

Wet: Much lighter, and saltier. A little soapy. A tiny hint of sea buckthorn. Still heavy on the incense and combined with the wood this has a dusty feel. The musk is divine, though.

 

Dry: Slow to dry, but that fruity berry really emerges over time - it's slightly juicy and a little tart, almost reminds me of cranberry. Sadly, the smokiness of the incense has amped as well.

 

Later: That deep, sexy, rather feral musk has amped as well and I really like it combined with the light tartness of the berry. The salty-soapy elements have faded almost entirely.

 

Summary: Dark smoky incense, rich, sexy musk, waxy-salty ambergris and dusty wood, touched faintly by sweet-tart berries and a ghost of salty soap. Lower throw, but lasts forever.

 

Too much incense/smoke/dust, not enough berry/seaweed. Alas.

 

[forspecial_plate]

This scent is very rich to me, very strong too. Somehow it doesn't quite work out for me and I'm not sure why, because I thought I liked all the notes here. It's just a little too powerful and kind of masculine/aftershavey (which is okay sometimes, and other times turns me off). I think I'll hold onto my decant for a while longer, because who knows what a little aging might do. Overall, it's so well blended that I can't really pick out individual notes, except maybe some of the incense and fruit/berry (although to be honest, I'm not even sure what sea buckthorn berry smells like...).

 

I think it has potential, and maybe it will calm down a little with some aging.

[nemaihne]

Woo hoo, an aquatic I can wear. Ok, so it's not terribly aquatic, but it still smells nice and the scent has both a subtle throw and a long duration on me.

 

Bottle: Watery and spicy. Somebody's dad's cologne?

 

Wet: Musk and aquatic.

 

Dry: Musk, spice and the slightest hint of aquatic.

 

Bought the bottle for art (which is awesome, BTW) and the name. But am definitely keeping and wearing this as a nice, quiet scent.

[savage_rose]

This smells so beautiful! It smells like the ocean, salty, but with briny vegetation mixed in. And there's something a bit like Juniper mixed in, drying out the aquatic overtones of the blend. This is more unisex than masculine to me, but I can really see (smell?) this smelling good on a man. Mmmm!

[PurringPulsar]

The Sea Rat

 

In the imp: oh, exotic incense and amber! This smells potentially gorgeous.

Wet on skin: wow, just like a spice market, by the sea!

Dry: this is magnificent! This is the exact kind of scent I wanted to get from Port Royal! This smells like beautiful oriental spices and herbs wafting from a sun baked eastern market, mingling with a sea breeze and a dash of dapper and musky cologne. I smell lots of amber here-which I’m guessing is the ambergris. This reminds me of a spicier version of Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife. I also smell something fruity, and a very pleasant waft of salt (but no soap or ozone!). but overall, it’s incense, exotic spices and herbs with ambergris and some furry musk.

After a while: this does go into a more masculine stage, but it’s still gorgeous. The musk is warm and velvety, and there’s still that wonderful incense, now smokier than before, the berry note, and the spices and ambergris. Now it reminds me of Frederic, but I much prefer this. It’s also got a salty/sea air/salty wooden beams scent which isn’t at all soapy, and I love that. It smells like ship’s woods and pirate’s plundered booty-spices and perfumes and glittering treasure.

Verdict: why can’t all the spicy pirate sea blends smell like this on me? This has the perfect incense note, a blend of spices that smell just like an oriental souk, and the sea note is also perfect. This smells how I’d imagine the exotic spice markets of the Sea Rat’s home of Constantinople to smell. Wonderful and exotic incense with bazaar spices, amber resins and musk, mingling with charming masculine perfume and a waft of sea air. I think the spices and incense in here are some of the nicest, most evocative and exotic I’ve ever smelt in BPAL and I’d love more scents with this kind of souk thing going on. Another brilliant thing about this scent-no soap or ozone from the sea notes! And though this does have a slight hint of something like manly perfume, it’s subtle enough for me to pull off. Probably one of my favourite sea-themed scents.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Yes! my favourite of the WitW set! Now I wish I’d bought two bottles…

If you like this, try: Port Royal, Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife, Frederic, Calico Jack, Pirate Moon