Wolf Moon 2020

[zankoku_zen]

A mother's unconditional love, soul-deep compassion, and destiny: date plum, myrrh, black mulberry, black poplar, black fig, cypress, cassia, and Pan's sacred pines.

[starbrow]

This is still really fresh, and I can tell Wolf Moon will deepen and darken with age. But here are initial impressions:

 

Those sacred pines are really popping. Top notes are all about the pines, bright and needly, with some herbacious berry notes (the mulberry), that combination inevitably bringing to mind thoughts of Christmas and winter. As it settles on the skin, the spices of this Wolf begin to emerge, with cassia, date plum (it really is more "sticky" and dark like dates!), and fig standing out to me if I think hard about them, but overall it's a mulled effect, the resins and fruits swirled together in a single spiced-wine-in-the-forest feeling. Picture the wild berry-streaked Ranger drinking a skin of Harvest Moon 19, and you'd have a pretty good inkling of what Wolf Moon smells like.

 

I actually got a lot of the same feeling from Flame of the Bear (Yule 2019), but Wolf Moon is a little sweeter and stickier, whereas Flame is a pretty prominent bayberry, a tiny bit smokier because of it (since it makes me think of bayberry candles). I'm really enjoying Wolf Moon in its fresh stage, and looking forward to what it morphs into with age.

 

 

[zankoku_zen]

Pine, plum, fig and cassia scented woods. This one is like a hyped version of Black Forest or maybe Jersey Devil. Dark purple, pine, and woods. Good throw and wear length.

[Casablanca]

First on, Wolf Moon brings me a deeply purple and somewhat perfumey plum and mulberry, darkened with black fig. A very black fig. I like this, except for the musk-perfume vibe.

 

But then pine suffuses the blend, a mysterious night pine, as from Black Forest. A fresh, green herbal quality also comes out; it reminds me of rosemary. This smells like fresh green conifer sap mixed with chewy rosemary leaves... in the dark.

 

The perfume tone quickly vanished, and I don't miss it. Unfortunately, the deep plum-mulberry has mostly departed with it. It lingers as a background hint. A reminder of night.

[Lucchesa]

Wet, Wolf Moon was all about the cypress.  But very quickly that sharpness receded and I got cypress, the resiny sweetness of pine, and dark fruitiness.  I can't make out the cassia or myrrh.  The drydown is just slightly too fruity for my tastes, but if dark fruits and dark evergreens sounds like your jam, this is deep and evocative and lovely, and the throw is better than I usually get.  

[rhonorv]

Holy Christmas! Or maybe more accurately, Holy Yule! This is what a pagan Christmas shop would smell like, if such a wonderful place existed (does it? If it does, do tell!). It's like the moment you come inside from a walk in a wintry forest. The pine is the strongest note for me, but it isn't harsh or nose-dulling as pine can sometimes be. I smell fig and fruits behind it. 

 

I also learned about a new note today: I had no idea what cassia was! Turns out it's a cinnamon-spice type of scent. I can catch a whiff of incensey-spice in the bottle, but it goes away quickly when it's on, and it doesn't read especially cinnamony to me.