Top Notes 
Fig
Heart Notes 
Clary sage
Base Notes 
Sandalwood
Elysium
898 Reviews
Elysium
Very helpful Review
5
A Big City Smell in Modern Italy
What do Milan city, fig fruit, and pencil sharpener have in common? Z Zegna Milan is all about those. It is an exciting spin-off and a million miles away from Zegna's original Z fragrance. First of all, Z Zegna Milan belongs to the cities collection limited edition together with New York and Shanghai, this one dedicated to a significant and modern Italian city I have lived for many years.
It's a very dry woody fig with some smoke and a touch of sweetness. Unusually for a fig fragrance, it is not paired with any coconut, or vanilla, or other fruit. The representation of fig here appears to encompass the whole fig tree, rather than just the fruit and leaves. In that respect, it is unique; however, on my skin, it does remind me of something that I wish I could recall, but not necessarily another fig fragrance. It starts with fig, ends with fig. Surely you get some santal-woody vibe escorting the fig towards the dry down. It is an attractive, very well blended, all fig-heavy scent. Not your regular mainstream designer generic, dull scent. If you ever been to an original Mediterranean city, you'd probably smelled something similar in the air on a warm summer evening, sea breeze mixing with the warmth of fig trees.
That being said, I can hardly believe that Z Milan consists of just those three notes. Sincerely, those must be the main notes, yet note the only ones. I get a pencil sharpener note in the middle-end phase, which is a typical result of incense-cedarwood and ISO e Super combination. Incense Cedar is one of the primary woods used in making pencils and has a spicy odor that's commonly associated with pencils. I adore the smell of freshly sharpened pencils savoring the scent of newly-released aromatic oils and resins previously trapped within the wood. I don't know about anyone else, but I love it. Now it doesn't seem very easy to find anything other than plastic mechanical pencils, but less than 150 years ago, lead pencils were only first being mass-produced.
To me, it certainly seems to have additional notes other than just those listed. I could detect a particular smoke note that wouldn't ordinarily come from either fig, clary sage, or sandalwood unless you were burning sandalwood incense. I also clearly distinguish an amber resinous quality to the dry down that appears to come from either labdanum, benzoin, or even myrrh. I guess it could be sandalwood, but not how I would ordinarily recognize it, undoubtedly not its creamy aspect.
The dry down is where the titled woods make their appearance, and they're very friendly. A bit like a pencil, but the most delightful pen you can imagine. Maybe a Hermes pencil to go in your Hermes agenda.
Longevity is average to moderate at about 6 or 7 hours, and projection is reasonably soft. Yet, my colleagues pleasantly commented that the divine aura was in there around my office's desk. It just performs enough to linger around you and attract enough attention. Also, it's not heavy sweet. Somehow it's sweet due to the fig fruit, but not cloying, almost fresh-sweet. It works for all warm seasons, but to me, this is the smell of spring and fall, a sunny and warm day out typical of northern Italy, and good vibes.
Overall, this is a very pleasant and a bit unusual new scent from Zegna and appears to be a bit of a departure from its usual non-Essence line. If like me, you are a fig lover, I would suggest getting your hands on a tester to try this out. If, however, you don't like fig, I would stay well away.
-Elysium
It's a very dry woody fig with some smoke and a touch of sweetness. Unusually for a fig fragrance, it is not paired with any coconut, or vanilla, or other fruit. The representation of fig here appears to encompass the whole fig tree, rather than just the fruit and leaves. In that respect, it is unique; however, on my skin, it does remind me of something that I wish I could recall, but not necessarily another fig fragrance. It starts with fig, ends with fig. Surely you get some santal-woody vibe escorting the fig towards the dry down. It is an attractive, very well blended, all fig-heavy scent. Not your regular mainstream designer generic, dull scent. If you ever been to an original Mediterranean city, you'd probably smelled something similar in the air on a warm summer evening, sea breeze mixing with the warmth of fig trees.
That being said, I can hardly believe that Z Milan consists of just those three notes. Sincerely, those must be the main notes, yet note the only ones. I get a pencil sharpener note in the middle-end phase, which is a typical result of incense-cedarwood and ISO e Super combination. Incense Cedar is one of the primary woods used in making pencils and has a spicy odor that's commonly associated with pencils. I adore the smell of freshly sharpened pencils savoring the scent of newly-released aromatic oils and resins previously trapped within the wood. I don't know about anyone else, but I love it. Now it doesn't seem very easy to find anything other than plastic mechanical pencils, but less than 150 years ago, lead pencils were only first being mass-produced.
To me, it certainly seems to have additional notes other than just those listed. I could detect a particular smoke note that wouldn't ordinarily come from either fig, clary sage, or sandalwood unless you were burning sandalwood incense. I also clearly distinguish an amber resinous quality to the dry down that appears to come from either labdanum, benzoin, or even myrrh. I guess it could be sandalwood, but not how I would ordinarily recognize it, undoubtedly not its creamy aspect.
The dry down is where the titled woods make their appearance, and they're very friendly. A bit like a pencil, but the most delightful pen you can imagine. Maybe a Hermes pencil to go in your Hermes agenda.
Longevity is average to moderate at about 6 or 7 hours, and projection is reasonably soft. Yet, my colleagues pleasantly commented that the divine aura was in there around my office's desk. It just performs enough to linger around you and attract enough attention. Also, it's not heavy sweet. Somehow it's sweet due to the fig fruit, but not cloying, almost fresh-sweet. It works for all warm seasons, but to me, this is the smell of spring and fall, a sunny and warm day out typical of northern Italy, and good vibes.
Overall, this is a very pleasant and a bit unusual new scent from Zegna and appears to be a bit of a departure from its usual non-Essence line. If like me, you are a fig lover, I would suggest getting your hands on a tester to try this out. If, however, you don't like fig, I would stay well away.
-Elysium
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