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Blends

Black Gold Genny 2018

Ranked 16 in Unisex Perfume

8.4 / 10 3332 Ratings

A popular perfume by Genny for women and men, released in 2018. The scent is spicy-sweet. Projection and longevity are above-average. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Spicy

Sweet

Leathery

Fruity

Woody

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Rum

Passion fruit

Bulgarian geranium

Calabrian bergamot

Heart Notes

Leather

Singapore patchouli

Bulgarian rose

Cinnamon

Base Notes

Caramel

Ambergris

Australian sandalwood

Labdanum

Tonka bean Musk

Musk

Vanilla

Videos

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Ratings

Scent

8.43332 Ratings

Longevity

9.03180 Ratings

Sillage

8.73171 Ratings

Bottle

9.13100 Ratings

Value for money

7.02910 Ratings

Submitted by TiKu91, last update on 10/09/2025.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the Blends collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Tony Iommi Signed Crystal Limited Edition

Mysterium

Negroni Nights

Caramel Passion

Oud Hypnotique

NeoRio

Reviews

138 in-depth fragrance descriptions

05/11/2025

6
Pricing 9
Bottle 8
Sillage 9
Longevity 9
Scent

Merlotsupern
90 Reviews

Merlotsupern

Top Review 17

Maceration Miracle Monkey

First and foremost, Monkey Special is a standout fragrance in my collection and easily one of my overall top 10 favorites, especially for the cold weather. It ranks high here on Parfumo on the unisex list, but in my personal opinion it leans masculine.

Monkey Special is a complex chypresque blend created by Chris Maurice, the same guy who created Alexandria II Parfum. It opens with a sweet (note, it is sweet indeed...) and exotic mix of passion fruit, rum, and Calabrian bergamot, creating an exotic compound - although I mentioned "rum", this won't make you stink of booze... it is a warm scent that reminds you of "rum".
As it develops, it reveals deeper spicy tones from leather, patchouli, and cinnamon. The rose is there, you can smell it... but it is absolutely not dominant. It helps reinforcing the fragrance's substance, and it makes it smell opulent.
The final phase sets into a comforting woody and creamy base of sandalwood, caramel, tonka bean, ambergris, and musk.

Now, moving on to my personal experience with it. One of the most remarkable aspects of Monkey Special, which I found being quite rare in non-clone fragrances is the "Miracle of Maceration." Initially, when I first sprayed it, the scent lasted around 6 hours.
However, after about 6 months, the performance dramatically improved. Now, it easily reaches 12+ hours of longevity with good projection for the first 4 hours, leaving a perceptible scent bubble for around 8 hours. On clothes, it will last for a couple of days at least.

I would say that Monkey Special is a great option for nights out or evening occasions, thanks to its sweet, and spicy mix of accords layered with leathery, fruity, and woody notes.
In my opinion, it is more suitable for a mature audience (30+). I must also say that I don't exactly perceive the "rock star vibe", but it is definitely a fragrance that does not smell cheap. In fact, Monkey Special is one of the few fragrances that in my case has consistently received comments on it "smelling expensive". Yes, factually it is expensive, but the unique composition and high staying power make it worth the £££ - just wait for a good offer or a get partial bottle.
Additionally, if you care about bottles and presentation overall this one is top-notch.

02/12/2025

9
Pricing 9
Bottle 10
Sillage 10
Longevity 10
Scent

Ceesie
126 Reviews

Ceesie

Top Review 7

Rockstar scent

I’m a huge, huge fan of Black Sabbath so maybe, just maybe I’m a bit prejudiced. Do you know the song Paranoid? Where Tony Iommi’s guitar riff immediately sets the tone? That’s exactly how this perfume starts out. Hard and deep. Booziness flows around you smelling sweet like a can of dried strong ale. When it dries down it twists and turns like a lost soul, eventually being buried under a patch of damp patchouli.
The performance of this Xerjoff is no joke. It is potent. Two sprays and enjoy it the entire day. On clothes it lingers for weeks. And this is the first perfume where I don’t even mind it being “there” for so long, it’s glorious.

09/02/2024

6
Pricing 10
Sillage 10
Longevity 9
Scent

Smirky
483 Reviews

Smirky

Helpful Review 7

Unique, rich, creamy scent for the night

This one is really special. Right after application, it was over my red line for sweetness, but decided to give it a chance. As it dried down, it became less sweet and acceptable to me. (I usually don't like very sweet perfumes, but made an exception here because it is so good otherwise.) Outside of that one burp at the start, TIMS is an awesome boozy, sweet, spicy, leathery and woody scent. Very masculine and smooth and will definitely catch people's attention. Belongs solely to the evening and night. Beast mode performance. In the morning, about 14 hours post application, still had a strong skin scent. As I did my morning cardio pre-shower, TIMS started projecting again - got a nice scent bubble again.

The only thing going against TIMS is the price. Am curious if Boss Bottled Absolu is a close scent with the same performance. I will be sampling it in the future to see. If TIMS is better, I'll just have to scrape together my loose change and buy me a bottle. lol

UPDATE: I've compared Monkey and Absolu directly by spraying on opposite wrists. They are not the same. First impressions: Absolu is like caramel with some green and spice; Monkey is booze, rose and touch of cinnamon. Monkey is sweeter than Absolu. Monkey seems to have more depth, also gives impression of better quality ingredients. Monkey would be more special occasion scent while Absolu is everyday. Monkey has better performance than Absolu (although Absolu has very good performance). I'm happy to have both; they are not redundant.

01/10/2023

8
Pricing 10
Bottle 10
Sillage 10
Longevity 9.5
Scent

Tiagofml
24 Reviews

Tiagofml

Very helpful Review 2

Joyful Rock'n'Roll

This was pretty much love at first sniff.

A “bright” Rockstar fragrance

What do I mean by this?
A very easy to like, dare I say, mass appealing, kick*ss rockstar from the 60/70s.

I really love what the legendary Black Sabath guitarrist Tony Iommi and Sergio Momo were able to create here

Monkey Special - in homage to Tony’s Gibson Guitar

This is essentially a caramel patchouli with a delicious boozy opening with passion fruit and rum, and rosy nuances throughout.

This feels so rich. Complex.
I just love the way it acts on my skin and develops through the day.
And it sure has legs to make you company through the entire day and then some!

Iommi “Monkey Special” truly is something special!

04/29/2024

7
Pricing 10
Bottle 9
Sillage 10
Longevity 10
Scent

IdleExpatter
18 Reviews

IdleExpatter

Helpful Review 4

Carnal sin, bottled

Based on my tastes, I shouldn't love this fragrance. I shouldn't even LIKE this fragrance. And yet: Tony Iommi Monkey Special is the one fragrance that, if I heard it was going out of production, I'd do whatever I needed to procure enough backup bottles to last the rest of my natural life.

This is a rich, dark, deep, intoxicating blend that has more "motion" to it than any other fragrance I own. What I mean when I say motion is the way the fragrance develops not just over time, but in a single whiff. I often have a hard time distinguishing the head, heart, and base notes in a fragrance, but not with this one!

On first spray/sniff, you get the booze and the citrus. It has some lift and some brightness to it, and for a second, you think this might be a lighter fragrance. But oh, no. Not at all.

Because next, you start floating through the florals. The passionfruit fades into the softness of geranium, which pulls you right into a velvety rose. I generally cannot stand rose in my fragrances, but in this one, the way it slinks in and wraps itself around you just works for me.

And once it has you in its grip, down it pulls, and you sink into the sumptuous, absolutely stunning base. The caramel in this is absolutely sensational - so buttery and rich without ever going cloying. It's probably my favorite aspect of the whole design. You get an earthy and almost loamy quality from the patchouli, just the faintest hint of some leather, and then the powdery musk lifts you back up and out to start the whole journey over again.

It sounds discordant and weird, and yet somehow it works. It holds together so well as a singular and stunning composition.

In my head, this IS a rock star's fragrance: a whiff of booze and a supermodel's lingering perfume clinging to a leather jacket...and, uh, doused in caramel for some reason. I can't get enough. It bowls me over every single time I wear it.

Longevity is unimpeachable. This is almost certainly the longest-lasting fragrance I own: I've been able to clearly smell it on myself a day and a half after first application, even after showering. Strength and sillage are also tremendous. Spray carefully: this is probably not one you want to fill a room with, and I've never felt the need to go heavier than two sprays with it. And it's a good thing it's so potent, because otherwise the value proposition here would be nonexistent: even with the minimal sprays required, this stuff is NOT cheap.

It is also NOT versatile. This is not office friendly in the slightest, and even though I said it isn't cloying on the whole, it can definitely get that way in warmer weather. But for a date night, or an indulgence in cooler weather, you can't go wrong.

What a masterpiece.

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