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Drseid
Helpful Review
2
Maybe Not A Strict Sandalwood Focused Composition, But Who Cares?...
Santal 33 opens with a blast of violet before quickly adding smooth iris to the mix with a slight cedarwood undertone. As the composition moves to its early heart the violet vacates, leaving remnants of the iris meshing with an emerging slightly harsh and dry Australian sandalwood that takes the fore early before gradually adding in sharp, natural smelling cedarwood that grows in its intensity through the rest of the mid-section turning into the star with the dry sandalwood only co-star. In addition to the more prominent heart notes, binding the dry sandalwood and natural cedar is a supporting mysterious accord that somewhat resembles coconut, but not quite. During the late dry-down the composition shifts back to the relatively sharp sandalwood, supported by slightly sweet and powdery amber joining the now diminished cedarwood through the finish. Projection is excellent to outstanding, as is longevity at well over 12 hours on skin.
Frank Voelkl has been on a roll lately. His other Le Labo mainline compositions Iris 39 and Ylang 49 both were favorites going into sniffing Santal 33, and outside the Le Labo family he also is responsible for the masterpiece caliber Javanese Patchouli by Zegna. With so many excellent efforts under his belt with no duds sniffed to date it was with relatively high expectations that I sampled his Santal 33 and I am happy to report that it can be added to his growing list of stellar accomplishments. Like many Le Labo compositions Santal 33 is not really a straight sandalwood composition. Early-on, the composition is about violet, and even more-so iris. I could immediately detect some early similarities for a short time with Iris 39 before the wood-centric heart set in... The heart accord really leans more towards the cedarwood than the Australian Sandalwood, but certainly both play a key role. The cedar is quite natural smelling, and the relatively dry sandalwood compliments it quite nicely. Only in the late dry-down did I detect the sandalwood as the most prominent aspect, and then only just, as a very smooth and slightly sweet powdery amber is almost as prominent though the finish. While Santal 33 may be more of an amalgamation of ingredients as opposed to a sandalwood focused composition, the most important thing is it is entirely successful. The bottom line is the $160 per 50ml bottle Santal 33 may not have a strict sandalwood focus, but this "outstanding" 4.5 star out of 5 rated composition should be on any fragrance lover's radar, as should any other composition by Frank Voelkl!
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