Grand Soir Maison Francis Kurkdjian 2016

In short, I am not a perfume expert and only share my opinion on fragrances that I own and have therefore been able to test over a longer period of time.

So my sweeties today for the Grand Soir, the big evening of MFK. He has enjoyed his hype on Tik Tok and has already done his rounds, which is why I feel compelled to give him my two cents. It's been part of my collection for a while now, as I used to order samples from MFK and one of them was from him. It won me over straight away, even if the bottle smells different to the sample I still have from back then.

What does it smell like and when can you wear it? Grand Soir is difficult for me to describe. Many say it smells resinous, vanilla and like tonka bean, which it does, but that's not necessarily very meaningful. I couldn't imagine anything from the description. I'd rather try to explain it with a picture. To me, the fragrance smells like a rich older man who has driven to a gala in his sports coupé and has just walked past you to join other rich people. This mature, rich, resinous smell lingers in your nose, which is not necessarily soft but rather rebukes you and radiates a certain importance. To put it succinctly: I don't think Grand Soir is as crowd pleasing and easy to like as many people here claim. It is special, for me it is also more for older/confident people and not as easy to like as, for example, a Naxos or a Dior Homme Intense. I say you can't buy it blind and should definitely smell it beforehand, preferably in a perfumery, as my sample (ordered directly from MFK) smelled much softer and more vanilla-like than the bottle. You can tell from the name when you can wear it. For me, it is my choice for making an entrance on a night out. I don't wear it to the shisha bar or out partying, but to dinner, fancy nights out and just when you want to make an impression. I think the Grand Soir is self-explanatory. When I wear it, I immediately notice how I calm down a bit and just let the fragrance speak for me. With it, I honestly don't care if someone likes it or compliments me, because it just makes me feel important and luxurious. A feeling that a Baccarat Rouge, an Ombre Nomade or a Naxos can never give me, partly because of their mistreated images and because they can't convey the same luxurious aura.

On the subject of unisex: many people think I shouldn't judge because I myself wear an Intense Café, Baccarat Rouge, Instant Crush or Shaghaf Oud as a man. But I judge anyway because I won't be told what to wear. In my eyes, Grand Soir is clearly a men's fragrance, but each to his own.

do not cancel thanks

How is the longevity and sillage?
I actually find the longevity and sillage exactly as expected. You smell a heavy present fragrance and expect a long lasting and radiant scent and not a heavy fragrance without staying power (like the Byredo Black Saffron). In a nutshell, good longevity and sillage, which is to be expected given the DNA, the price and the perfume house.

Conclusion
Grand Soir does a lot of things right, it has aura, presence and above all style. It's not a loud, annoying little boy like an Erba Pura, but stylish, elegant, intrusive but not annoying and that presence. I think the Grand Soir has the most aura in my collection. It gives you an important feeling and is so meaningful without you even having to speak a word. It also has very good longevity and sillage and is surprisingly "cheap". for me, 180€ for the 70ml is absolutely ok and justified for what it offers. You can sometimes find it for 150-160€ which is really ok. It only comes in cardboard, but the bottle is very high quality and the sprayer is very good, so I don't care about the packaging. The same fragrance with a poorer quality would have cost 280€ for the 50ml at Tom Ford. Therefore all around great fragrance, super qualitative fragrance at a fair price. I don't really have anything to say for once.

P.S. The dupes don't smell anything like the original in this case.