Bottle Design:
Martine Micallef

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Jewel Collection

Notorious XO M. Micallef 2025

7.2 / 10 73 Ratings

A new perfume by M. Micallef for men, released in 2025. The scent is spicy-sweet. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Spicy

Sweet

Woody

Smoky

Leathery

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Cognac

Pepper

Marine notes

Heart Notes

Cinnamon

Cardamom

Leather

Tonka bean Moss

Moss

Base Notes

Amber

Musk

Praliné

Sandalwood Vanilla

Vanilla

Perfumers

Daniela Marty, LUZI

Ratings

Scent

7.273 Ratings

Longevity

7.362 Ratings

Sillage

7.162 Ratings

Bottle

7.651 Ratings

Value for money

5.948 Ratings

Submitted by TheBladi11 · last update on 01/30/2026.

Source-backed & verified

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the Jewel Collection collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

No Limit$

Angels' Share Eau de Parfum

Naxos

Reviews

4 in-depth fragrance descriptions

12/29/2025

6.5Scent 9Longevity 9Sillage

Omnipotato
498 Reviews

Omnipotato

Helpful Review 5

Performative cognac

@NicheOnly is right on the nose about this one, it is basically a designer-y take on the gourmand cognac accord that is present in Angels' Share Eau de Parfum, and to a lesser extent Overture Man. It's like you crossed those with the ambroxan-iness of Althaïr. It is definitely trying to be mainly a cognac scent, with the "XO" signifying a brandy that has aged a minimum of 10 years in oak. But the aggressive masculine notes (black pepper, moss, ambroxan) added to a refined sweet boozy accord just don't mesh well in my opinion. Essentially, if you think Angels' Share is too "feminine" this is the fragrance for you. It's a bit "douchebag"-y; smells like someone who drinks a cognac called "Notorious XO" because their favorite rapper had it in their music video.

Updated on 12/29/2025

10/17/2025

3Scent 5Longevity 5Sillage

NicheOnly
135 Reviews

NicheOnly

2

Poor man's Angels' Share

The closing coverage of 2025 releases kicked off yesterday with Vanilla Powder Extrait de Parfum. I am aiming to keep some of the better products for later on in the coverage and one product that I already had some idea of is French niche brand M. Micallef's latest release Notorious XO, first revealed at Esxence, the annual fragrance expo in Milan, Italy.

The listed notes of Notorious XO tell a lot of the story and the first impressions that I garnered from many that attended the event was that it has some overlap with Kilian's hero franchise Angels' Share Eau de Parfum. That is indeed the feeling that I get in the opening here as well: sweet-spicy, semi-gourmand with a prominent smell of cinnamon and cognac as well as light cardamom. In the top, I also felt like orange is a part of the scent structure, but I don't see it listed. Blend wise, the products that I was thinking of were from French brand State of Mind and the latest from Italian indie house Zanini, that being Bar.

Everything takes a nosedive as soon as we exit the opening. In the initial dry-down, the main thing that you smell on-skin is a medicinal amber which, combined with the sweet spices, adds some oriental-resinous qualities to the mix. At first, I wrote down that there is a make-up style accord in here and it is at this 10-15 minute point-in-time that the quality begins to freefall. The top notes list "marine notes", but that is nothing more than a codename for ambroxan: the scent ultimately ends up as a mixture/in-betweener of Kilian's Angels' Share Eau de Parfum and a standard masculine-aromatic fresh designer fragrance. The performance (give it around 6h longevity, light-to-average sillage) and value (retails at €245/100ml) objectively aren't the worst, but product wise, I'm beyond puzzled why anybody would want to buy this.

Updated on 10/17/2025

10/22/2025

8.5Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

AndiNick
32 Reviews

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AndiNick

5

Notorious Nimbus

The name says it all. Notorious is the English word for 'infamous,' and this fragrance creates such a mysterious aura. The name is well chosen. A nimbus full of contradictory secrets.

The scent starts with an exciting and contrasting top note. The combination of cognac and a mineral note makes the opening unique for me. Since this summer, I have known "Acqua di Sale | Profumum Roma," and indeed, one can recognize a parallel to the top note of Micallef. No worries, Notorious XO is not salty or sour. But the maritime notes should not be underestimated. They are finely woven, so the cognac feels really sparkling and effervescent. Subtly, some pepper and cardamom follow. After about 20 minutes, a lot of brown and rough leather wrapped in vanilla comes in. And the leather is also not to be underestimated, making the scent beautifully bitter and masculine. The maritime cognac and the leather are almost always present.

At first sniff, the notes are not immediately distinguishable, creating a somewhat contradictory and elusive overall impression. That’s exactly what makes the scent so mysterious and dark. With repeated wear, one gets to know the character, and it becomes more and more appealing. Therefore, one should give it some time when testing. A little acclimatization phase before enjoyment. By now, I find it very beautiful. Perfect for the cooler season.

The longevity is quite alright. My skin often absorbs fragrances, so I can mainly wear some on my clothes. Notorious XO lasts about 5 hours on my skin and about 1-2 hours longer on clothing. But it quickly becomes skin-close. The projection is therefore not outstanding. Just right for me.

I am glad that the trend in perfume reviews is slowly aligning with my perception. I am certainly happy to have Notorious XO in my collection, but I would recommend everyone to do a test first.

So then, take care.
Best, Andi

Updated on 10/23/2025

10/20/2025

8Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

Dennis1104
1070 Reviews

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Dennis1104

Helpful Review 1

I Was Torn for a Long Time

Notorious XO is one of those fragrances where I was torn for a longer time.
Admittedly, I wasn't quite fit when I first smelled it. My health played a little trick on me. However, what I could sense, I liked a lot.
Then my nose was back to a good level and suddenly I was unsure whether I really liked it. It was always back and forth, but in the end, I have to say:
"Yes, I like it!"

The fragrance starts with a mix of slightly "fresh" accents, if you can even define it that way, and on the other hand, we have this slightly sweet, alcoholic part, along with a noticeable pepper note.
But the pepper is not too dominant, no worries!

Relatively quickly, winter spices come into play. The leather adds certain edges and harmonizes wonderfully with the winter spices.
The leather note even reminded me a bit of One of Eight by Rôc. Of course, One of Eight is processed quite differently and is a different fragrance, but the leather note in combination with these winter spices has certain parallels. I like it!

Over time, it becomes noticeably "tamer." You can feel the hints of creamy sandalwood, the fine tonka bean, and this vanilla, praline-like aspect. In this phase, which also moves towards the end, it has very slight Angels Share hints.

In the end, I can say that it is a fragrance that I really like. The purchase was not a mistake!
Definitely worth testing! The longevity on my skin is around 6-8 hours. The sillage is solid. Notorious XO does not project extremely, but it doesn't hide either.
Last but not least: "Unisex?" Yes!