I-II Montecristo Masque 2013

With all the hype and fear, I was expecting Montecristo to be an animalic beast. Hardly. More like a fougere kitten. It opens with a noticeable poopy note which doesn't last long. It quickly improves as the rum, cabreuva, ambrette and benzoin (I'm assuming) come into play. The result was an animalic, overripe fruit and clean sweat smell. Despite my description, it actually smelled quite good and if Montecristo had stopped there, I would have immediately ordered a bottle. Unfortunately, the evolution continued. The celery seed made itself clearly known. As the dry down continued, the end result was a weak 80's fougere type of smell. What I mean is, imagine wearing Zino and after many hours, its bite had been reduced to a skin scent. That's the smell Montecristo has, however, it wasn't a weak skin scent at that point. (Trying to describe the scent, not the intensity.) So, OK, I'm dragged through this transition and I end up smelling like a dozen other fragrances in my collection for the majority of Montecristo's life. No thanks.