Cabal pour Homme Miro 2003

Okay, I don't know how Le Male smells, so I can't make a comparison. What is clear to me, at least, is that we are dealing more with an EDP than an EDT, as Cabal clings to my skin for so long and strongly. The cheapness (and this scent is truly cheap) is only noticeable in the short opening, which, like many budget fragrances, appears purely alcoholic... but fades away again after two minutes. So: Who cares?! ;-)

From there on, I perceive the scent development as quite linear. For me, cinnamon, tonka bean, and vanilla are dominant. This scent is indeed quite sweet, and as such, it certainly fulfills its purpose well. Nevertheless, I distinctly sense a balsamic-woody base underneath, which makes the sweetness bearable for me. It should be noted that I am not necessarily a fan of the sweet-gourmand fragrance direction and cannot really relate to Mugler's A*men or One Million at all.

My sweetest fragrance that I enjoy wearing so far is probably Montblanc Présence, which, in comparison to Cabal, carries a bit more fruit and green freshness. Still, I find Cabal somehow strong. I would never think of it as a 10-euro fragrance; the sillage and longevity are also extraordinary. Surely, even I will find some occasions in the cold season to wear this scent. However, it shouldn't be any sweeter for me in the end. In this respect, I think it's good that Cabal - if I interpret this correctly - doesn't seem as extreme and blatant as Le Male, which would probably be too much of the "good" for me.

All in all, a big compliment to the creators of this budget fragrance, as well as to the reviews from the community. Because I can indeed rely quite well on the fact that if such a niche fragrance attracts a lot of attention here, there must be something to it! :-) In this sense, I also gladly recommend my bargain discovery of the year, Collistar Vetiver Forte, even if this name may be somewhat misleading!

Actually, I'm not a fan of dupes...
But as my old German teacher always said: A sentence that starts with "actually" continues with "but".

I've had Le Male on my radar for a while because I smelled it on a colleague and quite liked it. Somehow, though, my attention shifted back to the new Joop wow, which I've been enjoying for a while now. Last week, it was time to restock that mentioned fragrance.
So, into the Kaufhof I went, ready to dive in. After Christmas, the hustle and bustle is over, and there's space and peace to test something new. So there I stood, with the aforementioned wow in my left hand, browsing through the shelves. My gaze lingered between Tabak Original and Aramis on Miro.
Miro... there was something... what did you read on the fragrance freaks... comes very close to Le Male.
After the first spritz from the tester, I was blown away. Mint, vanilla, and a hint of something herbal wafted towards me. Le Male... pardon... Miro Cabale... or was it Le Male... to be honest: I can't tell the difference.
When you test both fragrances side by side, you might notice slight differences, but you wouldn't catch them without the corresponding bottle.
In the first five hours, mint and lavender combined with vanilla shape the scent, then it becomes increasingly vanilla-forward, while in the end, the tonka bean takes over.
On clothing, I perceive it for more than twelve hours, on skin about ten, with it becoming very close to the skin after eight hours. I believe the sailor won't have much more to offer.
I would recommend it for occasions where a moderate sillage is appropriate. For going out to a club where you have to compete with 1 Million and Co, it's less suitable. Office, leisure, date. That's its playground.

Already mentioned several times, but worth noting: the price. We're talking about a well-made fragrance for 11.99 Eur per 75 ml. That's nearly unbeatable for the performance offered.

Dear Daisy,

It has now been well over ten years since we last had contact and our love fell apart. We parted ways in a fierce argument, unable to tolerate each other any longer, and there was anger, sadness, and grief in the air. You told me you never wanted to see me again and that I should disappear from your life. These were the last words you directed at me. A lot of time has passed since then.

The year 2009 was a very special one for us. We were just about to graduate from high school. We were head over heels in love; much more than was good for us. We lost our hearts to each other, fought so often, and reconciled just as frequently. In the autumn and winter of 2009, we broke free. We explored the nightlife, the world outside our village. We visited the capital with its arcades, Christmas markets, restaurants, bars, and cinemas, and strolled along the Spree while you clung tightly to me because you were so cold. During all this time, I wore Miro Cabal pour Homme.

Tell me, Daisy, do you still remember this scent? I stumbled upon it around 2007 and was captivated by its strength and spiciness. Back then, 100 milliliters cost just ten euros, so I could afford it even as a student with my pocket money. When I first smelled Miro Cabal, images immediately flashed in my mind. Le Mâle by Jean Paul Gaultier was the first expensive perfume my brother could afford at that time in the early 2000s - and I still remember how the whole house smelled of it in the morning when he left the door. That wonderful blend of cinnamon, wood, cardamom, and mint; a composition that fascinated and enchanted me even as a child. Since Le Mâle and Miro Cabal are practically brothers, I think this connection is very beautiful.

Miro Cabal was not only one of my very first perfumes but also one of the most important. I remember when I first wore it around you, you were immediately taken with it. From the very beginning, you associated Miro Cabal with me, and I believe it unconsciously became my signature scent at that time. This was especially true since I wore it almost every day at school. Do you remember when our math teacher suddenly closed her eyes and turned her head as I walked past her in the classroom, desperately wanting to know what this wonderful perfume was called? And do you remember when we were physically separated for a while, and I wrote you a long comforting letter and sprayed it with Miro Cabal? How you called me, tears of emotion in your eyes, saying that you knew right after opening the mailbox that something from me would be inside? How we lay arm in arm in my bed, listening to Mumford & Sons (who no one knew back then), and you kept burying your face in my sweater? Miro Cabal was our companion and our comforter. Whenever I wore it and looked at you, I knew that in that moment, the world was right for us.

The wonderful glass bottle with its flat shape and simple font appealed to me back then, and you often held it in your hands, took off the black cap to smell the sprayer, and let your eyes rest on it for a long time. Every day, it adorned my childhood desk, and every moment I wore it was filled with joy, pleasure, satisfaction, and also with pride, as I still associated it to some extent with my big brother.

Although Miro Cabal is now primarily a catalyst for triggering memories in me and transporting me back in time, I still enjoy wearing it simply in everyday life - just because I like the scent composition. By now, I could also afford the "big brother" Le Mâle, but I must say that the original Miro Cabal DNA goes a bit deeper than today's Le Mâle, where I, for example, miss the woods and spiciness. Unfortunately, the strength and projection have almost completely vanished from the sailor bottle. You can still recognize the origin, but it seems that adjustments have been made.

Did you know that Miro Cabal in its original form is no longer available? Some time ago, the noble transparent bottle was replaced with a deep black one with a silver cap. Today, it looks like a toy with this supposedly "modern" look and has lost all of its original simple-elegant style. Also, quietly, the filling quantity was reduced from 100 milliliters to 75 milliliters while the price remained the same. Lastly, unfortunately, the quality seems to have suffered, as the sillage and longevity are no longer comparable to earlier times. I still own several bottles of the old edition, and you can surely imagine that I treasure them like a treasure.

You know, Daisy... I find our separation today absolutely right and necessary. This bittersweet year, in which we devoted ourselves to each other, was so full of ups and downs that it would never have worked out well for us in the long run. And although I went through hell after our last bitter argument and thought I would never find new love or joy in life again, the years that followed showed me that life has good things in store for me. After the end of our relationship, I went my own way: I finished high school, studied, made many new friends, and today I am gainfully employed. I still pursue my hobbies with great passion. And: I am now happily married.

Of course, after such a long time, questions still occasionally arise in my mind. Whether you are doing well. What profession you have taken up by now. Whether you might have become a mother. But also, how you experienced COVID and how you view politics and the world today. And whether you still think of my name from time to time, without cursing it. But: I have respected your wish never to contact you again from the very beginning and will continue to do so. And with this, I would like to peacefully say goodbye to you in my heart and let you go. However, I will keep one thing: I will preserve the positive memories of the past and try to let the bad memories rest. That does not mean I will forget them. But I want to continue carrying the many happy moments we both had in 2009, especially in the cold season, and the memories of them within me. In this, my daily companion Miro Cabal pour Homme - the scent that will always remind me of you, my first great love - will faithfully stand by my side whenever I need it.

Farewell, Daisy. And stay healthy.

I really like this scent, but I think anyone who already has the original from JPG won't really need this one as it smells very similar, just toned down in every aspect.

Sillage & longevity are good, the bottle is uninspired but classic.

I hadn't added the JPG classic to my collection yet and picked this one up first, and I can't complain at all...very versatile, but maybe a bit too understated for going out...but absolutely wearable all year round!

It's a feel-good scent that is very sweet/vanilla in the dry down and is well received by women and actually everyone... if you're unsure about what to wear, give this little but fine fragrance a try...great price-performance ratio :-)
It's excellent, but doesn't get a top rating like the big original that dares more and has set the direction, but also costs five times as much...

6:30 AM in the bathroom, freshly showered, shaved: Today I lingered almost a minute and a half (that's very long) in front of the box with the fragrances, unusually indecisive. In the past two weeks, since being infected by the Parfumo platform virus, I've tried a lot of new things. So my curiously probing fingertips ultimately - perhaps following old habits - gravitate towards the simply efficient, solid bottle of Miro Cabal. I've been using this for years when I don't really want to decide. But today I want to use it actively, think about it, sniff it throughout its development, and describe it. After applying it, the first thing that comes to mind is Christmas bakery. It fits the season. Last Sunday we had a big baking day with the kids, and the sweet scent lingered in the living room until Tuesday. Okay - so today is "cookie day".
Two hours later on the train: Winfried in his comment below writes that the scent loses its "vanilla-ness" after a while and becomes more masculine. I'm still waiting for that, after about two hours now. At least it has good longevity, but where is the masculine scent? For me, it's predominantly vanilla, bitter almond oil, soft butter. A hint of wood (really, like when you smell the rolling board after rolling out the dough. I've never discovered such a precise comparison for a scent for myself. It's almost 1:1) is behind it. Quite a nicely warm wood, but it's too strongly overshadowed by the sweet cookie scents to assert itself.
All in all and in summary: Winfried and the scent reviewers compare the Miro Cabal (in the two previous, for me more interesting comments) to Le Male by Gaultier, which I don't know. Winfried says "great for family evenings," and I agree. I feel like the rolling board described above. Too much baking aroma under the T-shirt, a bit embarrassed here on the train - but at least it fits the season perfectly. For me, it's not a consistently masculine-marked men's fragrance - more something for cozy family evenings in a thick wool sweater, cuddling on Sunday evening before "Tatort" on the first channel, baking cookies with the kids. Loving, warm, familial, purring. A scent not really for the workday but for very specific, private-family moments. There, it beautifully underscores happy, contented contemplation.
I greet you, fragrance enthusiasts...