Top Notes 
Black pepper
Bergamot
Ginger
Heart Notes 
Nepalese sichuan pepper
Lemon petitgrain
Neroli
Base Notes 
Akigalawood®
Benzoin
Labdanum
Omnipotato
480 Reviews
Omnipotato
Top Review
16
What did you expect?
Parfums de Marly are not innovators. Maybe they once were, with their black bottle collection released in 2013 (Kuhuyan, Habdan, Hamdani, Oajan, etc.), but for quite a number of years now they have not only not released anything that is majorly imaginative, but are playing it very safe by slightly improving upon already-popular fragrances or using accords that are trendy, at least among their male-oriented releases.
Going backwards chronologically, we have Perseus, which is just a slight variation on "Le Gemme - Tygar | Bvlgari"; Althaïr, which comes really close to Club Black Eau de Toilette; Haltane is a fougere-y reinterpretation of Oud for Greatness Eau de Parfum; Pegasus Exclusif is a flanker; Sedley is a mild shower-gel freshie that doesn't seek to innovate in the slightest; and Kalan is based heavily on Baccarat Rouge 540 Eau de Parfum. Sadly the most unique offering of the last 7 years is Greenley and it might be the worst-smelling of all of them.
This is why I'm confused by comments like someone said in the statements, "this is too generic for PDM." Is it? Their releases are pretty dang generic.
And Castley is not close to being the most generic of them. Perseus and Althair for sure have it beat, as do Percival and Godolphin. Yes, it is a kind of bland peppery-musky freshie, but the akigalawood gives it nice dimension and roundness. I haven't tried Bois Impérial Eau de Parfum or the akigala-based Ex Nihilos so I'm not sure if it's redundant to those, but if it is not, this is actually a very nice release, and I wouldn't mind owning a bottle (at the right price, that is). Akigalawood is trendy, yes, but for me it beats all the BR540 saffron-ambrox-maltol releases that have been coming out the last few years.
And it should come as no surprise that PDM is riding the hype train. They have been doing it for so long already.
Castley opens with a peppery ginger tinged with bergamot. The actual effect of the bergamot is very slight, but I think we want to assume that all freshies have a strong citrus component, which is why it's rated so high. I actually get more of the neroli and petitgrain; floral, woody notes that are slightly hinting at citrus. The akigalawood, though listed as a base note, doesn't last very long — I perceive it as more of a heart note, along with the resins which give the akigalawood a slight sweetness. Instead the base is quite musky, which I think is where the comparisons to Sedley are coming from, because otherwise it is not similar at all.
Mass-appealing? Definitely. Innovative? Not at all. But if the fragrance smells good, and does its job, does that really matter all that much?
Edit: every wear of this fragrance is disappointing me further. Super super bland. I take back my opinion that this is a nice fragrance that is just non-innovative. It's basic and more like a department store designer release than anything else. At least Percival is an improvement on Legend Eau de Toilette
Going backwards chronologically, we have Perseus, which is just a slight variation on "Le Gemme - Tygar | Bvlgari"; Althaïr, which comes really close to Club Black Eau de Toilette; Haltane is a fougere-y reinterpretation of Oud for Greatness Eau de Parfum; Pegasus Exclusif is a flanker; Sedley is a mild shower-gel freshie that doesn't seek to innovate in the slightest; and Kalan is based heavily on Baccarat Rouge 540 Eau de Parfum. Sadly the most unique offering of the last 7 years is Greenley and it might be the worst-smelling of all of them.
This is why I'm confused by comments like someone said in the statements, "this is too generic for PDM." Is it? Their releases are pretty dang generic.
And Castley is not close to being the most generic of them. Perseus and Althair for sure have it beat, as do Percival and Godolphin. Yes, it is a kind of bland peppery-musky freshie, but the akigalawood gives it nice dimension and roundness. I haven't tried Bois Impérial Eau de Parfum or the akigala-based Ex Nihilos so I'm not sure if it's redundant to those, but if it is not, this is actually a very nice release, and I wouldn't mind owning a bottle (at the right price, that is). Akigalawood is trendy, yes, but for me it beats all the BR540 saffron-ambrox-maltol releases that have been coming out the last few years.
And it should come as no surprise that PDM is riding the hype train. They have been doing it for so long already.
Castley opens with a peppery ginger tinged with bergamot. The actual effect of the bergamot is very slight, but I think we want to assume that all freshies have a strong citrus component, which is why it's rated so high. I actually get more of the neroli and petitgrain; floral, woody notes that are slightly hinting at citrus. The akigalawood, though listed as a base note, doesn't last very long — I perceive it as more of a heart note, along with the resins which give the akigalawood a slight sweetness. Instead the base is quite musky, which I think is where the comparisons to Sedley are coming from, because otherwise it is not similar at all.
Mass-appealing? Definitely. Innovative? Not at all. But if the fragrance smells good, and does its job, does that really matter all that much?
Edit: every wear of this fragrance is disappointing me further. Super super bland. I take back my opinion that this is a nice fragrance that is just non-innovative. It's basic and more like a department store designer release than anything else. At least Percival is an improvement on Legend Eau de Toilette
Updated on 07/28/2025
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