Misterioso Sospiro

Dobbs has chosen a rather mysterious, almost grumpy fellow for me to test - many thanks for the sample! The opening already presents a completely joyless, dusty wood note; almost similar to the polished wood in Duro, just pushed a bit further towards the Orient. And more pupated. As if a barn-like oud is hinted at beneath the sandalwood.

Yes, the sandalwood. Even the warning in the comment from the noble donor did not adequately prepare me for this dark, musty, bone-dry, unspicy (and not to forget completely joyless) sandalwood. After about an hour, it adds a prickly-bitter note on top of that. This smell is so harsh that it literally scratches my throat and I have to cough from it.

After three hours, a dusty and completely joyless amber reveals itself. At best, directly on the skin, I perceive a trace (of course no less joyless) cocoa-herb-relative sweetness. Under normal circumstances, that wouldn't even be called sweet, but given the whole context, it just seems that way.

Dry cedar is acceptable, roughly from the fifth hour. Great. Finally something dry. With this mixture of dusty cedar-amber, the scent takes its comparatively longest break, only after about another four hours does a predominance in favor of the cedar form. In the ninth hour, a creamy nuance sneaks into the scent. Musk? I certainly have no other idea than my predecessor.

What is particularly mysterious to me about this scent is why it becomes somewhat pleasant at all towards the very end. It could have spared itself that, as far as I'm concerned. A wink? Perhaps Misterioso also means: We are groping in the dark, because there is simply nothing bright about this scent, as Angua has already aptly pointed out.

Conclusion: Oh no, it's not bad, just nothing for me. I truly have nothing against serious, even grumpy scents, but bone-dry is already my balance sheet.