Blue Kalbar opens with a kind of dry, aromatic, green feel which is quite nice. I wish it lasted longer, since the heart and base get boring quickly. The opening is overpowered by a soapy lavender which transitions the scent into a tame potpourri-esque floral chypre. Cedar rather than moss is the prominent woody note (which considering the price is criminal, this scent should noticeably feature high-quality sandalwood and oud at $20/ml), and the animalic and resinous facets are very quiet.
For the 5th time in as many EO reviews, I'm just confused as to why it's so expensive. Musk Khabib Extrait de Parfum runs rings around this compositionally, and is a similar animalic floral cedar-based chypre. Blue Kalbar lasts a bit longer on my skin, but apparently according to the votes on Parfumo they are identical in performance. Perhaps the cheaper essential oils like lavender, cedar, and cypress are higher concentration in the EO (the opening does feel very natural), but I'm not getting discernable sandalwood or oud, and the animalics are not more prominent or higher-quality than in Musk Khabib. So what am I paying an extra $400/30ml for? A worse scent?
