NicheOnly

Before Kilian released Old Fashioned, the decently executed product adjacent to the discontinued London exclusive Single Malt London, Kilian had already been selling Apple Brandy on the Rocks (AB OTR) for years. Similarly to Old Fashioned, AB OTR came as a worldwide alternative to Kilian's New York exclusive Apple Brandy New York, yet in a way, I'm not sure there even was sufficient demand to remaster this.

These are some of my thoughts on my first wear of a recent 50ml full display blind-buy.

With 4 sprays on my left hand, Apple Brandy New York opens sweet-fruity-boozy. Within milliseconds you can spot the resemblance to Apple Brandy on the Rocks as it has that exact same sweet-crisp Apfelschorle type smell. AB NY's top smells spicier and boozier than the fruity-fresh ambroxan-driven profile of the On The Rocks version.

However, it is in the transition where the differences between the 2 products really begin to distance themselves. Very much like the dry-down of Single Malt London, there is a present amber tonality incorporated into Apple Brandy New York as it features the same style of medicinal-smelling labdanum, albeit in lower quantities than with Single Malt. The key aspect of AB NY's dry-down, however, is the dominating presence of woodiness. I would dare to say that the woodiness featured here is even more prevalent than in the re-released version of Single Malt, i.e. Old Fashioned, as you get a hefty dose of oak with a moderate amount of cedar and a mild accompanying feel of booziness.

Ultimately, that's where Apple Brandy New York ends up at: in this very woody dry-down with moderate medicinal ambers and that bitter-boozy touch. The re-released version, i.e. Apple Brandy on the Rocks, retains the opening of the original version and takes the scent in a fresh-fruity direction with zero ambers and mild-to-moderate woodiness, losing out on performance (which isn't great to begin with) in the process. I'd rate the performance here to be subpar much like with many of the other scents mentioned in this review: I'd give it around 6 hours of longevity on soft sillage.

As a somewhat unexpected takeaway from this review; I would dare to say that Old Fashioned, the relaunch of Single Malt London, actually smells more like Apple Brandy New York than it does like Single Malt as the wood-dominant base tones and the bitter-boozy touches offer strong overlap between the two, esp. on-skin. Unfortunately, even with that overlap, AB NY has fewer nuances in its execution, making it inferior to Old Fashioned and miles off the highs of Single Malt. I would conclude by saying that this is discontinued for a good reason.

Ugh - here we go again. It feels like in the last 5 years (aptly summed as the post-COVID perfume market) there has been no bigger decline in brand image than for Amouage and for good reason too. However, I feel like Amouage's recent tragedy is tied to the choices being made in Oman by creative director Renaud Salmon with the biggest problem being perfumer Quentin Bisch: the fragrance world's flavor of the month (or decade) who is quoting 6 figures to make the same useless product time and time again.

Review off 3 wears, both indoors and outdoors - a proper full experience.

If you're surprised to hear that Existence has a synthetic opening then you clearly haven't kept up with Bisch's journey which kicked into 5th gear after the commercial success of Marc-Antoine Barrois' Ganymede Eau de Parfum. While not structured like Ganymede, Existence leans into the implied feeling of akigalawood and the scent opens synthetic-fresh-floral, meaning it is adjacent to products like Fleur Narcotique Eau de Parfum, Valaya Eau de Parfum, Tilia and many others. Overall, it is a struggle to place Existence in that continuum of products inspired by Fleur Narcotique as Existence also features a mild rose, the same one featured in Guidance Eau de Parfum, with the note being easier to detect on the strip.

While being in that continuum on its own isn't the biggest issue (outside of the lack of originality), this product features several other shortfalls. Time after time, I notice a bitter citrus-style note that adds a prominent chemical-like feel to the on-skin experience. On the first wear, I found that feel closer to champagne and with a mild touch of pear, the scent could've been in the realm of Vilhelm's Sparkling Jo. On this final wear as I am writing the review, the combination of musks & florals with that synthetic blend takes me closer to mustard (ouch). Outside of that, a lot of the pyramid never features in the scent's evolution. The combination of white florals & rose contrasting against the dominant synthetic structure are never opposed by any ambers nor smoky notes. The first wears had some sweetness in the heart, in the final wear that accord is more mild with the scent's main accords being floral-synthetic-fresh, but I'd assume that the rose is the key driver for the sweetness in Existence's composition.

The performance ratings on this are outrageously inflated as Existence is average on both longevity and sillage, I'd even argue that both are below the median 5/10 rating. The current ratings imply that the loud blast of synth fresh florals that Existence opens with remain throughout and that could not be further from the truth. True longevity on this trends closer to 6 hours than the 12-14 implies by those who have rated it thus far as the gap between this and others in the genre is noteworthy. The value on this is obviously below average: the scent competes in a genre that has north of a dozen alternatives with almost all of them being cheaper.

As Amouage launches more and more poor-to-mediocre product into the market with the goal of growing revenues at the mid-to-high teens (this means 15-20% per year for those not in finance), one has to wonder at what point the market punishes them for this. The brand's constant affiliate marketing (read: PR) might give off the impression that they are dropping top-of-the-market product, yet in all honesty, Amouage hasn't been a top 10 niche house product wise for years and with launches like Existence, I wouldn't be surprised if they drop out of the top 15 or even 20 in the near future.

Do you remember the Amouage before COVID? It might feel like a distant memory, but in the aftermath of the pandemic as Amouage's house direction continues to go more and more mainstream, the gap between what the Omani brand does now relative to where they were under Chong or even in Renaud's first few years has never been bigger. Decision is yet another example of that gap widening.

Review written off 1 wear with an official sample I got from Jovoy.

One aspect that I dislike about contemporary Amouage's creative direction (or the lack thereof) is the heavy cross-application of notes/accords from product to product. If you were to read my review of Reasons which came out in 2024, you'd see me highlight how the scent uses many of the raw ingredients from scents like Lineage and Jubilation XXV Man. The same was true of Lustre and the same is also true with Decision.

On my first time smelling Decision, the initial notes that I wrote down state that Decision features the same sweet licorice-like opening of Opus XIV - Royal Tobacco, the same spicy notes like Lineage, the same aromatic-synthetic woody structure like Purpose with a very clear reference to one-trick-pony Quentin Bisch's akigalawood DNA. The actual transition of the scent is smokier and when I first smell the scent up-close, there is a prominent woody tonality contrasted by moderate smokiness. Decision smells a bit like woods charring next to a live campfire with the atlas cedar having a light leathery quality to it as well. In the ultimate dry-down around ~1.5-2 hours in, the scent leans more heavily into the various notes & accords visible in both Lineage and Purpose as the smokiness/depth dissipates into a mild spicy-woody scent with aromatic quality.

Overall, there's just nothing special about Decision overall as the composition is very simple in nature once all the other notes fade away after the top. The various parts of Lineage and Lustre that I can smell in the dry-down are mild-to-moderate with the core scent being a one-two of atlas cedar and incense. I'd say this scent is woody-smoky-spicy with some resinous/leathery qualities. Performance wise it feels average: I am not getting anything more than average sillage, but I'd expect this to be in the 7-8 hour range for longevity (which I'd rate as a 6). The blending and execution are the only things pushing this above a median ranking, but besides that there really isn't anything else here.

I would assume that for most people, the first idea re: Pacific Rock Flower was to associate it with the brand's hero franchise Pacific Rock Moss. However, that association doesn't come to fruition and the overall delivery leaves a lot to be desired.

Without looking at the scent pyramid or accords, the opening smells sweet & aquatic to me, giving the scent a very prominent designer edge. These accords are followed by nuances of the tropical solar floral, but unlike everybody voting, I don't get a single floral in this profile - there is a noteworthy coconut note opposing the sweet-aquatic opening. Initially, the notes I would expect this scent to include are ambroxan, tonka/vanilla and coconut or coconut milk. It smells sweet, tropical, aquatic, slightly lactonic/creamy and mildly synthetic.

After observing the scent pyramid and voted-for accords, I don't feel like I'd shift anything. However, in the dry-down I notice the same style of salt note that Goldfield & Banks used in Pacific Rock Moss visible in the base. Outside of that, I feel like there's little evolution to this scent. This style of profile is likely a mainstay among designer brands and low-cost (and sometimes low-quality) niche houses like Zaharoff and Carner, with the strong comparability to a scent like Signature Seraphim Blue and mild comparability to a scent like Helix. I would also assume this is similar to JPG's Le Beau, a scent that I (luckily) have not smelled.

The scent leans light on the sillage and longevity appears to be below average in the ~4-5 hour range. The scent's designer quality and structure, led by the synthetic-aquatic base and opposed by the tonka as well as the coconut, is a significant problem. I'd definitely describe Pacific Rock Flower as unoriginal and as a profile not even worthy of being launched by a niche house, but when you think about it, G&B is selling this scent at €167/100ml which isn't that much higher than many designers these days. By most measures, this is a poor product deserving of the low rating.

If anybody reading this is still expecting big things from Parfums de Marly in 2025 then I don't know what to tell you. The brand has no recent history to showcase they're capable of launching anything with even mild originality. With Castley, I feel like the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Castley opens fresh, slightly fruity & woody. In my notes, I have written that the contrast of accords is somewhat in the realm of Ex Nihilo's Blue Talisman as the scent clearly has a Bisch-esque (i.e. perfumer Quentin Bisch) signature to it, implying the use of akigalawood (listed in the base notes). The scent has some fizzy feel, but up-close smells mostly fresh spicy and woody with implied light florals. The ginger opposes these accords more moderately, pushing the structure towards the realm of scents like Ex Nihilo's The Hedonist Extrait de Parfum. Throughout the wear there is a light fizzy feel which does have a similar-ish style to the way it is executed in Sedley, but given the overt spiciness & woodiness, it is not the best overall comparison to be reaching for.

Relative to the accords voted on by other Parfumo users, I don't get anything citrusy with this fragrance. The scent is fresh, spicy and woody with a light fruitiness implied from the ginger. The various peppers and the akigalawood are the leading notes. Within Parfums de Marly's catalogue, the scent offers key accord overlap with both Galloway and Shagya. Needless to say, Castley doesn't smell similar to either, albeit the structure itself is simple and definitely something befitting of the Parfums de Marly name on the fresher end of their catalogue.

As it relates to the performance, my initial impressions are that the scent is light-to-average. Sillage appears to be within arms length or just above, I am initially guesstimating around 6 hours of longevity. In terms of value, I feel like Castley is a better value proposition than Ex Nihilo's extraits line, esp. given better grey market availability, but that simultaneously doesn't mean much with PDM retail now at €270/125ml. Utility wise better suited for spring as the core dry-down is entirely structured on a fresh spicy & woody DNA. Overall, not the worst I've seen from Marly over the last handful of years, but nothing worthy of strictly positive coverage either.