SOTD - A lesson in Trial and Error · Brotherhood Of Scent

SOTD - A lesson in Trial and Error

Man oh man…decided to try something I recently purchased a decant of and WOW…

So my last batch of purchased decants I grabbed a couple from the Hawas line as well as the Club de Nuit line and wanted to give them a go because, let’s be honest, they’re constantly touted for their projection, sillage, longevity and their overall scent profiles…even if they are just clones or inspirations.

With that being said, I grabbed Hawas Black this AM and lesson learned…this damn thing projects. I did 4 sprays around the neck, 2 on each arm, so 8 total. I’ve been doing around 7-8 around the neck/shoulders for the freshies (with a couple more on each arm) with great success, so thought I’d step back a bit on this one and let me tell you…I should have scaled back even more!

Starts with this LOUD burst of fruitiness which is very reminiscent of Aventus. I know this has been compared to Aventus Absolu/Nishane Hacivat (which I have not smelled) but I pick up more OG Aventus than Absolu. The zesty opening does have that light hint of lemon Pledge to it but what keeps it from smelling like pledge is this little earthiness in it that brings it down and adds some structure to it.

The initial projection was so loud, I started getting a headache because the smell was so profound and I had to drink water and eat and do everything I could to avoid smelling it because it was all up my nostrils. I’m about 3.5hrs in and while it’s still projecting lightly, it’s drying down to that fruity wood scent, a nice blend of citrus and cedarwood smell that is quite nice…but again, much like Aventus to my nose.

While Montblanc Explorer is also an Aventus dupe, it really tones down the citrus after the open and relies more heavily on the woods and almost a bit of pepper in the dry-down. This one is very heavy on the citrus and they citrus power creates a nice contradiction to the Explorer where this may have a place in the rotation if I decide to pull the trigger though I doubt I’d wear this on a cold day just because of the harsh projection.

I am curious if I bought a bottle and macerate/matured it for a few weeks if it would tone down the open a bit 🤔

Overall, I can see why the ME houses get love just based on this as it certainly creates the environment for compliments and certainly stands out versus many designer frags which stay safe and muted based on what I’m discovering.

I have Hawas and Hawas Ice to try as well and I’m curious about the rest of the open because based on the price point alone, may even be blind-buy worthy if you can get that quality scent with all the performance you can ask for…sans the crazy price tag.

More to come but I’m sure this will be on my skin all day. Curious how CDN works as I may try that tomorrow or even this evening…though with a more light spray 😂

Have a day gents 💪🏽

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