After finally securing my 16-sample Jusbox Discovery Set from Harrods, today I wore the first: Beat Cafe. I'm running in alphabetical order, as is my system. (My favourite fragrance in the line, from testing at the counter, is Fifty Four, which is a number, but it's written out and starts with an F, so.) The house's conceit is that Music and Fragrance are interlinked. The bottle caps are faux vinyl records, each bottle is measured at 78ml (to mirror RPM on records), and each fragrance is created and named with certain musical genres in mind. There's even a Spotify playlist for each fragrance. Today's fragrance is Beat Cafe, motivated by the Folk Rock music scene. Think Bob Dylan, Janice Joplin. A stylish American Cafe vibe from the Revolution. Exciting! Top notes are a blast, mostly. The black pepper is strong, and the coriander brings an immediate herbaceous quality that's very inticing. As for the cognac, that's a little more muted, but it does bring a sweetness and an almost coffee-like gourmand edge... but the pepper is the star. As it develops down, the tobacco and leather come through very nicely, mixing with the subtle alcohol and producing a very jazz club (and Jazz Club) vibe (i.e. the place and the MM scent).I'm not much of an MM Jazz Club fan, as it smells like stale Marlboros to this ex-smoker's nose, but Beat Cafe has none of that negative connotations. It's more elegant, and blended, yet still maintaining a flick-knife sharpness through the pepper tang. Lovely! The drydown is more standard woody, still with a peppery edge, but even here there's intrigue as there's clear vetiver greenness that does fine work placing this historically. It lends an almost patchouli glow, bringing a counterculture incense sheen that's exactly correct to the musical brief. Overall, I enjoyed this fragrance a lot. Unfortunately, my atomiser on my sample was absolute hot garbage, and it was a genuine struggle to get ANYTHING onto my skin. Thus, any observations on projection and performance are redundant today. I feel that it SHOULD perform and project well, based on the amount I did manage to don, but that's just speculation on my part. Next time I'm at the counter I'll give it another full wear test spray and get back to you.

Its nothing fancy.....but I have wore this cologne for over 20 years. I have added to my collection here and there over the years, but I always come back to my tried and true!

Hey, as a lot of you guys know, I have been searching, and others here have been searching for Michael Malul Southslope out in the wild at Marshalls. I'm willing to purchase a bottle and send the money. If you spot one, please list the marshals where you spotted it. Thank you.