This is just my take, but I think a lot of people jump into niche fragrances too early before their nose is really developed. There is nothing wrong with niche itself, and I am definitely not against it, but I do think the experience hits a lot differently when you actually have enough time in the game to understand what you are smelling. A lot of niche fragrances are more abstract, more challenging, or more subtle in the way they are built, and if your nose is not trained yet, it becomes easy to confuse price with quality or uniqueness with greatness. To me, having a developed nose means you can actually pick up on the blending, the transitions, the texture, the balance, and how the fragrance evolves from the opening to the drydown. That is when you really start appreciating what makes a scent special. Without that foundation, I think a lot of people end up buying off hype, reputation, exclusivity, or what they heard from other people instead of what truly connects with them. That does not mean you cannot start with niche, because anybody can wear whatever they like, but I do think the journey is a lot more rewarding when you have taken the time to smell different styles, learn notes, compare quality, and really build your taste. At that point, niche stops being just expensive bottles and starts becoming something you can genuinely understand and appreciate for yourself. Less expensive designers, quality clones, decants, and sample sets are often the smartest way to build your nose first without overspending. Why: - Designers usually help you learn the basics more easily because many are more wearable, more structured, and easier to understand. - Clones can help you explore profiles tied to expensive originals without paying full niche prices. - Decants and samples are probably the best route of all because they let you smell more and buy less. I think the best path is balance. Some people jump into niche too early before their nose is developed, but on the other side, too many people get stuck in the clone and designer world because of price, and never explore the full hobby. Budget matters, but if you never branch out, you can end up limiting your understanding of fragrance, quality, and creativity.

I finally got around to purchasing a pair of stands for my collection. I put the first one together after making some space on the shelf. It’s stocked with 12 of my heavy rotators. There’s a handful more that’ll go on the other stand. Plus the three en route.

Ok. So I now have a travel spray of each of these. ( Two intense by mistake.) And I decided to do a side by side.. Neither will be a full bottle but, but I can kinda see the appeal. The intense is synthetic, but more photorealistic on the tobacco and actually smells a Little more like an ashtray off the Rio than the OG. The OG is much more synthetic overall and stays that way ( also a little bit sweeter ) where the intense version gets a nice, rich, smoky feel afterwards instead of the sweetness from the OG. It's a bit more balanced and less offensive off the rip, bit I'm glad I didn't purchase a full bottle of either lol. Do you have any experience with these fragrances?