January | 2013 | The Scented Hound

January 13, 2013
by The Scented Hound 26 Comments

Krigler Reviews: Oud for Highness 75 & Established Cognac 66

OUD FOR HIGHNESS 75

WHAT I SMELL: I swore I was putting on Montale’s Black Aoud when I first applied Oud for Highness 75. Not for the faint of heart, but unlike Black Aoud, I didn’t get the burning tire sensation. What I did get a huge blast of agarwood and a sweet, sweet saffron. It smells rather like rose, but I don’t see any rose listed in the notes. I have to admit that I was worried that this would be too loud, but as time goes on, the “in your face” aspects of the perfume move to the side and you’re left with a very sweet, yet cozy ambered honey. This is a bit sweeter than I would normally like, but I do like it.

From the Krigler website:

Custom Made fragrance created in 1975. Joining again the collection in 2010. Oud For Highness 75 has been created in honor of its Royal Highness of Jordan combining Crushed Royal Asian Oud, Amber, Sandalwood, Saffron and Honey. Combining cultures and traditions, this fragrance is a Royal testimony to Oud.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A cheerful majesty.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE OUD FOR HIGHNESS 75: sweet, happy, dignified

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT OUD FOR HIGHNESS 75: Cafluerbon, dbeauty Junkie, Perfume-SmellinThings

Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Oriental Woody
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $305 for 50ml EdP

ESTABLISHED COGNAC 66

WHAT I SMELL: Established Cognac’s opening is an odd combination of a strong cognac sweetened with what smells like a bit of cotton candy. Very quickly the sharp cognac alcohol turns to a spiced and surprisingly dry herbaceous oak. I would have expected that this fragrance would be moist, but instead it’s very dry. I don’t get much sillage from this, nor is it long-lasting. After a couple of hours this completely disappeared on me.

From the Krigler website:

The quintessentially London classic since its creation. Men have it, women desire it! Simple audacity, world-class composition offers a perfect blend of Cognac, Apple, Indian Tagette, Caramel, Oak…
Distinctly masculine woody undertones; an eternal favorite.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: An old library with musty books.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE ESTABLISHED COGNAC 66: oaky, musty, worn

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ESTABLISHED COGNAC 66: I couldn’t find any reviews, except for a few comments on Fragrantica.

Bone Rating: 2 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Aromatic
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $175 for 50ml EdP

BOTTOM LINE: I am intrigued by this line. I’m not sure if it’s because of its exclusivity or the fact that they have been around since 1904. In any case, you can purchase their fragrances either online on their website or at one of their two retail locations; one in the Plaza Hotel in NYC and the other in Monte Carlo! Anyone want to take a trip to Monaco?

January 10, 2013
by The Scented Hound 55 Comments

The Scented Hound Turns 1 Year Old with a Birthday Draw!

A year ago this week, The Scented Hound was born. What started as an interest has turned into a wonderful passion that has grown and blossomed in the last year. I can still recall buying my first niche perfume, Carner D600 from Min NY in the fall of last year and then finding all the other wonderful blogs and sites that gave me inspiration to jump in. I can clearly remember too, that a couple other bloggers started their sites at the same time and I’m happy to say that Katherine from Mad Perfumista and Freddie from Smellythoughts are still running strong aside me with wonderful insight and commentary on their love of fragrance.

I have learned a lot in the last year and would like to share with a few thoughts on this first year of my endeavor:

Blogging is fun, but it can be tough. You go through spurts of creativity while at other times your creative juices just run dry. I look back at some of my first posts and cringe at what I have written…and to be honest I still do that! I wonder if other bloggers never feel satisfied with their posts?
It’s easy to write reviews on perfumes that you love. The words just flow. Actually the same can be said for those fragrances that you hate too. I don’t like criticizing anybody’s creation…but again, it’s just my opinion. But the love and hate posts seem to generate the most views!
You can’t keep up with all of the new launches. This industry is constantly churning out new product and it’s impossible to keep up with it all. So you have to search out those products which pique your interest and then continue searching out established products that you want to sample and not worry about all of the new.
My wallet suffers from too much love. I have spent so much money on perfume this year, but as my wonderful husband said, “don’t worry about spending on your passion, at least you’re not passionate about cars…now that would cost some money.” Note to perfumers: If you offered more 30ml and 50ml product, I would spend even more money.
I wish I had the mind of many of you out there. I read and speak to people who can recall and compare and name off perfumes and ingredients and notes with detailed accuracy like people who can recall football game and player statistics. That’s an art that I just don’t possess.
I have sooooo much to learn about fragrance, which I guess makes sense since this endeavor is only 1-year-old. I consider myself a novice.
The best part of this whole experience is sharing and communicating with all the wonderful people in this community. And without a doubt, this community is all about sharing and support…it truly is the number one thing that keeps me going with this blog. Thank You!

And as a special thanks to you, my wonderful friends at Penny Lane Perfumes have offered as a draw, a 100ml bottle of E. Cordray Ambre et Vanille to one of my lucky readers. Ambre et Vanille is a luscious vanilla wrapped up in amber which makes for a snuggly sweater for these cold winter nights. The draw will be open until 11:59 pm Eastern Time, Wednesday, January 16, 2013 and is open to all US and non-US readers. A winner will be drawn at random using random.org. To enter in the draw, please check out pennylaneperfumes.com and leave a comment on this post telling me what product from their stock you wished you owned or are curious about. Or, if there is something in their stock that you already own and absolutely love, share that love in a comment. Penny Lane Perfumes carries Amouage, Serge Lutens, Mona di Orio and many other wonderful brands.

But wait, there’s more (that sounds like an infomercial doesn’t it); for the first 50 people who make a purchase from their site, Penny Lane Perfumes will give you $25.00 off of your order. All you have to do is put 2013 in the coupon box. However, this offer is valid for US customers only as they currently do not ship overseas. I am thinking that I may have to make a little purchase of Serge Luten’s Chergui myself! I think my friends at Penny Lane Perfumes are pretty awesome, don’t you?!

In the end, thank you for all of your support. I look forward the year ahead and the perfume experiences to come. And since I’m a big boy now, I’m passing a bone to some new wonderful bloggers who are just starting out as pups, please check them out: Kafkaesque, Scent Bound, The Other Scent.

January 5, 2013
by The Scented Hound 23 Comments

Really??! A Twisted Perfume Shopping Tale

I know it’s right after the holidays and it’s the beginning of the year and I wondered if I should make a posting that is somewhat negative, but what the heck, it’s an interesting story…well, I’ll let you be the judge of that.

We have our yearly appraisals at work in December. I found myself surprised that I was to receive a small bonus (yes, federal workers can get bonuses, but not large ones mind you) and decided that as a special treat to myself I would go ahead and purchase a small EdP version of 24 Faubourg by Hermes. Years ago, my hub bought this as a present for a friend and I have loved it from the first day I smelled it. Yes, it’s very feminine, but damn it… I like it too!

As it is more of a mainstream perfume, I trolled the web perfume site to find the best price. Now, most of the sites only had the EdT versions for sale, but I found a couple that had the 50ml EdP versions as well. I won’t name the site, but in addition to the good price, they had an additional 10% off coupon code and free shipping. Great…I’m in!

Three days later I receive my little treasure. When I open the box, the box the perfume in was a bit worn, but I thought, so what, maybe it just got damaged en route. I then open the box only to find that it was missing almost 1/4 of the juice. I could tell immediately that it had not leaked, because the package nor the bottle were wet. It was just used.

The Offending Bottle

I receive the bottle on Christmas Eve, so I called the company on the day after Christmas and told them of the situation and sent the picture to the right. They nicely apologized and said that I could return the perfume but that they wouldn’t be able to replace it as they didn’t have any more in stock. I asked about possibly getting the bottle for a reduced price thinking that they might give it to me for 50% off which would have been fine.

The customer service representative came back and said they could give me an additional 5% off. I told her that at least 25% of the fragrance is missing, why would they only give me 5% off? She said that I had already received 10% off of the purchase when I ordered it. I explained that 10% off was for the full bottle purchase, so in essence you would only be giving me 5% off a bottle that was 25% missing or 15% off a non-discounted full bottle for 25% missing! I asked to speak to her supervisor. She went away and came back (sans supervisor) and said that all they could offer me was either an additional 5% off or I could return the perfume for a refund. I was flabbergasted. Here they would want me to ship something back (at their cost) that they could not sell instead of giving me a decent price for a used bottle and still make some money!

Really??!!!

I shipped the bottle back and was credited the full amount. I still don’t own 24 Faubourg. Maybe I wasn’t meant to own a bottle?

Oh, what the heck, the company in question is perfumeworldwide.com.