Ok. Wow. First spray, and I suddenly know what Thierry Mugler was trying to do with the cotton-candy/tire fire opening of A*Men. Similar notes, spun sugar and something acrid, but better balanced, toned down, and nestled comfortably in something floral, gauzy, and that comes on quick and says, “it’ll be ok. The clown can’t hurt you, I’m here.”

And then moments later: I finally know what people on Fragrantica mean when they say “Animalic”. Wow, something somewhere in there just purred at me and asked if I had any red meat.

By god, it’s another orchestral overture from Rogue. Good one, too, this one I really like. Please god, let this be the one that lasts beyond the opening.

Soon, there’s scented wood. Pine needles? Or some sort of herbal elixir in there, too, that reminds me of a liqueur I haven’t had in a long time, Chartreuse, maybe? Wow, this is complex, yet totally unified and delicious. The sugar and acrid note are gone within minutes, or at least, toned down to be an integrated and indistinguishable part of the symphony.

Seriously, it’s been a long time since I thought about hitting the bars, but this is making me feel like it, because any woman who wouldn’t like this smell, I don’t even care to know. I feel like Indiana Jones.

My hands smell like I’ve been eating tropical fruit. Not the sharp kind like pineapple, more round and aromatic, like papaya? Persimmon? Mango? Or maybe it’s cinnamon and sugar. This scent is a labyrinth.

Once again, within 10 minutes of putting on a Rogue I’m looking online at prices for a full bottle.

By the end of the first hour, this moves closer to the opening ginger-cookies-and-paint-thinner accord of Champ Lunaires, although still smouldering with the dazzling complexity of the opening. I got maybe 2 nice hours of this.

Four hours after spraying, the whole thing was gone, gone, gone. Not a skin scent left, nothing. And thank god, because I might have spent my life savings on this stuff.

I still might.