Harvest Moon: balsam fir, cedar, juniper berry, clove, saffron, damson plum, sage, black cherry, and fennel with the crushed wine grapes of Dionysus and Janus' lingum aloes. - intriguing! But it probably won't work on me.
HELLHOUND ON MY TRAIL: nope. Sorry.
A BLADE OF GRASS: Autumn leaves scattered among blades of grass. Not really.
AUTUMN COOLNESS: The scent of wisteria, Cymbidium, lotus blossom, and cassia buds drifting on a breeze through gently swaying bamboo reeds. Probably not.
JOHN BARLEYCORN: Barley, beer, blood, and whiskey. NO.
CHANT D'AUTOMNE:The scent of the year's fall and the setting sun, ominous and foreboding: dried leaves, charred wood, blood musk, amber, khus, and Nicotiana tabacum. NO.
DAY OF THE SKULLS: White sandalwood, beeswax, and frankincense crowned by hydrangea, rose, and kantuta blossoms, dressed with tobacco, cocoa leaves and flowers from the sacred Cactus of the Four Winds. No.
GRAVEYARD DIRT 2008: NONONO.
HUESOS DE SANTO: Orange-glazed cake, dotted with anise seed, and filled with custard, set beside a bouquet of celebratory funeral flowers. You know, I'm a foody, but this doesn't sound good to me at all.
MEDITATION IN AUTUMN: A desolate scent, dusty, bleak, and withered: old wood, burnt brown sandalwood, and twisted vines. Maybe. Decant?
MICTECACIHUATL: Copal, precious woods, South American spices, agave nectar, cigar tobacco, and roses. Nope.
Samhain 2008: I love 2007. Will I love 2008? Probably.
STICKY PILLOWCASE: Smushed candy corn, rock candy dust, marshmallow gunk, strawberry goo, spun blue sugar, globs of salt water taffy, and lint. See Huesos.
SUGAR SKULL 2008: Vibrant with the joy and sweetness of life in death! A blend of five sugars, lightly dusted with candied fruits. Sugar doesn't work so well on me.
TO AUTUMN: Mist and mellow fruitfulness: mist-swirled, moss-covered bark and dry red leaves, apple pulp and knotty galangal, with poppy juice and nutmeat. I want to like this, but I don't think I will. Decant?
PUMPKIN I: Pumpkin with mango, persimmon, coconut, and myrrh. No?
PUMPKIN II: Pumpkin with black musk, leather accord, tonka, teak, orange wood, and opoponax. No leather
PUMPKIN III: Pumpkin with pink grapefruit, lemon verbena, yuzu, lime, parsley, and mint. Sounds weird.
PUMPKIN IV: Pumpkin with white sage, cherry tobacco, honey, smoky vanilla, cedar, and pine. Tobacco is a no-go
PUMPKIN V: Pumpkin with cranberry, strawberry, red musk, red rose, rosehip, frankincense, fig, jasmine, and carnation. Probably not.
BROM BONES: The butchest, manliest of musks covered in well-worn leather. NO.
THE CHURCHYARD: Overgrown dark green bullrush, midnight roses, dwarf St. John's Wort, frankincense, blackberry leaf, and moss-covered, half-buried tree bark. Not really.
ICHABOD CRANE: Dusty black wool, tea with cream, black pepper, muguet, and beeswax candle drippings. Interesting. Decant.
FEARFUL PLEASURE: Dried orange peels floating in simmering cider, roasted apples, smoldering firewood, chimney smoke, sassafras beer, warm hawthorn wood, and oakmoss. Decant? Too many iffies in there.
THE GOBLIN RIDER: The scent of fear, and terrifying pursuit: wind-whipped, chilly night air, oppressive black pine, globs of dark opopponax, and bleak cedar, and distant, unreachable church incense. Not really.
GUNPOWDER: Carrot peelings, hay, chaff, molasses, maple oats, red apples, stable wood, and musk. Maybe. Decant.
THE HESSIAN OF THE HOLLOW: Grave moss and bone-white sandalwood, with vetiver, gunpowder, artillery shrapnel, and blood. NO.
THE SCHOOL-HOUSE: Dandelion, white clover, balsam fir logs, and birchwood switches. Meh.
THE SHATTERED PUMPKIN: Soil-covered crushed pumpkin, water-weeds, saddle-leather, and pine pitch. No.
KATRINA VAN TASSEL: White rose and honeyed cream. Definitely not.
WILEY'S SWAMP: Water-logged and rotting wood, fallen chestnuts, oak leaf, bog laurel, and Virginia creeper. No.
THE WITCHING TIME OF NIGHT: Moonflower, night-blooming cereus, white hellebore, English ivy, monkshood, angel's trumpet, oleander, and eastern hemlock. No.
THE BUGGRE ALLE THIS BIBLE: Crumbling paper and ancient cracked leather with a touch of tobacco leaf and incense. As much as I love the concept (and that part of GO), this isn't gonna work for me.
JASMINE COTTAGE: Camellia, jasmine, heather, orange blossom, osmanthus, wisteria, thyme, angelica, freesia, granny’s nightcap, and English wildflowers. Floral death. Nope.
NANNY ASHTORETH: Middle Eastern flowers, amber, honey, blood red-berries, whip leather, and polished paddle wood. Torn. 4/6 notes are great, but flowers are iffy, and leather has yet to work for me.
PEPPER: Wild English roses, French gardenia, vanilla, honey, golden ginger, blood orange, tuberose, bergamot, and geranium. I tried a prototype of this at ECWC at Thanksgiving, and I really liked it. I have no idea what the relation between that and this is; the notes list is frighteningly floral.
WENSLEYDALE: An immaculately clean scent: well-scrubbed soapy skin and fresh cotton. I also tried a prototype of this. I thought it was horribly floral.
++ AMERICAN GODS
THE IFRIT: Desert sand, red musk, blackened ginger, dragon’s blood resin, black pepper, cinnamon, and tobacco. I want to like this. Tobacco is not my friend, however. If the good notes overwhelm the tobacco, it could be awesome.
THE NORNS’ FARMHOUSE: Dusty, ancient wood, horehound, and sage, with viper’s bugloss, mugwort, chamomile, nettle, apple blossom, chervil, and ashes. Dust? Ashes? Pass.
++ STARDUST
THE EAST: The scent of the winds beyond the wall: bluebonnet, passion flower, freesia, jasmine tea, mint, thyme, and redcurrant. Too much floral.
THE STORMHOLD: Creeping moss, slick granite, murky vetiver, lightning-charged ozone, and icy rain. Tried a prototype of this, too. Ick. It gets all those images from the passage, but ... so very not for me.
++ DOC CONSTANTINE'S PHARMACOPOEIA
BRUISED VIOLET COMPOUND: Crushed violets, red currant, patchouli root, and Spanish moss. Violets = no. Moss isn't very good for me, either.
NOSTRUM REMEDIUM: Black tea leaf, invigorating wasabi extract, sweetened by honey. Intriguing. This could be a tea scent that smells like tea on me...
SLIPPERY POPPY TINCTURE: Poppy flowers, acai berry, and honey. Pass? No idea what poppy flowers smell like.
STIMULATING SASSAFRAS STRENGTHENER: Sassafras, vanilla extract, oak leaf, CO2 butter extract, and onycha. Sniffed a prototype of this. Liked. Would try again.
++ PHOENIX STEAMWORKS AND RESEARCH FACILITY
PHOENIX STEAMWORKS: Burnished gold and oiled bronze notes with Abramelin incense and sage. Not a big fan of metallic scents, and I've got Philosopher in Meditation for my Abramelin needs.
AELOPILE: Glowing amber and citrus, labdanum, verbena, cedar, and oud. ? I like amber, citrus, verbena, and cedar, not sure for labdanum & oud.
THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM: Teakwood, oak, black vanilla, and tobacco. Again with the tobacco...
THE COIL: Ozone, eucalyptus and mint with purple orchid, passionflower, white ginger, and purple lotus. No - ozone, mint.
ETHER: Translucent blooms, ethereal white resins, and davana. Doubtful. Sounds like a headache in a bottle.
GALVANIC GOGGLES: Metallic notes with Indian musk, tobacco flower, and African balsam. Tobacco flower is different than tobacco, but metallic? Meh.
NO. 93 ENGINE: Balm of Gilead, benzoin, frankincense, balsam of peru, beeswax, saffron, galbanum, calamus, hyssop, mastic, lemon balm, and white sage. Balm of Gilead might be eucalyptus. Frankincense is iffy. Benzoin is nice. Hard to say...
THE OBSIDIAN WIDOW: Pinot noir, dark myrrh, red sandalwood, black patchouli, night-blooming jasmine, and attar of rose. Jasmine + rose = hell no.
THE ROBOTIC SCARAB: Polished metallic notes, glossy leather, frankincense, star anise, and thin lubricating oils. Again with the metals...
SMOKESTACK: Creosote, coal, and industrial waste. I'm sure there's someone who finds this idea appealing, but that person is not me.
VIOLET RAY: White mint, purple musk, violet, lilac, ylang ylang, lavender moss, and sandalwood. Intriguing, but no.
