Montresor

[this machine]

The black fruit and vanilla oaken notes of fine Medoc and De Grâve, but not a hint of the elusive Amontillado.

In the bottle, this definitely smells a tiny bit funky, like wine that's just turning and i don't know what else.

But upon application it quickly becomes a sweet (but not too), dark, fruity scent - i can see it's relation to wine but it's sweeter than that, i'm assuming due to the vanilla. It's warm, and delicious, and has great throw and staying power on me. I'm a huge fan.

[puck_nc]

Origin: 1/2 imp gifted me by a dear friend on El Jay

 

Initial Thoughts: This was the only Maelstrom scent whose description intrigued me. I adore a good red wine.

 

In the Bottle: I can understand the cherry cough syrup references. At first it smells very like those old-fashioned cherry cough drops my parents used to buy, before the faintest woodsy notes crop up.

 

Wet: Heavy, sweet wine. It smells like port on my arm.

 

Drydown: The fruit and the vanilla oak find a nice balance for a sweet and rich fruit scent with an edge of alcohol.

 

Verdict: I do like it. I'm not sure how much I'll wear it. I'm due for a travelling imp box among a BPAL circle and if I'm not picking it up I may add it to that stash.

[Miss Lynx]

On first contact, this is rich, fruity, boozy, and really, really nice. There's a lot of complexity in it -- an intoxicating sweetness, but with a bitter, dark undercurrent to it, appropriately enough for the character on which it's based. There's a faint touch of coldness, something almost minty, but not quite -- and the coldness is also appropriate to the story. All in all, very evocative.

 

Interestingly, it caused a slightly burning sensation in the crooks of my arms, the way Chimera and other very spicy scents sometimes do, but without the accompanying redness that usually has. Strange, because it doesn't smell spicy. Oh well.

 

The first time I tried this, the drydown wasn't altogether pleasant -- the bitter note seemed to become stronger, and the woody elements went a little funky on me as they sometimes can. This time that doesn't seem to be happening, though -- a couple of hours later and it's still nice, just fainter. Now I'm almost wishing I'd ordered a bottle after all...

 

Grade: B+

[grrrlennyl]

at first: sweet, like almonds or cherries.

on: overall fruity with sweet vanilla, but there's an odd note in the background. i'm wondering if it's red wine.

3 hours later: less chaotic than at first. dark, fruity wine.

4 hours later: sweet and dark.

overall: this is lovely, but i have other red wine scents that work better on me.

[juniperus]

Bottle: damp oak with a fruity undertone.

Wet: blackberry or currant, I think, under the oak. and a hint of vanilla.

Dry: the damp oak and vanilla are both coming up, neck and neck, and the oak is changing in ways I would not have wanted...

Later: oh. my. the vetiver affect. ew ew ew ew - what is wrong with my skin?!?

[Melantha]

Sob.

 

I really, really wanted to love this. However, it turns to cherry cough syrup on my skin, and stays there.

 

Sob.

[absinthetics]

Sweet, wine, fruit...

 

It can turn dark, or it can turn bright on its own, perhaps with your mood or your pleasure. a lovely scent.

[edenssixthday]

Montresor - Holy black currant, Batman! Wow, this is most definitely a very strong black currant scent. It immediately takes me back to a time about 18 years ago when I was in England and I bought a pack of hard candies that were similar in consistency to a Life Saver, but had strange flavors that we don't get in the States, and the one that stands out in my memory was the Black Currant flavored candy. This perfume smells exactly like that candy -- tart, super-sugary, and fruity-sweet. I also smell the slightest touch of vanilla that seems to making an attempt to tame the currant, but ultimately, this is an incredibly dark, fruity, scent that is simultaneously tart and overwhelmingly sweet. It's a fabulously fun scent, but way too sweet in my book. I have a feeling that layering it with something musky (Smut?) or a blend with more vanilla (Snake Oil?) would really help bring the black currant sweetness back to earth a bit and make it more wearable for me. Otherwise, the throw is most just right, although it leans in the direction of being a bit much, and the lasting power is really phenomenal. This is a keeper, as long as I can find something to layer with it that will tame the cloying sweetness.

[Eunice]

This is dead on Montresor! Smooth boozy scent. The berry is strong but elegant. There is a wonderful rich buttery smell to this which I am attributing to the vanilla and tobacco. This isn't a wine smell so much as a port smell to me. Or a cordial. I'm very impressed with the complexity of this!

[angharad]

So beautiful, elegant, classy. I want to wear this to a formal event, like the Inaugural Ball or something. Very fruity and sweet, but deeper than most of my other favorite fruity scents. There's definitely the wine, too, but it isn't overpoweringly boozy. It has a strong throw and lasted for HOURS. I put it on last night before bed and could still smell it this morning when I woke up. I really like this, I just don't know how often I'll wear it. It's not an every-day scent for me.

[silver_dollar]

In the bottle: Ugh. Very medicinal. Kind of like this stuff I used to take for strep throat when I was a kid. Well, here goes nothing...

 

On my skin: Okay, definately better. Now it's mostly booze with some kind of berry note. Very nice. Just goes to show you shouldn't be scared away by the first sniff.

 

It also turns into powder within an hour, so I'm glad it came in a big-ish bottle.

[Deiicide]

Intial sniff: A dark winish note that I remember in Lady Macbeth and in the Black Tower! I wonder if it'll save the same berrisy notes that wore off so quickly in me in Lady Macbeth but still have the same lasting power that was in Black Tower.

 

Hit to Wrist: Wow this stuff is lovely. I can't stop sniffing my arm. The wine note has dulled down a bit letting the berries and vanilla notes sweeten the skin. Mmm.

 

A bit later: Now the Oak is letting itself through allowing the blend to gain a deep richness to the blend.

 

I imagine parlor of the very richest sorts where people are eating honeyed fruit and having just the very best wine. This scent is a keeper, I'm in love.

[karengypsy]

In the vial: Red wine

 

On me: As with other BPAL wine scents, this goes a bit apple-y on me. I'm not complaining, though, as I think it smells lovely. It's a sweet scent and it has pretty decent lasting power.

 

Verdict: Lovely, but I don't think I need more than just the imp. It'll be nice to wear on evenings out to fancy restaurants.

 

Rating: 3/5

[strawberry_star]

Oh Montresor, you broke my heart. I wanted to love you forever and call you Monty. NOTE: boozy and fruity are my favorite notes.

 

I was dreaming of wine drenched black fruit with subtle hints of vanilla. Doesn't that sound amazing? Instead when I put it on I got COUGH SYRUP! *cries* The Red Queen did the exact same thing to me. I am so disappointed by this one.

[Naamah_Darling]

This is a musty, fruity, boozy scent, like cherry cordial, in the bottle. The kind of smell you can tell will warm right up. Let's see.

 

Oh, my! Wood, dry white wine, apples and plums, and smoky caramel. Very nice. A dusty scent with that spike of booze familiar to me from Miskatonic University. Nice. It dries to a rather plummy, dark fruity scent, but one that is very dry and alcoholic, quite distinctive. There are wood notes here, and a little bit of vanilla to smooth things out. It's that wood note that keeps this from being a dark and sugary scent, gives it some depth. And it is deep, deep and interesting.

 

It's a close-in scent, not a lot of throw, and what it does have is polite. You have to get right up close to discover it.

[euterpe414]

So, I bought I bottle of this early on in the Maelstrom, and it smelled like cough syrup on my skin and stayed there past the drydown.

 

I thought maybe if i aged it a few months that it would make a difference, maybe the notes would blend and mellow...

 

Nope. Still all cough syrup. Damn. This, besides the Pit and the Pendulum, was the blend I had the most hope for.

 

Funny though, Red Queen, which seems to be a similar blend, does not do this to me at all. I must figure out what note is was in Montresor that killed it for me...

[brownbear]

It starts out smelling like cherry. Then it goes to deep, fruity, red wine. Then a smoky note comes out. I never got any vanilla here, but that's a good thing as it usually goes plastic on me. I even got the oaken notes. There is also a hint of pipe tobacco in here. Overall I really like it.

[theseagrows]

this smells like a fruity woody wine scent on me. also it's so strong that i get a headache. i like wine scents, but fruit and wood is hit or miss and this one is definitely a miss.

[luna65]

Thanks to Blood onmy hands for the decant.

 

Vial: The oak is definitely present in the vial, it's more of a wine-y type of scent than on my skin, altogether deep: toasty and fruity.

 

Skin: The berries take over completely. Have you ever smelled the first press of a harvest? This is the scent: almost overpoweringly sweet with berry, grape and vanilla notes.

 

Drydown: After a time I can smell the oak again, a resin-like undertone. I love to smell this, although I'm not certain I'd like to wear it. I'll have to have a certain oenophile I know take a whiff and see if it makes him think of a certain terroir.

Edited October 4, 2006 by luna65

[Jocelyn]

I got a little bitty bit of this from a swap with deana. (Thanks deana!)

 

It smells like red wine in the vial, very strong, enough to make you sneeze. Goes sweet on my skin, does smell a bit like cherry cough syrup. I like it enough that I will keep the little bit that I have.

[Orodemniades]

Wet and dry: Booze. A fruity sweetness, possibly wine and pomegranate, and alas, pomegranate and I are not all that friendly...

 

Overall: a definite no-no.

 

Oro

[urbanruralferal]

received this as a gift from jarvenpa. Thanks!

 

in the bottle, at the post office counter, first sniff smelled like... well, poo. (My daughter said dirty socks.)

I knew it was going to be better on, though, so I gave it a try.

 

On, it is a very strong fruit, black cherry and wine. Not so unpleasant as that initial sniff, thank goodness. The black currant makes itself known slowly as this dries and warms, black currant with that mustiness it has. I have a black currant growing here on the farm, and it is a very unique berry. Some don't like it because of that musty quality, but I do. On further drying down it goes through a plasticky phase, which passes, and Montresor finally ends being a deep juicy sweetness that reminds me of the Rexall drugstore I grew up sniffing lip glosses in. (You know, those fat Bonne Bell tubes...)

 

It isn't my style at all.

[Rusalka]

Oh, Montresor: my love, my passion!

And very nearly my undoing. Who'd have thought that a few weeks' aging would make such a difference?

 

But it really did. Fresh from the Lab, Montresor hit me like a truck full of cherry-steeped oak: mellow and rounded, palely brown and underscored by a hint of the most sickly sweetness imaginable. I kept the bottle for its name.

 

 

... and then took it out for another sullen sniff, a few weeks later. Talk about a miraculous transformation. The cherry has vanished; the oak has taken on a rich, spicy resin to its grain; the berries are dark and full-bodied and divine --

 

And all of this makes a twisted sort of sense, as not one of the Big 10 BPALs have worked for me. Snake Oil? Rotted leather on my skin. Shanghai? Powdered acid. Morocco? An unholy blend of dirt and Old Person, from the moment it touches my skin. But oh lord, does Montresor work.

[mountainwitch]

I had to try this one for the literary reference. I nearly died when I opened the envelope and saw the bottle with its fine detail, too; I really wanted this to be a keeper!

 

At first Montresor was all sharp and sweet, a fruity-boozy fragrance much like what Monster Bait: Closet turned into when it hit my skin. Montresor turned woodier and darker, however. I was starting to really enjoy it . . . Until it turned into a dead ringer for the cherry tobacco that my uncle used to smoke. The smell was powerful and rich, and I know some people might like that smell in itself, but the memories it triggered were just too powerful for me. (My uncle was a victim of a violent crime several years ago.)

 

I did find a good home for Montresor with a friend for whom it was reminiscent of chocolate and cherries. Now, if I can just talk her into giving me the empty bottle . . .

[fairy]

This is the first review I'm doing from a free sniffie I got, I really feel this was worthy

 

WOW! This scent is amazing (I feel like I've been saying that on a loop lately). In the bottle it smells a tad smoky, which I normally dont like..but on, it smells delicious! Wet rum chocolate...that's what I think of when I smell it. All lovely and beautiful together. I see a few more drops remaining at the bottom of the bottle which I'm going to hoard until I'm able to get my hands on an actual bottle or imp

 

ADDED Sept. 9:

 

I got an empty bottle of this in a sale, looked at it, thought "gee that's pretty" and then pretty much left it alone.

 

Last night something made me want to try it...holy cow this is amazing! I had maybe a drop or 2 left and I did everything but try to jump in the bottle to get more.

 

I smell sweet pipe tobacco. And I'm usually not a fan of the tobacco smells but this one is absolutely astonishing. It makes me feel at ease...I don't know what it is. It's a very relaxing scent and perfect for the upcoming fall weather. I'm trying to track down a full bottle because I dont want this, I NEED it.