The Castle

[The_Witching_Hour]

A distant whisper of pine, wet moss and dry leaves passing through vast halls and winding dungeons whose scent bears the memory of blood, faded splendor, imperial elegance and stunning violence.

In the bottle: an unknown floral in the backround (pretty elusive) of mossy, dusty earth. It evokes an image of walking through the forest at dusk.

Wet on skin: a somewhat sweet note makes an appearance but I also smell something spicy, like black pepper.

Drydown: it has a ‘dry leaves’ feel, some pine has come out and stuck around but there are other things in this that I can't descibe. The dragon's blood mixed very well with something akin to pepper, which was a great combination as it rounded out the bitterness that dragon's blood has a tendency to do in some blends. This blend really evoked a lot of imagery and was very appropriately named for its massiveness!!

[jessu]

In the bottle I got a strong whiff of Dragon's Blood, but now that it's on and dry it's musty resiny incense. I can't even tell what it is, 'cause it's so NOT my thing. It's very dry.

[euterpe414]

I could kick myself, really, for not ordering The Castle when it was up. I don't know why I didn't think i would like it...

 

finally, I scored a decant of this and I have to say, it is a very nice Dragon's Blood blend. My skin doesn't amp DB to the 9nth degree, which is good. I can definitely smell a variation in this from other Ars Draconis. It is very peppery, incensy and a tad dusty- very reminiscent of a castle, in my opinion.

 

This lasts for a good long time, like most DB blends do for me. This is a really evocative scent, after a while there is a vast, empty feeling that I get when I sniff my wrists- hard to explain but the Castle gives off a very vast and dusty vibe (but not dusty like Krampus, thankfully! maybe dusty more like Dee is dusty on me). It doesn't freak me out at all, but it is certainly interesting to note.

 

Well, in short, I am off to hunt down a bottle of this. It is some good stuff!

[emzebel]

A rich, resinous blend - a mix of encroaching forest, Dragon's Blood and a subtle sweetness. This bears certain similarities to both The Bloody Sword and Count Dracula, but is deeper and darker than either of them and hints at forboding secrets.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: lots of pine and wet, green notes.

on: salty and wet, with a decent amount of pine. this is a dark sort of green, not a fresh, happy-forest sort of green.

5.5 hours later: very musty and leaf-like. a decaying sort of scent.

7 hours later: a little softer, but still decaying leaves.

overall: this isn't a scent for me.

[Naamah_Darling]

I'm going to go ahead and say what this smells like to me, because by golly, that description gives me nothing.

 

It's high, clear, and sweet, also very bright. That's dragon's blood, faint but true, overlaid by something resinous, a woody and pale pine or redwood. It's cold, foresty, but not pitchy or too green, and almost squinting bright. It is very autumnal, and very clear. Remote. A bright landscape, viewed from a distance.

 

The greenery comes out more on warm skin, and a touch of something dank and grubby. Rotten wood? Sandalwood? Old leaves? It's a faint, perfumey version of some half-remembered outdoors scent. I'm getting none of the sweetness or foodiness that others are claiming, just a very clear, crisp outside smell. I can see where the "elegance" is coming from. This is a high, bright perfume, the topnotes are green and gold, it's very poised and dignified. But it's got this sour, moldering edge to it.

 

As it dries it softens, and then it is very pleasant, very dragon's-bloody, and very pretty. It loses some of that bitter, acrid brightness and just becomes a slaty, metallic, cool smell with a remote sweetness hovering around the edges.

 

Going back and reading over the review, this is not the castle. It's the approach to the castle from the first sighting of the distant tower to the approach through ancient and dark woods, and then inside. It's the olfactory equivalent of traveling music and a montage. Wow. Wow.

 

I have to say, maybe not a personal scent for me, but certainly an Experience. An admirable example of the perfumer's art, and most evocative.

[Phaedra]

Wet this is herbal with an underlying sharp bite. When first on there's a sharp woody note mixe with something mossy and a bit sweet. It feels very grey and metallic. After a few minutes it's an earthy/floral blend but without the "dirt" note. After about half an hour this softens and I think there's Dragon's Blood in it. It also has an incense quality to it too. This dries down to a woody Dragon's Blood blend. I think this will age really well so I'll keep it for a while.

[tinyvulture]

I smell cold, moss-covered marble blended with the spicy tang of dragon’s blood. Dragon’s blood doesn’t always work on me, but I love it here. Also, there’s the same intriguing “dry leaves” note found in Samhainophobia. I wasn’t sure about trying this one, but I’m glad I did. A foreboding, desolate autumn scent.

[QueenFae]

Hmmm, complex, interesting. The first thing I notice is a dry, dusty leaves note. That quickly moves to the side, and I detect dragon's blood with an earthen undertone. It's like burning Dragon's Blood incense in a dank, musty old torture chamber. There is the barest hint of spicy something floating through the undertones.

 

This is not quite my thing, although I ususally love dragon's blood blends. But, I think the boy will **love** this and I'm sure he'll hijack my decant.

[lapillus]

In bottle: brown, both color and scent

 

Wet: spicy and resin sweet. I think it may have some red patchouli.

 

Dry: The patchouli is taking over, and is sitting on top of some woods.

 

Later: Moderates to a nicely balanced dark brown blend, sweet and spicy that fades faster than I’d have expected. Is gone within about six hours, which given how resiny it smelled is about half the life I was expecting.

 

Summary: Will keep but won’t hunt for more.

[savage_rose]

It smells like earthy incense to me...with a somewhat creamy, neutral kind of scent, vanilla maybe. Very stable, light, and a little sexy. And it morphs a bit. Sometimes it smells a bit dusty, sometimes creamy. And I just caught a whiff of Dragon's Blood. Lovely.

[hackess]

Sniffing it made me flash onto the scene of a dim corridor, the stone walls covered with dead, dry moss and beams groaning under the weight of decades. Torches line the walls sparsely, leaving enough dark between each that you fear the shadows every hundred steps.

 

As I got wafts of it over the next hour or so, I could taste copper as the Dragon's Blood came through. To me, it was a very creepy scent, just for the dilapidated castle in my mind's sight. (I've seen too many old horror movies, methinks.) While it's very evocative (as many BPAL blends are!), I don't think I can wear it regularly.

[Rat The Unloved]

Initial Impressions: Thanatopsis. It smells exactly like it. I love it already.

On the Skin: Hints of muskier tones over the Thanatopsis-like-scent.

Dry: The "Thanatopsisness" begins to fade. The Dragonsblood and moss come forward. The overall scent is exactly like the local occult store (Dragonsblood Incense and old spices). Barest hints of what I'd describe as "wet granite". I want to have it's babies.

Mature: Dragonsblood and soft, crunching, moss. Light, airy, dusty, fragrances of forgotten abodes.

Several hours later: Muted, earthy, mossy, loamy.

Over all: I think I love it.

Buyability:Since this is no longer available I cannot buy more... but I do love it dearly. Anyone wishing to try something simmilar might want to try Thanatopsis layered with a Dragonsblood-heavy scent.

[filigree_shadow]

I have so many BPAL bottles that contain dragon's blood, it's kind of ridiculous. But! There's a good reason for that. Although my skin amps dragon's blood, for some reason I can still tell the difference between the blends. My skin amps the cold/slush note and violet as well, and any blend with either of those things in it smell pretty much exactly like all the other blends that contain that note. With DB, although my skin amps it, I can still tell the difference between the various DB blends.

 

I really do like The Castle a lot. It has that lovely dragon's blood paired with a dry, almost dusty scent. It's not the same dryness that's in Dragon's Bone, though. This one smells a little sharper, in a plant-like way. Not flowers... more like greenery. I guess that would be moss? It's interesting and hard to describe.

 

But, even though I like this, it's not my favorite DB blend. It's not going to supplant Dragon's Milk or The Tell-Tale Heart for me.

Edited May 14, 2007 by filigree_shadow

[Neely]

In the bottle: Dragon's Blood, with something else I cannot place. I suck at telling the individual notes where Beth is concerned, she blends them so well.

 

Wet: Dragon's Blood, and something salty and rotten.

 

Dry down: Dragon's Blood and something rotten.

 

30 minutes: mostly Dragon's Blood, but I amp DB.

 

Conclusion: I am hoping this is just a time of the month chemistry thing. When I bought The Castle it smelt wonderful on me, so much so a friend bought a bottle ( everybody say Hey for enabling). But now it is rotteness with DB. Will have to try it again.

 

Rating 1-5: inconslusive.

Edited November 14, 2007 by atropos

[ariansdreams]

In the imp: Feh. Dragon's blood and woodiness. Very masculine and sharp.

 

Wet on Skin: Cedary. The castle is made of wood, apparently.

 

Dry: I smell a vague dusting of dragon's blood. Otherwise, it is gone! Completely disappeared. Poo.

[radishbaby]

In the Imp : Mmm, there's the pine being very sticky and sappy, there's something a little bit rotted which I'm going to say is the leaves.

 

 

Wet : : It's pine and something terrible. Not to say that there's something terrible smelling, but the smell of something terrible. The pine is still there but there's something else that I can't place. The description says dungeouns and memory or stunning violence and while I try and shy away from getting overly dramatic when reviewing a scent - there's just no other way I can describe this. I can't wrap my mind around this but this smells like pain, despair and violence. This smells like a place you couldn't get out of and never wanted to visit in the first place. This is incredible. I know I know - youre going to say that actions don't have a scent, but these ones do and it's in this bottle.

 

 

 

Dry : Very old room smell. Polished, dry wooden furnature. There's still some pine ghosting around through all of this and now the moss has decided to come out - but its not the chilly fresh kind of moss I get from other scents, this is very dry long dead moss. It's like whatever bad was happening in the wet stage is finally over and has left, but its left a feeling of unease behind it.

 

 

Over All : I'm actually a little spooked how true this is to it's description.

 

 

Big Bottle Worthy : Yes. The smell its self is incredibly sophistocated and beautiful. The image it captures is frightening. If I can ever find a bottle of this I'll whord it till my end days.

[Lethran]

In the bottle, this is surprisingly sweet, dragon's blood with a hint of more delicate woodsy elements. Wet, it reminds me a lot of dragon Musk, though it is slightly lighter. I am surprised there is no tea in this, since it reminds me of any number of tea based scents. I admit to acquiring this out of curiosity mostly, but I'm not sorry. I am not a fan of pine in cologne, as it's often to intense for my idiosyncratic sensory system, but it's subtle here, adding an edge to the resin scent, but not overpowering it. As it wears, the more delicate elements make a showing. I rather like the faint hint of decay added by the leaves and moss. The pine sharpens a pit, but stays under control. It manages to give the impression of cold, damp stonework exposed to sky and encroaching forest. Dry, it is more leaves and moss but with that yummy resiny edge. This really does live up to it's concept and will likely become one of my staples. I can't believe there's no musk in this.

[olive]

Something about this makes my spine tingle. It is nostalgic and comfortably pensive. The Castle reminds me of wandering through abandoned cathedrals in late autumn.

 

Spicy and smokey leaves at the base of emptiness, glazed over in a freakishly well behaved dragons blood.

[sadtomato]

I'm not getting any old, cold empty feeling from this at all.

To me and on me this is Dragon's blood and some resinous woods. Period. But mainly Dragon's Blood.

A very warm, slightly sweet scent.

I love it and find it comforting, warming and alluring, but not reminiscient of a castle or cold and forboding as described by others.

[zankoku_zen]

Lots of love to delphinine for sending me some of this.... This one on wet was had a very aggressive dragon's blood note, I smelled the characteristic sweet/spicy, but underneath, there was something 'rocky' and 'old', and a very masculine presence to it. I get the feeling of an old, deserted building who has so many memories to it....

[rayvn1]

Nary a hint of pine or moss to this on me But a deep red, sweet scent of Dragon's Blood with a dusty resin turning up in the dry stage. I could see this as a room in the Castle, but I'd have to mix it with Talvikuu or Jabberwocky or something with strong pine to get the experience listed in the description. I probably will try mixing this with something, because though it's very pleasant it doesn't grab me.

[totheo]

WOW strong out of the imp! Attacks you! I think it's the pine and the wet moss with something else... maybe incense?

 

Wonderful bloody, golden colour.

 

Takes a while to settle down but once it does and you've had a chance to get used to the strength of the scent, it really does describe that picture beautifully. Decay and memory and dankness, old magnificence. I remember one reviewer said you could smell a large space, like a great hall. It's true, you really get a sense of vastness.

 

I wouldn't call it an every day scent but every once in a while, especially if you need a little mythology, a smokescreen to protect you from the world, this is the one.

 

I will definitely use up my imp and maybe one day, get myself a bottle, if I can.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Bright orange oil. Soapy-fruity-floral dragon's blood and oakmoss, along with piney evergreens. Also sort of dusty and airy (it really does smell like dry leaves) - maybe a little ozone, or something mildly mentholic?

 

Wet: Less dragon's blood, more pine - and also some juicy, slightly bitter citrus - grapefruit? Petitgrain? The pine in this is dark, smoky pitch pine, not the lab's typical cloying note.

 

Dry: Dragon's blood amping back up, making this sweeter and spicier; I also get some black pepper. It's both very woodsy and woody - there are other woods notes in here - maybe cedar or rosewood, something dry and warm? Also, some vetiver.

 

Summary: More cherry-fruit than soapy-flowers dragon's blood, with pine resin, citrus, vetiver, dry leaves, moss, and something lightly peppery. Nicer than dragon's blood normally is on me, but still too artificial/fake. Unisex to masculine. Good throw & longevity.

 

 

[Invidiana]

This really does remind me of an abandoned castle, and I can say that in earnest because I've been to the Tower of London. It's got a very similar stony, mossy feel with the whispered memory of roaring fires in the now-dormant fireplaces...and also an added element which you can't smell in the Tower of London; the blood. It's there alright, sharp and haunting, adding a tangy edge to this blend that you can't stop sniffing.