The Organ Grinder (2015)

[DiesMali]

Almond milk, sarsaparilla, tobacco smoke, High John the Conqueror root, coconut hull, black patchouli and white pine bark.

In the bottle: Oddly, it smells like cake. Sweet, almost vanillic, but not quite.

 

Wet on my skin: It's a little faint while wet, but there's definitely almond, sarsaparilla, and coconut hull here.

 

Dry: It retains that almost spice cake-like scent if I breathe deeply, but that is not at all unpleasant. It's a rather foody scent to me, with the almond milk, coconut hull, sarsaparilla, and spicy High John the Conqueror root taking center stage and combining to give this nutty, spicy, slightly-sweet aroma. Quite nice, actually. It's not at all root beery on me, despite the presence of sarsaparilla. The pine bark, tobacco smoke, and patchouli are more of a base to the scent, strengthening the other notes and taking it from what could maybe be too sweet/sharp to a more dry and earthy sort of spicy-sweet. After it's completely dry and has been wearing and warming for a good half hour, the cake fades a bit and it now smells more like a box of expensive herbs and spices. All in all, an unusual scent, but a good one.

[Ina Garten Davita]

Sarsaparilla and Ivory soap!!!

 

Not soapy, but a freshly unwrapped bar of 99 & 44/100% pure Ivory, which is very much a nostalgic scent for me. It starts off pungent, even sharp, but mellows out soon after it dries. The clean soap smell is tempered by the creamy, sweet sarsaparilla and as it wears I can detect a waft of pipe smoke.

 

It's weird and wonderful and very Grandfatherly, or even Great-Grandfatherly. That eccentric character of a man you may not remember from personal memories but from crackled, sepia photos, and tales your Nana and Aunties told you.

 

[Atrous]

Wet: Sarsaparilla

 

Dry: Sarsaparilla stays at the forefront with smokey, woodsy nuances. If I breath deep I can smell the coconut hull and almond milk.

 

This is a quirky, offbeat scent. As Ina Garten Davita mentioned, there is something nostalgic and grandfatherly about it.

I really dig this scent and can see myself wearing it often.

[LizziesLuck]

Decant, from a circle.

 

 

The almond milk is dominant in this immediately after application, but the Sarsaparilla quickly overtakes it. The tobacco smoke just peeks through.

 

The almond milk as well as any sweetness or creaminess fades within minutes, and what's left is something herbal and green, I think the High John the Conqueror Root. I still get faint whiffs of sarsaparilla, but in a herbal way and without the sweetness I usually associate with it.

 

Eventually the herbaceousness fades leaving me with a very faint scent of sarsaparilla. It's nice, but nothing that excites me. I had hoped for a sweeter, creamier, stronger scent. I had also hoped to detect the coconut. This one's not for me.

 

 

ETA: Retesting this (a different decant) because my tastes and chemistry have changed, and I should love this. Should.

Wet: Lots of Sarsaparilla and almond, in equal measures. Getting something herbal - almost mentholated. It's a much darker, deeper scent than I remembered.

Dry: There's an odd note in there that I don't really care for. This has very little throw, but a good amount of scent, nose to skin. I still get the sarsaparilla, which I love. But I'm just not loving the other notes. I guess I can really accept that this scent is just not for me. Too bad, it seems like it should work.

Edited June 27, 2017 by LizziesLuck

[milo]

I love almond and sarsaparilla, so I was looking forward to this one. I'm getting both right away, which is a good sign. After a bit, the smoke comes out. The almond and sarsparilla are holding steady, but this new note addition is ruining this blend for me. If it wasn't for this, it would be a bottle purchase. I just really can't stand tobacco smoke. Why couldn't this guy be a non-smoker ffs?

[tharsei-thanate]

This is so pretty! Almond milk is the strongest note when first applied, it literally smelled like I poured creamy milk directly over my hand. Soon after the pine emerges but it doesn't read as Christmasy like other pine notes do- maybe because it's specifically bark? Then I get tobacco smoke and a touch of sarsaparilla, which isn't strong enough to scream root beer at me. After a little while I can also catch the earthiness of the High John the Conqueror root, which cuts the sweetness of the milk a little. If there's coconut hull it's either very vague or not there at all which is good because coconut in any form is a death note on my skin. I can't smell the black patch either- another good thing in my book.

 

I really like this! I'll see how this one ages and if it stays this yummy I think I'll purchase a bottle.

[sprout]

I got creamy almond milk at the beginning followed by milky sassafras, but never did I mistake this for a rootbeer float, no icecream. The wet phase was very delightful. About a half hour in the tobacco makes a show, gets a bit smoky for a bit but is smoothed out by the sassafrass. This doesn't become cigarette smoke on my skin, thank goodness, just smoky and herbal with predominant tobacco leaves, but smooth, yo.

 

For the heart, this was mainly smoky tobacco and a hint of herbal, not quite rootbeer flavor from the "sasparilla." Dry down was very powdery, reminded me a bit of Pickled Imp in fact, wondering if that is the Pine Tar. I don't get the suntan coconut feel from the coconut in this, it just added to the creamy feel and on drydown it was very dry coconut husk (nonfoody) and pine resin. There is no vanilla here, like Pickled Imp, but the coconut adds a bit of creaminess that my nose is reading as foody, but dry and soft, not like Coconut milk or fruit, more like dried coconut flakes. In combination with the Pine resin, it is quite similar to Pickled Imp to my nose (and memory). This is not OG going coconuts, or OG on tropical vacation, this is OG becoming creamier, smoother, and almost foody but dry and rich and creamy.

 

The newer Organ Grinder 2015 was a bit powdery for my taste, but I think this is just because my imp is fresh, this will age into greatness, never doubt it.

 

I tested this against the Old Formula OG (Organ Grinder) and the older version has mellowed into a resinous wonder with the lovely pine tar resin similar to that in Pickled Imp and a hint of tobacco and herbal High John and patch. If you fear the patchouli, it is not strong here, I can barely smell it, even in my aged imp.

 

The addition of the new notes really mellows this one out and takes it just shy of foody territory. Tobacco lovers must give this a test, it hovers between smoking tobacco and fresh dried leaves. I like this better than Interfector as the latter is almost too masculine but this one is truly Unisex IMO. It is woody, herbal, slightly foody, and resinous. I will definitely get a new bottle to age but I will also enjoy layering the new OG with the original OG so I can enjoy both the foody, almost cookie like top notes with the mellow, resinous base. Not only will this probably be a multi bottle love, I could see this being a signature scent!

Edited October 20, 2015 by sprout

[sarandipitee]

Very herbal rootbeer float. Almond milk keeps the smoke and patch from being too heavy. Very much in line with Fetish.Goth or Chokmah or masculine version of the Illustrated Woman. I really, really like this which is odd, because I own very few tobacco blends and normally hate all things almond. But this is so lovely. Thinking at least a partial bottle if possible.

[somacat]

This is the most evocative of the Carnivale that I've tried. This is sweet, sad, dusty, and haunting, like a dirty street at twilight recently abandoned. The almond rounds out any raspy edges root beer normally has, while the smoke and high john the conquerer make this a long winding scent. The pine is a wisps through and blends everything.

[zankoku_zen]

2015 version

 

I get more almond milk and sarsparilla on wet, and it dries to a slightly powdery, coconut husk and herbs with a whiff of patchouli. Not foodie or soapy. Slightly masculine to me.

 

Something tells me that the Organ Grinder will be very skin-chemistry dependent. Meaning, you can't just use reviews. You actually have to skin test this.

 

Odd, slightly foodie, herby.

[Allumina]

This was my surprise hit from my CD decants! On me it's primarily herbal/woody scent, with an edge of dry coconut and some sweetness from the almond milk rounding it out. It's unique, kinda elegant and fairly unisex, and has good staying power. (I have no idea what High John the Conqueror root smells like, but I'm guessing it's part of the whole woody/herbal thing.) At times it gets a touch too powdery/dusty/perfumed, but I suspect that might age out. I will probably get a bottle of this before it's down.

[tziporra]

I have a very good track record with the labs sarsaparilla note (I call them the root beer scents, but in a loving way. I'm a root beer nit), so I'm surprised when this one smells of paint thinner right out of the imp (decanted by Ralenth). Fortunately that lasts about a second and then I'm enveloped in the best of the root beer scents. Creamy but dark (patchouli thank you for being awesome) with a nice hit of the pine bark in the background. It's like a root beer float in the woods right after the rain when the soil is all loamy and rich smelling and oh goodness I love it.

 

I'm getting a bottle even though I wanted to move toward more traditional perfumery scents because gah.

 

Tzi

 

ETA: I was perusing the above reviews (I try to write mine unaided) when it hit me that this is strongly in the So Below family because patch and coconut and assorted woodsy things. To my nose it's not as resiny or powdery as SB, and different enough to warrant its own bottle. But aficionados may take note.

Edited November 2, 2015 by tziporra

[stellamaris]

OK I may be way off the mark here, but this to me is like a cousin of Tombeur. So very lovely. Unisex. Buying it.

[agirlnamedfury]

Yum! Root beer and almonds. Something in here is very fruity too, and I don't think it's the coconut (though I get a hint of that as well).

 

I'm loving this one, and may actually pull the trigger on a full bottle.

[dementia_divine]

In the decant: Yay! Sarsaparilla! It's hard to pick out the other notes in this one, and I'm not familiar with High John the Conqueror root. But the sarsaparilla, combined with the other sweet notes, makes me think of root beer barrel candies.

 

Wet: Ah. It's so nice and creamy, thanks to the almond milk and sarsaparilla notes. It becomes less creamy over time as the sarsaparilla note becomes the dominant note and the other notes start to peek out in the background.

 

Dry: The sarsaparilla note still reigns, but I can smell the black patchouli, tobacco smoke, coconut, and white pine bark now. I preferred the wet phase of the scent, as it was sweeter and creamier.

 

Verdict: I like it, but not as much as Tombstone or Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener. I'll keep my decant, but I don't think I'll be upgrading to a bottle.

[Blood onmy hands]

The sarsaparilla gives this a spicy rootbeer scent, and the tobacco smoke still amps up more than I'd like on my skin. It smells like a gritty, sharp woodsmoke, woven through the pine. I don't really smell the almond that I could in the original, but I can pick out the woody coconut in this one. Still too smoky for me, and I find more and more that I can't pull off that root beer smell at all. After an hour, fades into a faint, woody, powdery/dusty scent with lingering smoke.

[torikitty]

Still trying to figure out how I feel about this. It starts off with almond and rootbeer floating around the edges. During drydown, patchouli and pine start to come out. It somewhat switches to smelling like cleaner while drinking rootbeer. I think I get a bit of leather, too. I wonder if that's the High John root blending with things. I did only a bit of research on what this smells like. Dry, the pine definitely fades off. This ends up smelling darker and shady, kinda like a sexy, dirty, licorice. I know that's weird. This is one that's worth trying if any of these notes interest you. An hour later the tobacco returns, it's sweet. The licorice definitely fades.

Edited July 27, 2017 by Carrie

[Lucchesa]

I really enjoy The Organ Grinder, and while it doesn't have much throw (which is normal for my skin), it lasts a long time on me. It's kind of hard to pin down because it involves a lot of reconciling of opposites. It starts out with the smooth, creamy almond milk note that I'm very fond of, and then it's gritty woodsmoke. Coconut (beach) and pine (forest). Dry patch and rootbeer. Actually, this is way less rootbeery on me than Gnome, Sissy or Stimulating Sassafras -- the sarsparilla blends with the other notes, the way the pine and patch blend with the tobacco smoke to suggest campfire. The whole is perfectly unisex and decidedly sexy in a cozy way. I look forward to wearing this a lot more often this fall.