Bat (original)
Zoologist (2015)

It's photorealistic guano in a dank cave plus a banana plant (not just the fruit; I smell leaves). I scrubbed it off immediately because I don't want to smell like guano, but it truly does smell like a bat's habitat.

Bat droppings in a damp cave
Please, Please, Please do not make the mistake of blind buying this fragrance. It is extremely earthy as if you've just stuck your nose into a cave littered with bat droppings. What actually came to mind when I smelled this was......Weed and Feed chemicals and the scent of a dirty Fish Tank. It is that realistic. Have you ever been to the zoo and ventured in their "rainforest" wet tropical area where it's hot as hell, moist with water droplets everywhere and that feral scent of animals (and their feces) mending with the soil? Yep, that is how I would describe this scent. After about 20-30 minutes, the scent begins to soften and you are left with real moist (strong) soil. The soil becomes somewhat palatable in the dry down by the incorporation of faint notes of florals and fruit. I can tolerate challenging scents (many comme des garcons and strong barnyard ouds) but this right here was immediately headache inducing. I do not get any tropical accord. If you don't mind smelling like you just rubbed yourself with the damp soil from inside of a wet cave, this scent is for you. My wife cringed and begged me to wash it off. You might be one of the few who really enjoy this fragrance so if you are of the really daring type, go against my recommendation and take the plunge blindly for the full bottle....just don't say I didn't warn you! :)

Bat is an interesting, different fruit fragrance that's not too sticky or cloying. Its got its minerality. Performances are ok.

I feel like I have to put a disclaimer with Zoologist reviews that my rating reflects my desire, or lack thereof, to wear the fragrance, not its inherent quality. Each Zoologist I've tried has been a work of fragrance art that that carefully recreates the imagery they put forward.

Bat is a super interesting scent, there's reason this won an Olfactive award. The opening has a damp, sharp, mineral quality that perfectly evokes a limestone cave. That mineral opening was off-putting at the very first whiff but I very quickly grew to like it. As time goes on, dark fruit comes out (mostly fig for me) as well as musk to aid in creating that mood.

I wore this on a hot day so the sticky, ripe fruit notes and musk were quite strong. Definitely too much for the office, but fun when I'm feeling adventurous. I'd definitely like to try it again on a cooler day, fresh after a shower. It's not available anymore, but if you can get your nose on it its super interesting to sample.

Night in St. Cloud by Edvard Munch 1890

This is an extremely interesting fragrance created to smell like the environment, food, and body of a bat. Zoologist - a very fascinating niche perfume house from Toronto - does not aim to capture just an animal's own scent, but the scents of its environment and diet as well. Thus, Bat is composed of "soft fruits, damp earth and minerals." It was developed by Dr. Ellen Covey, the owner/perfumer at the indie house Olympic Orchids, and herself a professor at the University of Washington who studied bat biology for years. Covey wanted Bat to smell like "the cool, earthy, damp limestone cave where the bats live, the fruit that they eat, and the clean, musky smell of their fur." She succeeded with me and apparently others, too; Bat won the Independent Category of the 2016 Art and Olfaction Awards. As for the scent, it is extremely spot-on to the description. It smells literally like wet earth, and is full of the geosmin chemical (the same chemical that causes the scent of 'petrichor' - the after rain smell of wet soil). The only thing this is comparable to is CB I Hate Perfume's Black March, which also has a large wet soil scent (but is far more fleeting than Bat). On the drydown, I somewhat smell the tropical fruits (mainly banana) but the wet soil scent remains throughout. It really smells like you're smelling a cave! I for one am obsessed by this sort of scent, so this is one of the best fragrances I've literally ever smelled. Sillage and projection are also both through the roof, lasting over 10 hours with just 1 spray (especially as it's an extrait de parfum). This is honestly a masterpiece of perfumery, and unparalleled as far as dark green earth scents go.

5/5