Santal Noble (new)
Maître Parfumeur et Gantier (2017)

Im not a fan of the opening, but the drydown is absolutely exquisite. Its what I always want from sandalwood but rarely get these days. MPG used to be highly rated, often talked about and recommended and they deserve to be that still. These are scents with lasting power without being obnoxious and crass.

Maître Parfumeur et Gantier Santal Noble new 2017 edition is simply a perfect fragrance, a gorgeous complex sandalwood-rendition (resinous incensey, aristocratic, decadent, divinely retrò, multifaceted). It is basically a perfected version (just barely less massive and resinous) of its older brother, namely the vintage Santal Noble 1988 edition. An extreme balance between angular/spiky and soothing/creamy/resinous elements is the main argument in here. Ambergris and sandalwood (alongside high quality vetiver) are definitely the main protagonists of this olfactory work of art. Santal Noble opens dramatically, kind of boozy (the effect produced by hesperides, cardamom and ambergris immediately heady), incensey (barely smoky frankincense) and super spicy (with a peppery blast of cinnamom, nutmeg and probably cloves or black pepper). I detect right now the dry, vaguely metallic, bitter-licoricey and smokey touch from toasted coffee. The latter enhances the masculine angular initial but even general bossy side and is the perfect complement to fresh spices in order to provide a tad of fresh initial brightness. This initial stage is definitely dusty and turbulent but resins and balsams (wisely implemented) are quickly ready to impress their following soothing influence (I have more in general to say that spices and frankincense are slighly reduced in comparison with the old Santal Noble's formula). At this point a super high quality sandalwood (Mysore or not, who cares?) jumps on the stage in full connection with a warm peppery, salty, organic ambergris and laced with a soothing vanilla which provides a wonderful final tad of creaminess counteracting the lingering woodsy rootiness. Vetiver and patchouli add actually an earthy/rooty boisé component (while sandalwood tends basically to morph in to a sort of woody soapiness) while ambergris (probably supported by honey and "vintage" castoreum) adds its salty/spicy/organic mild-slightly talky/resinous aristocratic retrò "noble" effect. Vetiver in particular is a notable woody presence along the dry down (while patchouli is more prominent in the initial stages) and enhances the general exotic component. I perceive on skin a wonderful spicy alternance of creamy sandalwood, rooty quality vetiver, hints of oakmoss and resinous animalic ambergris. There are faint leather-facets as well and that enhances the general complexity and reduces the final powder (which was more stressed on the vintage 1988 formula). The general effect is gorgeous, dreamy and slighly baroque. This fragrance (along with Ambre Précieux, Route du Vetiver and most of all Parfum d'Habit) is a favorite of mine from this amazing refined classic french brand founded by Jean Laporte and one of my favorite sandalwoods all around on the side of Lorenzo Villoresi Sandalo, Sandalo Etro, Geo Trumper Sandalwood, Diptyque Tam Dao, vintage Guerlain Habit Rouge Edt and few others. A timeless piece of refinement, a fragrance for great solid men, a perfume that could be the ideal companion in order to enrich a life full of great events, personal affirmations, personal advancements and intense encounters and serendipities.

Opens with a somewhat smoky incense and spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom and black pepper along with (ugh) a sippa' coffee. Actually the coffee note isn't super pronounced and isn't as bad as I feared. A pretty darned nice sandalwood enters soon after, creamy and a tiny bit tangy. I also noticed vanilla which here again isn't too pronounced or terrible. Just lending a creaminess to the sandalwood.
Vetiver and patchouli add a green component and support well the wood. In the base a real, honest to goodness ambergris note adds a salty, slightly animalic facet and along with castoreum further supports the sandalwood. It must be said that this sandalwood, obviously not Mysore, is exquisite. The supporting cast does excellent work in gussying up what it probably red Australian sandalwood and an African hardwood known as camwood.
Ultimately this is a smooth and high quality sandalwood in this era of almost non-existent Mysore and seems to come pretty close to that real McCoy. It isn't loud or abrasive and performance is so-so.

Lots of incense in the opening. Later you get more of a smokey sandalwood. Best I can describe it is like being in a carpenter's workshop where they are constantly burning incense.

I get excellent performance. Lasts and projects all day. Go easy on the sprays.

Pure perfection in a bottle! One of my all-time favorite fragrances that does everything right in my opinion! This is a smooth and very soothing sandalwood scent that reminds me of my very early childhood for some reason even though I am 100% certain no one around me wore this during my early childhood.

Usually when a fragrance house announces a "new" version of a fragrance for which they were "true" to the original, it means they reformulated the heck out of it and it is nearly unrecognizable as the fragrance you loved. This is not one of this cases.

If you loved the original edt and are depressed it is no longer available or feel you should seek out a vintage bottle to experience it for the first time, fret not. The scent is the same.

The edp opens much smoother than the edt and has a little less of the incense note to my nose, but both dry down to the identical scent with the edp adding longevity.

The coffee, spice, and vanilla notes are present, but not strong enough to warrant this a gourmand scent. Although, these notes are likely the reason I find this scent so soothing.

The castoreum and ambergris are there to add what I perceive as a very subtle petroleum note.

The sandalwood and vetiver are the workhorses in this scent with the patchouli really only noticeable if one thinks hard about it.

Longevity is a good 8-10 hours on me and about a week on clothes. My whole closet smelled like this stuff for a while. Sillage is quite good as well. I continuously smell myself during the duration of the wearing.

Highly recommended for the sandalwood lover. I will always have a bottle of this on hand.