724
Maison Francis Kurkdjian (2022)

Aldehydic, citrus, musk. White linens blowing in the breeze. A white, button up shirt with mother of pearl buttons, half tucked into indigo jeans with a tailored, Italian leather shoe.

This is a well done, elevated version of a classic scent profile. Unfortunately, it’s a profile I’m not fond of. I could see this taking the place of Narciso for Her EDT, in a collection that someone is trying to elevate.

It’s very similar to the Acqua line (Universalis, Vitae, Celestia, etc.) from the same perfumer. For this reason, it was a let down. There’s no innovation here, given the redundancy. It’s not for me, but if this is your style, the performance is outstanding.

Opened with a toilet cleaner citrus that reminded me so much of a port-a-potty that I was slightly nauseated. After a few minutes a waft of white musk and sweet pea showed itself as I moved about, and I was hopeful. Too bad that completely disappeared in the drydown & I was left with harsh chemical lemon. Unfortunately it stayed around for awhile.

724 does seem like a mix of several MFK fragrances that have been pared down and put back together, but with some slight modifications. I was given a sizeable sample of Gentle Fluidity Silver and wore it frequently throughout the spring and summer of this year. 724 smells so similar to GF Silver that to me owning both would would be redundant. I'll be buying a bottle of GF Silver when my sample runs out and would probably feel the same way about 724 if I'd worn it as much. Definitely a crowd pleasing scent, but not exactly original, even within the MFK line.

What do you get when you cross the discontinued APOM pour Homme by Maison Francis Kurkdjian (2009) with Aqua Universalis by Maison Francis Kurkdjian (2009)? Well, that's easy... you get the 724 by Maison Francis Kurkdjian (2022)! This is effectively the Bergdorf Goodman exclusive 754 by Maison Francis Kurkdjian (2012) but re-releasesd with a slightly-edited name that uses the French way of saying "24/7" Fans of the also-discontinued Aqua Vitae Forte by Maison Francis Kurkdjian (2015) can also rejoice as 724 has some similarity to it, just not with all the labdanum-powered "yellow muskiness" of the latter now-defunct scent. This version likely has the lyral from the old 754 worked out for global sale since the EU banned it for use in fragrances, whilst 754 never saw official distribution outside the US (where no such regulation exists). Now off the top of my head, the sample of 724 I was spritzed from an advance 35ml given to salespeople at a local seller of MFK didn't smell any different from my carded stock of 754; but after an A and B test my findings conclude that 724 smells ever-so-slightly fresher, with a drop less of the APOM-like musk which 754 had in a bit larger quantity. Either way, 724 will be easier to get, and you won't pay the eventual finder's fee 754 will command once it dries up, so don't go chasing unicorns.

So the basic gist of 724 is to be a citric floral musk, something that is definitely in the vein of early MFK style, before the LVMH overlords took most of the creative direction away from Kurkdjian himself and demanded he make only the utmost strictly-commercial fare he could while still getting away with the "niche" nomenclature. Therefore, this isn't a completely transparent aquatic neroli, rose, and ambroxan/Iso E Super thing like pretty much everything the brand has released after Bacarrat Rouge became the breadwinner for the house. Instead, we see the lemon of Aqua Vitae merge with aldehydes and an MFK favorite of orange blossom, just not as much as APOM. From here, 754 takes on its own character with notes of freesia and peony, getting perhaps a bit too feminine for the dudebros who were just barely okay with APOM as it was (probably why it got the axe), but bringing a bit of dandy sophistication that is lacking in the otherwise-simplistic APOM, itself something of a reworking on Kurkdjian's own Fleur du Mâle by Jean-Paul Gaultier (2007). 754 somewhat relates to this erstwhile Gaultier scent as well, with a musk profile that is derived from it somewhat, and a stiffer muguet note in the heart thanks to the lyral that makes 724 smells just a tad more traditionally-floral in tone than the Gaultier or APOM. White musks and galaxolide give a dryer sheets freshness that intertwines with a very super subtle dollop of animalic (slightly more subtle than 754 too), then glazed over with a creamy sandalwood note. Performance is excellent and this could be worn by anyone almost year-round; and because it has so many of the Francis Kurkdjian hallmarks in its design, 754 may be the "most MFK-smelling MFK that ever MFK'ed", being either an absolute love or hate depending on your opinion of the house itself. As for me, I wasn't sold on this to buy one online from Bergdorf, but I do like what I smell here.

The only thing separating this from literally every other clean citric aldehyde floral thing MFK has done since selling his soul to Bernard Arnault (and declaring perfume is not art), is that little bit of come-hither snuck into 754 from stuff like his Pour le Soir range, the aforementioned APOM, and Lumière Noire pour Homme by Maison Francis Kurkdjian (2009). Since this scent sort of straddles the eras in which MFK perfumed according to his own muse in hopes of being an avant-garde modern niche brand, and perfumed according to what the corporate money-mongering ghouls dictated people wanted according to consumer data-fed artificial intelligence, it has that bit of "in both worlds" vibe where it feels very commercially viable, but also has a small artistic streak running through it. The tiny bit muskiness lurking under all the dryer sheets and floral scented candles gives 754 a real subversive feel that the rather-blunt APOM and Lumière Noire pour Homme do not have, and part of me thinks this was probably just "given" to Bergdorf Goodman as a tinkered-with formula rather than designed from the ground-up for them like BR 540 was for Baccarat. In either case, this waited 10 years to finally exit brand-exclusive jail unlike BR 540, which had itself freed only two years after being released to Baccarat, becoming the brand's best seller. Perhaps MFK are trying to make easy money with the long-elusive 754 by releasing it as 724 for the world at large? It's definitely a safer choice than releasing either Ciel de Gum by Maison Francis Kurkdjian (2015) or Le Beau Parfum by Maison Francis Kurkdjian (2016) to a wider audience; but here in its original exclusive incarnation is a nice "missing link" between old and new MFK that will pique the interest of collectors. I say that because 724 will ostensibly replace 754, so if you liked 754, just buy 724 instead. Thumbs up