A*Men Pure Malt 
Thierry Mugler (2009)
LIMITED EDITION

Oh Pure Malt, I wish you were never discontinued...

I've been wearing PM for over a decade. Way back in 2009 when this came out, it was a bright flash of light in a slowly illuminating fragrance world. YouTube reviews were becoming a legitimate thing and everyone was talking about Pure Malt. Me, 16 at the time, thought "why not get something everyone loves!"

"Oh no..." - Me, age 16, upon first smell.

Eventually it clicked and it was my favorite cool weather fragrance, though I really did not appreciate the notes until my early 20s.

My interest in fragrances waned, but my trusty Pure Malt was there for me every winter. I saved it for special occasions, dates, or when I just wanted to smell good. I even had a second bottle, NIB, waiting to be re-sold for when it inevitably was discontinued again.

14 years later, I opened that backup box. I used my entire first bottle up eventually (it is, to this day, the only 100mL bottle I ever finished open to last spray) and was so grateful for my younger self's foresight.

I genuinely love this fragrance. It got me into gourmands, it really is what got me into fragrances. All of that is a long-winded way of saying "I am extremely biased" with this fragrance.

The opening is like the ultimate form of A*Men. It keeps all the good, strips away all the questionable (looking at you patchouli bomb), and adds such incredible depth with emphasized vanilla, bourbon (minus the actual alcohol aspect), a dark-red berry note (minus any tart and airy qualities) and balances itself out wonderfully with the best peat note I've smelled in any perfume.

The heart doesn't really exist. From top notes to base notes, Pure Malt has an incredibly smooth transition, much like a proper scotch. Nothing is sudden, nothing surprises you. There is never a "ohhhh now we're at the good part" moment. Every moment is the good part. It's a journey.

Opening: Vanilla, dark berries, bourbon, peat, an echo of patchouli. The berries settle out after 30-60 minutes, the peat ramps up with the patchouli, and the vanilla stays about even. A malty note (think bourbon malty, not beer) begins to show up around the time the berries fade and comes out even with the vanilla. It keeps the vanilla in check while resonating perfectly with it. It's sweet, but not sickly. The patchouli and peat act in balance to the sweetness and give it an earthy grounding.

Hours (I'm talking like 6-8) later, the peat slowly fades away with the malt and you're left with patchouli and a vanilla-bourbon. The peat sticks around but ever so slowly leaves until you get a skin scent.

This will last literally all day. 12 hours minimum. It projects like a monster initially, but calms down after 30 minutes and you get a great scent bubble. It is an incredibly good intimate smell towards the end of the day, especially if your significant other has a sweet tooth. It goes from a roar, to a conversational tone, to half-whispering to your partner on a couch by the fire.

I am noticing that I gravitate slightly less towards Pure Malt as I get older, but that's mainly because my vintage Tobacco Vanille is such an easy "stupid grab" and we all know how good TV smells. That said, Pure Malt is still my cold weather date fragrance. It's just so damn good, though I'm sure my rose-tinted nostrils are playing a role.

If you like gourmands, this is the peak as far as I'm concerned. It does the style better than anything else in that it gets sweet, but stays just before cloying. It firmly stays classy despite the sweetness, and that is by far my favorite part. Just don't overspray. Please, PLEASE do not over spray. This will clear a room if you're not careful.

I wore this at 16 and I still wear it at 30. It's my signature scent for cool weather. It's *my* fragrance. This is what people associate me with. If 14 years of consistent wear doesn't sell you on trying this, I genuinely do not know what will. I wore it through so many important moments in life, I wore it through a nearly complete lack of interest in fragrances, and I wore an entire 100mL bottle to the last drop.

Now send me a damn bottle so I can hoard it like Smaug in the Lonely Mountain and try to forget they discontinued it.

The recently departed Manfred Thierry Mugler created a 20th century gourmand standard bearer with Angel Men(A*Men) in 1996. The 'Pure' flanker series became it's own coveted series of focused fragrances released from 2008-2012 as limited editions and included Coffee, Malt, Havane, Wood, Leather and others. As we entered the 2020s it seems like all have become scarce and more difficult to find with Pure Malt and Pure Havane having seen the most success and production.

A*men Pure Malt has a sweeter 'peat-ier' twist. Pure Malt seems to just slightly lag behind Pure Havane in current popularity. I love them both. If you have the chance to obtain this as a decant or a bottle at a price point you can afford I recommend it. As a synthetic slightly booze laden A*men it is great. Yes this is worth trying to smell what all the fuss is about. Thumbs up.

I'm so happy I ignored the marketing that this is for men. This is warm and boozy and woody and I'm swooning from this soft enveloping hug.

I have been on a bit of a Mugler kick recently since I picked up some sample bottles of A*Men, Pure Malt, Pure Havane and Pure Tonka (I know, late to the party). I wrote all of these fragrances off on the basis that I didn't like A*Men when I first smelled it.

I'll be the first to hold up my hands and say I was wrong.

Of the samples listed above I bought full bottles of Pure Malt and Pure Havane and to be quite honest, I struggle to choose between the two.

Pure Malt opens with a nice heady, booziness which is backed up by the A*Men DNA but is not overbearing or cloying. Pure Malt isn't quite as groundbreaking as the original A*Men or B*Men however it is very wearable and I find it to be a lovely, light-ish, oriental gourmand that lasts all day.

It really is unbelievable that a designer fragrance at this price point could be so good. If, like me, you can't choose between Pure Malt and any of the other flankers available in your country (in the UK it's Pure Havane) then at the price point you could easily afford both.

I hope this is around for many years to come.

Just behind Pure Havane, but its a close second :) FANTASTIC designer fragrance.