Bois de Santal 
Creed

A complex, creamy sandalwood with aldehydes. It reminds me of Chanel Bois des Iles and Geo. F. Trumper Sandalwood Cologne, a couple others I like. It leans feminine to my nose.

Beautiful sandalwood interpretation, done credibly and with skill from the house of Creed.

Bois de Santal seems wearable for men or women, as it is marketed to be. There is a classy, high-end feel of the sandalwood - with its creamy, musky and sweet ethereal quality - which is celebrated as the spotlight in this fragrance. The other notes act artfully to subtly touch up and accent the traits within the star of the show, the sandalwood proper.

Not meant to be a very multi-faceted scent, but a simple ode by Creed to this magical, nearly ubiquitous wood which has graced so many colognes and perfumes for most of the history of mankind.

I'm currently wearing the only Creed Bois de Santal I will likely ever get the chance to smell, so this is going to be a very quick review. I don't even know where my sample came from; it was sitting in the soap dish in the bathroom this morning, like the perfume fairy came and left it there. It must have been in a box of other samples, or maybe it came in a swap. The handwriting on the vial is unfamiliar, and whoever sent it used masking tape to label the bottle. Most mysterious.

Whatever its provenance, I know this is the real thing. I haven't smelled (mostly) unadorned real sandalwood in so darn long that it came as a bit of a shock--that sour, almost curdled first note, paradoxically pleasing as it is. It's underlined by a thin ribbon of civet, creating an elegant but warm, earth-toned effect--brown on brown, as it melts into skin. Creed's distinctively mineral base is apparent almost from the start, emphasizing an the almost savory character of the perfume. It smells deliciously complex, gently milky (more on the order of goat milk or yogurt--there's a tang to its subtle sweetness), slightly animalic, and shows that hint of rose that often gets teased out in more elaborate perfumes with sandalwood bases. The perfumer placed the sandalwood front and center, like a solitaire gem in its setting, and then got out of the way. Perfect.

I'm guessing this sample has some age on it, because I got next to nothing in the way of citrus in the opening, but it doesn't matter, because the perfume is all about the titular material. My understanding is that Creed disco'd or vaulted or whatever this stuff a long time ago, and I feel a whiff of jealousy towards anyone who is sitting on a stock of this, since it's easily the truest and most beautiful sandalwood perfume I've ever smelled, outside of the stuff that used to be so cheap and plentiful at the health food store. I imagine when the santal supply finally replenishes itself, and Mysore will be easier to get, that we'll have to pay ultra-premium prices for it regardless of how much there really is; the market will bear up the high prices, because we've all been educated to understand and appreciate the value of sandalwood. Maybe that's a good thing, since high prices will (hopefully) help manage the demand, and we'll have plenty of this beautiful stuff around in the future.

Many thanks to the anonymous donor of my vial. Smelling this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I'm immensely grateful to whoever it is. Hopefully, I'll find out so I can thank them in person.

The opening had a definite presence of civet which gave off a fecal smell to it. This lasted approximately 30 minutes before the civet started to tone down. While this was happening, there was a light amount citrus, some floral, and a hint of green notes which became more apparent as time passed. The sandalwood was apparent throughout the entirety of the scent but increasingly noticeable, beginning right around the heart of the scent, once the civet faded into the background. At the base the sandalwood became a bit creamy with the contributions of some of the vanilla and tonka bean notes. The overall scent lasted approximately 5 hours with moderate silage for the first 3 hours. Personally, I would have to say this is one of the best if not the best sandalwood scents that I have ever smelled. This is a definite yesteryear masterpiece from the classic Creeds. Outstanding fragrance!

The greens overpower the citrus but as it dries down you get a nice sandalwood with vanilla to sweeten it. To me this beats Tabarome Millesime hands down. This is also better than Original Santal. The scent is long lasting and powerful. If you like vanilla and sandalwood this is the ticket but what's funny is that you'll have to wait a good hour for it to show up after the greens die down. The character of this fragrance really changes.

Very nice indeed. Definitely some civet up top, with some very subtle citrus and floral elements. Evolves to a really nice creamy sandalwood. Stays close to the skin after the civet fades, but lasts a good while.

Sandalwood enthusiasts really should get their hands on some of this, a pretty good and realistic take on sandalwood for sure.