Join The Club : Ascot Moon
Xerjoff (2012)

How great of a weirdo! This opens like a bitter and spicy gin and tonic and then slides down to a dusty pine forest, with some leather. It leans on the masculine side to the point that I wouldn't wear it, but I for sure enjoy smelling it.

A very green, outdoors evoking scent from Xerjoff, in its truly marvelous Join the Club collection!

Fragrance notes: Moss, grass, sage, basil, green notes, spicy notes, patchouli, and musk

Right from the start, Ascot Moon takes you to a sublime, earthy experience with that gorgeous moss and grass combo, which feels dry, slightly smoky, and fragrant in a very natural, convincing way.

At different angles off of my skin, I detect a really light sprinkle of basil and sage (it takes careful smelling and concentration to detect it, at least on me). I can tell that the makers of Ascot Moon showed real attention to injecting just enough herbal and spice notes to dress up the mossy accord that dominates here. (For instance, patchouli is dialed down to a muted quality that is a really background supporting role versus the typical bright, herbal presence inherent in other fragrances.)

Quite a distinct, laid-back, thought-provoking ode to horse clubs (without any nasty animal stable accords, thankfully lol!) from the ever adventurous noses at Xerjoff! :-)

Xerjoff Ascot Moon is surely one of the finest and classiest pieces of the Join The Club Collection. This fragrance strikes us by soon since it smells somewhat classic and lacking that typical soapy-spicy/exotic balminess characterizing almost all the further juices of the same Collection. Well it seems that the Ascot Moon's inspiration is related to horse Clubs and to the hippodrome's atmosphere. The opening is by soon classically hesperidic/aromatic and almost minty. It seems to assist to another ordinary eau de cologne's evolution (possibly bergamot, coriander, verbena and stuffs like these swirl in the air and it seems to detect a touch of vetiver too). Anyway, over less than five minute the aroma evolves significantly, we start catching by soon a rising pungent woodsy resinous presence (fir resins), a tad of rootiness (probably patchouli and cedarwood) and finally a musky accord of leather and mossy galbanum. The leathery presence increases its strenght along the way and it seems to be "supported" by red berries, smoke (increasing along the way) and finally a touch of frankincense. The leather in here is not so far (just a tad more prominent) from the Micallef Royal Vintage's herbal leathery combination (stout, earthy, still herbal-aromatic, spicy-resinous) while the whole accord seems to derivate its main inspiration from another fragrance yet, the "insuperable" Geo F. Trumper Eucris which has been along the decades source of inspiration for a huge amount of following olfactory "experiments". The resinous presence is notable in its combination of rubbery, incensey and sticky woodsy "ingredients" despite along the way the aroma starts turning out more and more smoky, dry and restrained. On the complex I find this fragrance quite well appointed, it is classy, really virile and more than distinguished despite we can find in here originality or much less uniqueness.
P.S: along the way, in its final trait of evolution, the "smoked rubber" vibe seems increased and this effect seems conjuring more than vaguely several Santa Maria Novella Nostalgia/Profumum Arso's nuances.

Superb sharp/soft leather accordTake the green, leathery and sharp opening of Bandit , then add the suede qualities of Cuir Ottoman and finally lay it on a barely used saddle. This is Ascot Moon. Fans of the above mentioned perfumes should definitely try it. The base gets softer and resins emerge. I'm not quite sure which but it feels like an accord as opposed to a single resin. It adds a three dimensional facet to the above description. Longevity is excellent. Projection is above average.Ticks all the boxes:Quality ingredientsSmooth transition from top to mid to bottom notesVery good complexity (not muddled or too busy)Unique - haven't smelled anything too similarBottom accord isn't generic or a filler - smells like it was worked on not shoved in haphazardly.