Join The Club : Shunkoin
Xerjoff (2012)

Vanilla, cream and almond... what's not to like? Specially when you can spray tons of it and it remains non-cloying, airy.
Masterpiece.

Mmm...mmm...mmm...i smell spicy almond cookies warm out of the oven with a ton of vanilla in them...creamy rich vanilla...I'm not a huge fan of gourmands but this fragrance rocks...this also has one of the best sandalwood notes I've smelled in a fragrance...a semi -linear scent that plays with various combos of these main notes and gets a taste of powder...overall , a very pleasant olfactory experience...

This smells like almond oil, which smells great, and lasts a long time.

Shun Koin opens with a gourmand, ultra-almondy accord of vanilla and tonka, with a nice green note that "dries" the blend, plus a dusty floral note with a hint of ginger and something which smells halfway between coconut and rice to me. The sandalwood will emerge better later on. Something intrigues me here, all sounds clear and sharp, deep and wide, the "genre" here is a sort of quite peculiar gourmand/powdery, with (as Darvant brightly suggest below) just "something" more sticky and luscious floating below, a sort of opalescent but dense and elusive "creaminess". I also detect hints of nuts and butter, quite dry and realistic, not anything cloying or sweetish. After a while, as the sandalwood emerges more clearly, it comes quite closer to Un Bois Vanille by Lutens, the overall mix takes Shun Koin to that same "tanning cream" territory. Here, there is just a more edible, salty gourmand feel, that nuts/rice accord. The evolution is quite linear with no much progress or change, so I guess it's one of those "love it or hate it" scents. Surely worth a try.

7/10

Join the Club ShunKoin unveils by soon its lascivious liquid woodiness under form of tropical milky/coconutty pinacolada accord with a touch of liquor, may be pineapple and an hidden fluidy creaminess with a sort of yeast underfeel, powdery eliotropic mellifluence, hints of laundry soapiness, indolic white flowers petals, may be neroli (ylang-ylang??) and an almost organic (spermatic) secret undertone. Semi gourmand and tropical, a bit O.P.S.O Baiana/Dalila, a tad Costume National 21 with a vague Jaipuir Homme (and yes, Dior Addict) conjuration. I detect a fizzy liquorous/hesperidic opening, a central resinous eliotropic/coconutty soul and a somewhat musky/boise and creamy sandalwood/vanilla/oud centered base. May be a fresh ginger/saffron accord is operating in the talky blend. The dry down is sultry, slightly ambery/carnal, balmy and woody-vanillic. A must try for all the lovers of this genre. The dry down is surprisingly subtle and sophisticated with a great level of balance, delicacy and refinement. Holy, monumental and artistic white oriental ambiences jump on mind in a while, places rich of marbles, secret meditative rooms and silky dressed mysterious white powdered faces ladies. An highly velvety and almost transcendental creation teleporting the wearer on a state of bliss.

It's got coconut, lots of almond (not in a cherry sort of way, more woody) and a deep rich sandalwood note. Sometimes Xerjoff scents don't always smell tremendously well blended or unique or complex but my God, the ingredients they use are top-shelf. The sandalwood note is fantastic. The whole thing reeks of quality and deep pockets. I was tipped off to try this by the SA at Scent Bar, he said he'd been wearing it for several days in a row & was falling under it's spell and when I sampled it in the store I could see what he was talking about. I'm glad I asked for a sample. Perhaps the most regal and luxurious tropical scent I've ever worn.