Musc Tonkin 
Parfum d'Empire (2014)

As an animalic-lover of the first order, how on earth did I not experience this when it first came out? Well, I guess I'll be making up for lost time now.

In my particular dream-world, this is what ambergris smells like: briny and saline, but underpinned by the most divine mammalian odor possible. Here we have sun-ripened skin, a tiny bit of body odor, some gorgeously indolic florals (tuberose? ylang ylang?), and a completely furry, 3-D musk. There's a bit of something almost urine-like and a tiny smidgen metallic-seeming in the top notes, but it is all combined in such a way that none of these individual notes stand out on their own, unless you are sniffing in a second-by-second frenzy (as I am currently doing now). Overall, this simply smells gorgeous and oceanically sensual, like a beautiful mermaid's underwear.

Edit: Now that I've worn this for a few days, I've come to notice (and strongly dislike) the calone-like dry down Musc Tonkin leaves on my clothes. It isn't as noticeable on skin, but after an hour or two, my shirts definitely give off the odor of artificial melon. :-(

Uncomplicated. Musk. There is a distant wood and sugar spirit somewhere underneath. This is dry. Spartan. But then, a nuttiness appears. This never really gets all "animal" on me - no true skank. Safety, in a fragrance.

A rather exotic grand tour through pretty much every possible kind of musk. It kicks off with galaxolide, the sexy 70's musk made famous by Jovan, with all of its powdery floral entrapments amplified by pinches of soapy white musk and whatever that plasticky musk is that reminds people of the smell of a rubber doll. There's also a well-tempered hint of civet poop underneath - just enough to give the perfect growl to the proceedings without ever crossing over into crass vulgarity.

Given time, the focus slides from the ornamented galaxolide to a deep suede, still flanked by musks, and with a pinch of cumin to provide that "growl" as the civet fades.

This is exceptionally well done. I'm kind of awestruck that they managed to combine so many complex musks so flawlessly. If you're a musk fan, you should add this to your must-try list, and I also think it would appeal to fans of more animalic leathers like Chanel's Cuir de Russie. It should be said that this will probably terrify people who don't like musks or lightly fecal perfumes, but for the initiated, this is wonderful.

Deep/rich/profound slightly flowery/powdery awesome muskiness...politely animalic and slightly erotic...a little goes a long way...a couple of sample dabs on the back of my hand is surrounding me with a musky aura...this is perfect for a close encounter with your better half...I can see myself using this also as a layering agent...just a slight spray or several dabs to add a little animalic musky touch to another fragrance...i love to experiment in the late hours with samples and layering...I can see myself doing a spritz of this on top of Salome or MAII...LOL...semi-linear, after all , this is all about musk...bottom line - if you like animalics and/or musk , do yourself a favor and treat your nose to a sample of this...also a big fan of MKK and I find this just as enjoyable, but just in a different way...