Santal Impérial (1850)
by Creed

I am surprised by the high percentage of positives on this one. While I do not loathe Santal Impérial (as I do Creed's Original Santal), there is not much to be excited about here. There is a decent dose of tonka in here coupled with a sandalwood note. The fragrance is extremely subtle and discreet, staying very close to the skin. I don't find it to be an unpleasant fragrance, just uninteresting. I give it a neutral rating on smell and would say that there are better sandalwood options at more reasonable prices.

Quite old-school, not very strong, with a somewhat limited sillage. This is a very straightforward sandalwood, with a little bergamot in the top and some other woody and coumarin notes in the base, plus the ever-present Creed signature ambergris. Not great on longevity, this scent is nevertheless redolent of aristocracy and conservative notions of style. If you like solid and reliable scents that send a message of (perhaps slightly smug) self-possession and self-regard, this is for you. The other possibility is that you like something very obviously old-fashioned; simple, yet brilliant in its simplicity; and satisfyingly (if fleetingly) beautiful; then this is for you, too. Personally, I think I'll take it on the latter terms.

This frag it great from start to finish, this too has a little tiny bit of a citrus zing about but not near as much as CB. I really like this scent.

I have the same problem as SirSlarty in that I find this fragrance exceedingly light. To even get a notion of its true essence, it must be applied with a heavy hand. Of course, it is one of the few Creed fragrances that is an Eau de Toilette, not an Eau de Parfum. Once you are able to smell it, however, it is quite appealing. It is a sweet sandalwood layered over a super prominent ambergris base. In fact, on me, after about an hour, the sandalwood is completely gone and I can smell nothing but ambergris hovering about an inch above my skin. Now, this might be a problem for some, but I happen to love it. I don't know if I'd fork out the big bucks for this, but I love the sample that I've got and would love to have some more.

Seems light for a sandalwood fragrance but that doesn't make it bad. I like it a lot. It's subtle on me and it takes a while to get accustomed to. I smelled absolutely nothing at first spritz (well, 12 spritzes haha) but as your body heat interacts with it, the scent comes in at full force and turns around and fades away. A perfect scent for a perfect day.

Obviously a stellar “sandalwood” fragrance. Its simplicity is drawn from the fact that sandalwood is one of the few notes that is perfectly competent to stand on its own in a solo-fragrance. In cases like this, it’s the quality of the sandalwood note that determines the quality of the fragrance, and, the sandalwood used in Santal Imperial is excellent from my point of view. It is what I would typify as the soft, creamy, rather than the aromatic variety of sandalwood; it exhibits excellent longevity. I love the aroma of sandalwood so much that I am fully satisfied with a straightforward solo-sandalwood fragrance; however, I realize that others may legitimately expect something more, and in that case Santal Imperial might not satisfy them….

Although I am not an expert on sandalwood, I believe that this is one of the best I’ve found in a generally available alcohol based fragrance. I still prefer Floris Sandalwood but that is no longer readily available, and Creed’s Santal Imperial now takes top honors among the more pure alcohol based sandalwoods I’ve tried. It’s an excellent fragrance…