Explorer (2008)
by Boadicea the Victorious

Explorer’s dry, bitter, aromatic top notes are harsh and musty to my nose, and time does little to soften the composition. Medicinal oudh steps up quickly, accompanied by a smoky birch tar and a stark conifer resin note. The effect is one of “biker” leather that bears a passing resemblance to the bitter galbanum and birch tar top notes of Bandit eau de parfum. (This is the second Boadicea the Victorious scent to remind me of Bandit in its opening, the first having been Complex.) The leather and oudh might also sound like Montale’s Oud Cuir d’Arabie, but Explorer smells very different: it is a cold, stark, flinty scent that has none of the Montale’s animalic sensuality. Oud Cuir d’Arabie oozes sex, but I’d never dream of getting into bed with Explorer’s hard edges and sharp angles.

A scent that’s this uncomfortable by design intrigues me as a concept. After all, a confrontational stance is part of the strange beauty and originality that’s manifest in masterpieces like Yatagan, Kouros, the old Route du Vétiver, Vero Profumo’s Onda, and Muscs Koublaï Khan. Yet Explorer is so unrelievedly abrasive in its execution that it becomes tiresome. Lacking both contrast and internal balance, it slips across the boundary from challenging to irritating. This I can live without.

Explorer - grim citrus

Explorer is a dark, medicinal, camphoraceous, and leathery twist on the cologne genre, but ends up feeling extremely muddied and grim. It starts off with a lasting bitter citrus and is predominant with cypress and violets. (yet again) Initially similar in feel to Complex, but goes a totally different direction with an emphasis on leather accented by tobacco.

The press release said this was an "acidic enervating citrus." I thought it was just bad writing, but now I'd have to agree -- all the life and vitality of the citrus has been sucked out of Explorer, which may be a good thing for many people as fresh and bracing citruses are commonplace. Good sillage and longevity.

List of notes: Sicilian lemon, citron, cypress, orris, violet, tobacco, Tuscan leather, oud

Yikes!! This is a strong one!! Straight up incense. Nothing tempers it either IMHO. If I was to compare--Tauer's L'Air du desert M is akin to this at first. But Tauer's settles into a warm vanilla drydown that comfortable. Defintely a masculine scent.