From the following houses, which MUST be tried??

A few suggestions (pardon my spelling):

LV - Vetiver & Uomo
JM - P. Noir, Amber & Lavendar, Lime Basil & Manadrin
P d'Empire - Cuir Ottoman, Fougere Bengal
MPG - Santal Noble, Route du Vetiver
SL - Fumerie Turque, MKK

Lorenzo Villoresi: Musk, Garofano, Vetiver

Etat Libre d'Orange: Jasmin et Cigarette, Putain des Palaces

Serge Lutens: Miel de Bois, Fumerie Turque

Tom Ford Exclusives: Oud Wood, Black Violet
Jo Malone: Orange Blossom, Tuberose
Etat Libre d'Orange: Tom of Finland, Putain des Palaces
Serge Lutens: MKK, À la Nuit

Lorenzo Villoresi: Uomo and Vetiver
Jo Malone: Black Vetyver Café
MPG: Route du Vetiver, Secret Melange
Serge Lutens: Chene, Arabie and Five O'Clock Au Gingembre (well, maybe MKK too, just to get a good laugh about all the silly hype it has been getting)

LV - Vetiver is the must, Piper Nigrum to see what everyone is on about, and Sandolo (except that the one time I had it on, people asked me why I was wearing a woman's scent)

Jo Malone - The Black Pepper is really interesting.

MPG - Santal Noble or Ambre Preceiux (they're kind of similar) and Iris Bleu Gris.

Enjoy your trip.
Renato

Have a wonderful time in London Dimitri - I'm jealous!

Lorenzo Villoresi - Spezie and Vetiver
Prada Exclusives - I have NO idea...
Tom Ford Exclusives - Tuscan Leather and Tobacco Vanille
Jo Malone - the new Amber Lily (if they have it) and Lime, Basil & Mandarin
Etat Libre dOrange - The new Tom of Finland (wink) and Jasmin et Cigarette
Parfums d'Empire - Fougere Bengale
Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier - Route du Vetiver and Jardin du Nil
Serge Leutens (besides Chergui and Ambre Sultan) - Douce Amere and Arabie

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier - Racine

SL: Borneo 1834

I think it would be interesting to compare SL's Bois series with his original design Femininite du Bois for Shiseido. All together they make a great combination and a real fun time.

But if you weren't up to that:

Daim Blonde & Borneo 1834

(I think MKK is a good scent, but its too much like Keihl's Musk with an added slug of Cumin to make it bottle worthy for me.)

SL Gris Clair

Bon Voyage!

LV
Uomo's the only one with lasting interest

Prada
Nada

Tom Ford
See above

Jo Malone
Lime, Basil and Mandarin
Wild Fig & Cassis

Etat Libre
Secretions
Eloge du Traitre

Parfums d'Empire
Turin says Exhale is good. I haven't cared for the others. Haven't tried Fougère Bengale. Turin gave it four stars.

MPG
Parfum d'Habit
Racine
Iris Bleu Gris
Baïme
Route du Vetiver
Eau des Iles
Santal Noble and Ambre Precieux are good, but neither have had sex in years.

"Lutens" (There's no eu in Lutens)
Chene
Rose de Nuit
Cuir Mauresque
Muscs Koublaï Khän
Iris Silver Mist
Sarrasins
Tubereuse Criminelle

MKK is only vaquely reminiscent of Kiehl's Musk once you really spend time with it. It's not a loud fragrance, but rather an exquisite and very sensual skin scent: an initimate fragrance that's at its best in close quarters and with the rise in body heat.

A few animalic ingredients MKK contains that Kiehl's doesn't:

Four different kinds of musk
Civet
Castoreum
Costus
Ambrette seeds
Ambergris

Lorenzo Villoresi - Musk, Vetiver, Yebrmate
Prada Exclusives - Cuir Ambre (or along the lines), Benjoin
Tom Ford Exclusives - Moss Breeches, Noir de Noir, Amber Absolute
Jo Malone - Blue Agva & Cacao, 154 Cologne & Kodho Wood Night
Etat Libre dOrange - Rien, Eloge du Traitre & Jasmin et Cigarettes
Parfums d'Empire - Fougere Bengale
Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier - Santal Something, Iris Bleu Gris & Route du Vetiver
Serge Leutens (besides Chergui and Ambre Sultan) - Borneo 1934, Fumerie Turque and Iris Silver Mist along with MKK if you don't mind 'dirty'

Lorenzo Villoresi - Uomo, Piper Nigrum and Yerbamate
Tom Ford Exclusives - Tuscan Leather, Moss Breeches and Tobacco Vanille
Jo Malone - Pomegranate Noir and Amber & Lavender
Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier - Parfum d'Habit and Santal Noble
Serge Leutens - Cuir Mauresque and Gris Clair

Lorenzo Villoresi -Uomo
Prada Exclusives=?
Tom Ford Exclusives- Japan Noir
Jo Malone - vetiver, mandarin lime basil
Etat Libre dOrange=?
Parfums d'Empire- FB
Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier - Santal Noble
Serge Leutens (besides Chergui and Ambre Sultan)- Encens et Lavende is a Necessity!

Jo Malone - Nutmeg and Ginger, Black Vetyver Cafe
Etat Libre dOrange - Charogne, Rien, Jasmin et Cigarette
Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier - Santal Noble, Ambre Précieux
Serge Lutens - Vétiver Oriental, Cuir Mauresque, Un Bois Sépia

Interesting. I'll have to do more comparison, I suppose - drat!

How were you able to compare, BTW?

Etat Libre d'Orange
I'm surprised that there have been so many mentions of Jasmin et Cigarette - not because I think it's a bad scent [I don't - it's a very likeable jasmine], but because it offers little in the way of mystery or complexity. The name, in this instance, is absolutely spot on: you want to smell of jasmine and cigarette smoke? Buy Jasmin et Cigarette!

For this reason, I'd also eliminate Encens et Bubblegum from the list; again, if you think you can imagine the clash of those seemingly disparate smells, then you're probably not far off experiencing it. It's another one that does exactly what it says on the, erm, tin. Sweet yet dry, heavy to the point of cloying/nauseating, linear and lasts for years.

I had written a long paragraph of reasons why the first must-try has to be Secretions Magnifiques, but luckily I re-read your post and realised that you're going to be spraying and walking around in public. In that case: DO NOT TRY SECRETIONS MAGNIFIQUES. By all means get a sample vial to take away with you to experience later in the comfort of your own bathroom - in fact, I urge you to do this, as I think every fan of fragrance needs to experience this - but for chrissakes don't spray it on in-store! Seriously, it could ruin an otherwise delightful day - this is a fragrance that will alter your perceived notions of perfume boundaries [and almost certainly not in a good way!]

One ELd'O that I would recommend, however, is Charogne. It's such a complex beasty - a gorgeous sweet floral to start [it's like a soliflore of the juicius fruitii blossom ] with an indolic/leather progression. It's the indole accord that elevates the fragrance and makes it fascinating, yet it's actually very wearable; I've worn it to work and not had a single quizzical expression or recoil of disgust from colleagues. Definitely one to try.

Well, I was also going to add my MPG and SL recommendations [The Lutens range isn't easy to narrow down to one or two], but frankly I'm drained after all that

Lorenzo Villoresi - Vetiver
Prada Exclusives - never tried any
Tom Ford Exclusives - Tobacco Vanille - wasn't too happy with Tuscan.
Jo Malone - Grapefruit is a great citrus! Lime Basil & Mandarin is also good!
Etat Libre dOrange - never tried
Parfums d'Empire - Equistrius is great, and I liked a lot Amber Russe. Cuir was tooooooo rubber smelling
Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier - Route du Vetiver! Amber Sultan (better than Amber Russe imo), Iris Blu Gris
Serge Leutens (besides Chergui and Ambre Sultan) - Un Bois Vanille, Gris Clair

Lorenzo Villoresi: Yerbamate, Uomo
Prada Exclusives: no clue
Tom Ford Exclusives: Tobacco Vanille, Tuscan Leather, Japon noir, Noir de Noir
Jo Malone: Pommegranate Noir, Wild Fig&Cassis
Etat Libre dOrange: Rien
Parfums d'Empire: no clue
Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier: Iris Bleu Gris, Grain de Plaisir
Serge Leutens: Fumerie Turque, Borneo, Bois de Violette

Have lots of fun Dimi!

Prada Exclusives Cuir
Tom Ford Exclusives~ Amber Absolute Oud Wood
Jo Malone~ Lime & Basil
Etat Libre dOrange Haven't had anything from this house
Parfums d'Empire~ Ambre Russe, Cuir Ottoman
Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier~ Ambre Percious
Serge Leutens (besides Chergui and Ambre Sultan)~ Musc Kubula Khan, Arabie

Villoresi. The entire blue bottle line is worth exploring, and finding your favorite. They are all exceptional.

Lorenzo Villoresi: Vetiver
Tom Ford Exclusives: Oud Wood & Moss Breches
Etat Libre dOrange: (I have some samples on the way: the "leathers" and Jasmin et Cigarette sound interesting)
Parfums d'Empire: Fougere Bengale
Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier: Parfum d'Habit & Route du Vetiver
Serge Lutens: Fumerie Turque, Chene, Iris Silver Mist (has an edge over Dior Homme IMO), Santal de Mysore, Borneo 1834

Dimi,

I suggest you visit Geo F Trumper and sample their Sandalwood Cologne, my holy grail .

If you're visiting London, then you'll only get to see the export range from Serge Lutens, right? In that case I'd recommend Douce Amere, Daim Blond and Five o'Clock au Gingembre, if you can fit three in.

From MPG, Iris Bleu Gris & Route du Vetiver
From Parfums d'Empire, Fougere Bengale & Cuir Ottoman

I'm a big fan of Etat Libre d'Orange - even though I feel theri sense of humour is a bit childish. Still - their Divin Enfant is the first perfume I've ever tried that actually made me laugh!

Their description on the website says:
"under the angel, the faked innocense of a demon...What a sweet little monster!"

I tried it on the first time on my way to work one morning, and I got the sweet, innocent opening of orange blossom and marshmallows. I was going to give a guided tour to a group of small children, and I thought this scent could be appropriate.

When I arrived at work I smelled like the devil himself, spice, coffee, leather and tobacco, and I could almost see a little baby demon with angel wings giggling at my suprise!

I think the angelic opening coud be a bit too sweet for most men, but you should definitely try it out.

Lorenzo Villoresi - Piper Nigrum, Vetiver, Yerbamate.
Parfum D'Empire - Eau de Gloire (I love this one and NOBODY ever talks about it!)
MPG - Eau de Isles, Santal Noble
Serge Lutens - Gris Clair