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Caron Yatagan- A beast or a wimp?

post #1 of 24
3/13/10 at 6:50am
Thread Starter 
i just had my first experience with the third man. i find it very likable even luxurious but a little too sweet. my next experience will be yatagan (current formula not the vintage). i was reading the reviews and they are divided. some describe it as a beast with broad shoulders and others as a wimp. what can i expect from yatagan? strange and sillage monster or subtle mainstream?
longevity and sillage are very important to me. will Yatagan perform or disappoint?
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post #2 of 24
3/13/10 at 7:19am
strange and unique but not a sillage monster...at least not on my skin. I love it for it's sheer weirdness but i don't wear it all that often. i like le troiseiem homme and pour un homme alot better. If you're looking for a strange sillage monster try Kouros...it has Yatagan for breakfest
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post #3 of 24
3/13/10 at 7:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by damon View Post

i just had my first experience with the third man. i find it very likable even luxurious but a little too sweet. my next experience will be yatagan (current formula not the vintage). i was reading the reviews and they are divided. some describe it as a beast with broad shoulders and others as a wimp. what can i expect from yatagan? strange and sillage monster or subtle mainstream?
longevity and sillage are very important to me. will Yatagan perform or disappoint?

No one can know what will delight or disappoint you. You have to sample it for yourself. I like it, but have never considered it beastly. It is a very good coniferous, slightly animalic masculine chypre, with moderate sillage and tenacity. Although, with liberal application you could easily leave scent trails behind you in the elevator if that's really what you are after with your desire for sillage.
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post #4 of 24
3/13/10 at 7:41am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrclmind View Post

No one can know what will delight or disappoint you. You have to sample it for yourself. I like it, but have never considered it beastly. It is a very good coniferous, slightly animalic masculine chypre, with moderate sillage and tenacity. Although, with liberal application you could easily leave scent trails behind you in the elevator if that's really what you are after with your desire for sillage.

I wish i could sample it but CARON is not available in Israel and i have to buy it blind via net.
some reviewers regard to yatagan as overpowering while others say its just above water concentration.
i dont want to offend anyone with sillage but i want the frag to have a decent sillage so that i can detect it and those who need to.
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post #5 of 24
3/13/10 at 7:55am
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For me, average sillage and longevity. And I agree that it's weird, but only in the sense that I get nothing of the beast that so many other mention. All I get is celery, celery, celery. But that's okay; it's weirdly fresh and invigorating.
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post #6 of 24
3/13/10 at 7:59am
I recommend you go for it. I find Yatagan to be one of the most versatile fragrances in my wardrobe. As mentioned before, you can apply more heavily to achieve the sillage you desire. On its' own, it is not a sillage monster but a real comfortable scent. I really like it.
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post #7 of 24
3/13/10 at 8:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by damon View Post

I wish i could sample it but CARON is not available in Israel and i have to buy it blind via net.
some reviewers regard to yatagan as overpowering while others say its just above water concentration.
i dont want to offend anyone with sillage but i want the frag to have a decent sillage so that i can detect it and those who need to.

I don't know what anyone is smelling who say this is just above water concentration; you will definitely smell it. You have to like dry, herbaceous type scents with a bit of wood, ink and animal in the base. It's not at all offensive, but rather elegant IMO. Very masculine. I don't get the celery as much as others do, but I can see where they are coming from, it's really caraway and sage in the top notes that are giving that impression. It's not bone dry, but close.
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post #8 of 24
3/13/10 at 8:25am
I love Yatagan. I get pine and celery seed. It's nothing at all like Third Man, which is one I was a bit disappointed with.
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post #9 of 24
3/13/10 at 8:34am
I find it quite disgusting - an amber and pine ode to butt-crack sweat - but in terms of sillage and longevity it's big, but not an extreme or even particularly sizable power scent.
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post #10 of 24
3/13/10 at 9:40am
I agree with mrclmind's descriptions.

For me Yatagan is neither beast nor wimp, but a civilized, dry, masculine, coniferous, herbal chypre possessing moderate longevity and sillage. But despite that rather generic sounding description, it remains a unique fragrance after all these years. You probably can't find anything more different than the Third Man!

I honestly don't don't understand the viewpoint of those who consider Yatagan and Kouros as monstrous scents with overwhelmingly animalic characteristics and outrageous sillage. Yatagan is, however, sufficiently different than many recent masculine fragrances, particularly the fresh, slightly sweet or fruity ones with nondescript, faintly musky drydowns, to warrant a bit of care in purchasing it, especially if you aren't familiar with dry, green chyres.

noggs
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post #11 of 24
3/13/10 at 10:19am
I agree with mrclmind. Not a beast at all. The opening is unique, and I think those that say it is a monster are talking about this phase, only. Within 30 minutes, it is pretty tame. Not lame, tame. It's very cheap for a small bottle, and worth having for reference even if you end up not liking it. Luxury Perfume has it for less than $19 for a 50ml, that's a no-brainer in my estimation.
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post #12 of 24
3/13/10 at 10:32am
For Me...I was hugely disappointed in Yatagan...I am disappointed that It didn't Get that usurious Blast to which everyone talks about...Nothing fecal was being implored at all.....All I get is Rich Woods and Herbs...Yet Adjacent and aided of A powdery finish...It was conjectural to a fair peak.....I really need to re-try it too garner all of the critics assumptions...though I just ain't feeling the love..It was funnily enough...Too Clean for me

- Balava -
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post #13 of 24
3/13/10 at 8:09pm
Yatagan ain't no wimp, that's for sure. Like others have said, it doesn't mow you down with its sillage, but it is very bold because it is very unusual, spicy, and has absolutely no sweetness whatsoever. It's extremely dry, woody and spicy, but totally unlike any woody or spicy scent you'd normally think of. It's also got this somewhat dirty, sweaty note in the base (must be the castoreum) that turns a lot of people off (but which I really like). After the first 20 minutes, Yatagan really cools its jets and becomes a great warm, herbal (but still strange and spicy) scent that is very comfortable to wear. I love it.
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post #14 of 24
3/13/10 at 8:17pm
On my female skin it is all sage and caraway for quite a long time... I do like it because of the nostalgic sage (sagebrush) and pine from my past. I need to try this one at the office as I like it very much... even though it does not seem to dry down very leathery/animalic at all on me, to the point that it seems it would be better layered with a slightly sweeter scent that balanced out the bitterness of the sage. I want to try this in warmer weather though, I feel that would make its character much more complex for me.
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post #15 of 24
3/13/10 at 8:37pm
Even though it smells very masculine, I've always thought Yatagan would make a fantastic and sexy feminine scent. I've always thought patchouli-heavy masculines make great feminines as well.
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post #16 of 24
3/13/10 at 8:49pm
I love this one also, and there are times when I exclusively wear this for quite some time. Interesting but true, this is my 12 year old daughter's favorite scent on me
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post #17 of 24
3/13/10 at 10:49pm
Yatagan is a well groomed, business-suited and fatherly-looking gentleman with concealed guns and knives all over his person. Quite discreet, urbane, but scary at the same time. The "Unsweet" of frags.
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post #18 of 24
3/14/10 at 12:03am
I like Yatagan. It's a fairly refined and very '70s scent.

I don't think it's the freakishly weird skank-monster that some people describe.
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post #19 of 24
3/14/10 at 12:25am
I know I'm in the minority but it reminds me of a slightly tamer version of this. At least it wasn't very expensive.

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post #20 of 24
3/14/10 at 12:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sean-dt View Post

I like Yatagan. It's a fairly refined and very '70s scent.

I don't think it's the freakishly weird skank-monster that some people describe.

It can be, particularly if you layer it with, say, Kiehl's Original Musk. (but I kind of like that combo, because it sweetens and softens the sage and caraway, which are both very strong on me.)

And it smells NOTHING like Pine Sol, adonis. :-)
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post #21 of 24
3/14/10 at 6:24pm
LOL adonis, if pine sol smells like Yatagan maybe I can get a bottle and use it like an After Shave or a Body Splash
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post #22 of 24
3/14/10 at 6:29pm
It's a great fragrance, and not in the least a "monster".
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post #23 of 24
3/14/10 at 6:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by actiasluna View Post

It can be, particularly if you layer it with, say, Kiehl's Original Musk. (but I kind of like that combo, because it sweetens and softens the sage and caraway, which are both very strong on me.)

And it smells NOTHING like Pine Sol, adonis. :-)

Hee hee. I know I'm exaggerating, just a tad.
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post #24 of 24
3/15/10 at 6:09am
I think it's the celery that both makes it unusual and puts a lot of people off. I really like it, but it's neither a monster nor a wimp on me, nor do I get much of the celery or the fecal/dirty/sweaty accord from the castoreum. As with most replies in this thread, I get moderate sillage and longevity, which can be altered either way with the amount you spray -to me it seems very similar to VC&A Pour Homme, in the sense that they are both very sensitive to how much you spray, almost to the point of altering the scent.

It's not my favourite Caron, nor is it the worst. Also seems unchanged from the original formulation.
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