Okay, so evergreen and sandalwood...

You guys have been great with recommendations. Let's go to the well one more time...

My lone sandalwood scent right now is Art of Shaving Sandalwood. Some decry it for being synthetic. I find it very natural, though clearly the sandalwood oil is here not used alone but rather is juiced up with a combination of cedar, eucalyptus, and possibly ylang-ylang, along with some other supporting notes. I like it a lot, and I particularly enjoy the whiff of medicinal eucalyptus with which it opens, but I wish it lasted a bit longer and blended better into the rest of the scent.

I have recently been sampling CdG/Artek Standard, and could see myself owning a bottle. But. Much as I enjoy the pine and cedar accord - yes it is linear, but it's also big and sawdusty and mighty rich - I can't help but wish that there were a touch of sandalwood to lend some bit of sweetness and roundness to it.

So. I'm looking at Tam Dao. Cypress-rosewood-sandalwood-cedar, right? Linear, right? Okay, I don't mind linear, and I would really love to find something that puts a whiff of eucalyptus or pine or some sort of conifer atop a really rich sandalwood note, even if eventually the thing gets down to straight cedar. I don't want an Iso E Super bomb, though. I don't mind the stuff, but I prefer things that smell more like fresh-cut cedar. So I guess I mean that if the Iso E Super is used well, I can handle it. I'd love a kind of hay accord, too, whether achieved with coumarin or some well-placed nutmeg like in Eau de L'Occitan, or with hay absolute. The hay is not necessary, but would really make me happy.

FWIW, something that comes close to what I'm thinking of is Roger & Gallet Open, but its smoke and moss ultimately are a bit more than what I want. The spice, the soapy sandalwood, the hay and pine are all there.

Okay, so Tam Dao? Other recommendations? Possibly some Comme des Garcons scents fit the bill, no?

Price range might be flexible, but I'd rather not go ape on spending right now.

Regards,
T

Okay, well, I have not tried many fig scents - just one, in fact - so that throws me for a bit of a loop. However, I have meant to re-sample Fou d'Absinthe anyway, so may as well order a few other L'Artisan samples...two enthusiastic recommendations from guys whose tastes match mine: hard to pass that up.

Of course if I'm ordering samples, may as well go all-out, so any other recommendations are welcome, but I think this is an interesting start.

Regards,
T

Okay, well, I anticipate going broke after I try all of these and decide I must have a bottle of each. They all sound terrific, at least based on listed notes and BN reviews/comments. I hope to report back with positive news in a month or so, after I've had time and money to sample everything.

And I was going to leave niche scents alone when I got into all of this...

Regards,
T