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MPG Santal Noble

post #1 of 17
7/22/10 at 5:20pm
Thread Starter 
Has anyone purchased a new bottle of MPG Santal Noble, say, within the past 6 months and found it to be terribly ruined?

I have a vague memory of Santal Noble being divine, but the bottle I just purchased from BH this spring, smells simply of sawdust. Sawdust and nothing more. Not even expensive sawdust if there's such a thing.

Sorry if this has been discussed recently. I don't often post here, but thought the "boys of BN" would know best about this one =)
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post #2 of 17
7/22/10 at 5:49pm
I bought recently and it has been a bit of a dissapoinment to me. But a couple of important notes!

1- I never smelled the old formulation, so I'm not able to reference against that.
2- I am pretty clear I have a bit of a blind spot to the sandalwood notes in this one. First couple of times I wore, I swear I could barely smell it, but others let me know it was POUNDING!!! Loud.

This doesn't really address you question, but it's my recent experience with the scent.
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post #3 of 17
7/22/10 at 6:43pm
Hmm.

I smelled a 100ml bottle and didn't like it as much as my vintage 90ml "argyle" bottles, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it sawdust. It was still a rich woody quasi-gourmand, albeit missing the coffee and "bark" notes of the vintage. And of course it was more vanillic/tonka in the 100ml base, as opposed to the more Mysore/Ambergris (yes, both real ambergris and real mysore) base of the vintage 90ml's. And the newer had too much of a "powdery old woman" note up top. But I wouldn't call it sawdust.

I know of others complaining about other subsequent reformulations, that seemingly happened afrter the 90ml to 100ml switch. These BN'ers complained of the newest batches that were sent to us retailers after the financial issues Maitre had, so perhaps there have been 2 reformulations of Santal Noble?
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post #4 of 17
7/23/10 at 4:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DULLAH View Post

Hmm.

I smelled a 100ml bottle and didn't like it as much as my vintage 90ml "argyle" bottles, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it sawdust. It was still a rich woody quasi-gourmand, albeit missing the coffee and "bark" notes of the vintage. And of course it was more vanillic/tonka in the 100ml base, as opposed to the more Mysore/Ambergris (yes, both real ambergris and real mysore) base of the vintage 90ml's. And the newer had too much of a "powdery old woman" note up top. But I wouldn't call it sawdust.

I know of others complaining about other subsequent reformulations, that seemingly happened afrter the 90ml to 100ml switch. These BN'ers complained of the newest batches that were sent to us retailers after the financial issues Maitre had, so perhaps there have been 2 reformulations of Santal Noble?

A few years ago, I bought a 100ml bottle that, at THAT TIME, had fig replacing the coffee note. The fragrance itself was very good and I actually preferred it to the original. I cannot remember the site where I bought it, but they had the accords listed while those particular bottles were up for sale. The transitions matched the listed notes from the site.

Lately, it sure sounds like a 2nd reformulation has taken place since a few months ago, buyers were saying they ( once again) had coffee notes in their new 100ml bottles.
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post #5 of 17
7/23/10 at 5:55am
I've got a 5-6ml decant of the older juice if anyone wants just PM.
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post #6 of 17
7/23/10 at 6:17am
I bought a bottle 100mls recently, say two to three months. I do not get fig but coffee gourmand like tonka and sandalwood. Now what I bought was a tester from ebay, the seller had a shop and was closing down so selling off her range of MPG and some others. This seller was in Europe and I have no idea how long she had the testers. But no sawdust and it lasts a good 5 to 6 years on my skin.
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post #7 of 17
7/23/10 at 7:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DULLAH View Post

I know of others complaining about other subsequent reformulations, that seemingly happened afrter the 90ml to 100ml switch. These BN'ers complained of the newest batches that were sent to us retailers after the financial issues Maitre had, so perhaps there have been 2 reformulations of Santal Noble?

I think this may well be the case. I am doing an A vs. B right now.

I bought 100ml A a year and a half ago and 100ml B as soon as SN came back on stream after the 6 month drought.I have been trying to find some similarity between the two. On paper A has some projection, a 'moistness' and fragrance, B has all but vanished. On my wrists A is doing OK, as it has done for the last year or so, B is thin and has an unpleasant undercurrent - that hard cedar woody note that pops up in some masculines.
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post #8 of 17
7/23/10 at 3:38pm
Well, I have a sample that I received about 2 weeks ago from LuckyScent, of what I would assume is the newest possible formulation. I got NO fig from it, but I DID find it absolutely sublime. It's a perfect sandalwood scent to me, but of course I haven't tried the old stuff.
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post #9 of 17
7/23/10 at 3:56pm
A second reformulation, dumbing it down further? This is not good news. God, I hope Bois de Turquie wasn't messed with!
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post #10 of 17
7/23/10 at 7:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SculptureOfSoul View Post

A second reformulation, dumbing it down further? This is not good news. God, I hope Bois de Turquie wasn't messed with!

I don't want to sound like an alarmist - if SN has been further timkered with then so be it. Anything calling itself sandalwood these days is a bit of a risk because Mysore just isn't there anymore in commercial quantity and the Oz / Pacific Island stuff smells different, so if I'm right then maybe it's just this one in the line. But having said that I can't see why it would need to be changed from the earlier 100ml? I'm not aware of anything in there that IFRA would require to be altered? I've never slammed a scent on basenotes before but between these two bottles I note a significant difference, to the point that if I had been in a position to wear version B for an hour before committing I would have passed. I'd welcome any explanation or other's experience?
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post #11 of 17
7/16/11 at 4:42am
anyone know how to remove a post other than simply deleting it and leaving an empty box... ?
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post #12 of 17
7/16/11 at 7:16am
Only have the one in the original crisscross designed bottle and it is wonderful.
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post #13 of 17
7/16/11 at 7:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by donna255 View Post

I bought a bottle 100mls recently, say two to three months. I do not get fig but coffee gourmand like tonka and sandalwood. Now what I bought was a tester from ebay, the seller had a shop and was closing down so selling off her range of MPG and some others. This seller was in Europe and I have no idea how long she had the testers. But no sawdust and it lasts a good 5 to 6 years on my skin.


If that's true, it's an INSTABUY!
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post #14 of 17
7/16/11 at 7:42am
I just applied contents from a recent, official sample on one hand and a spray from the vintage 90ml. on the other. While neither is noted for projection, the original ( after a few minutes) shows its superiority and the new seems a bit screechy and thin.

The bottle I used to have with the fig was heads and shoulders better than the official sample I'm wearing. I have to say I would not buy this new rendition.
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post #15 of 17
7/16/11 at 7:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Postumo View Post

If that's true, it's an INSTABUY!


DOH!!!!!!! Hours, years
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post #16 of 17
1/9/12 at 2:14am
Any updates on this? Has a further reformulation been confirmed or is it just mass hysteria? I'm not sure whether to buy a new bottle...
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post #17 of 17
1/9/12 at 7:16am
I think you're safe. I'll be getting one when I need one. I mean it's that good that you would need to try really hard to screw this one up, even a cheaper, thinner wood mid-range (my guess) hasn't been fatal for me.
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