Need to spend more time with it, but my initial impressions are: Very strong black currant note in the opening that is a bit on the sweet side (reminds me of those black currant candies that come in a tin) and a little bit spicy/peppery; this dominates for the first 20 to 30 minutes and then the coniferous aspect begins to emerge--the fir balsam absolute is the most apparent of the 'forest' notes--I also get some cedar. With the base, a touch of amber and vanilla enters. At this point, everything has come together, not in a blend where all has blurred together, but in a sense that each aspect of the fragrance has settled into its respective, separate place--nothing has disappeared completely from the fragrance--and the various parts are working in harmony.
A couple interesting things I noted while wearing this:
It seems to go back and forth between dry and wet. At first I thought it was going to be bone dry, but then it suddenly became damp, and then dry again, etc.
Also, there's a 'red wine' note in the pyramid, and this seems to come out about two thirds of the way in. It's kind of like some of the currant notes from the opening (but not all, because some remain fresh) fermented and became wine. When I smell it, I know I'm smelling the currant, but it could also be described as wine.
The currant takes on many, many roles in this fragrance. For example, at one point it became a cold wind passing through the "forest," and later the basis of the wine note described above.
There's a lot going on when you look at this on the whole. And it changes a lot while wearing it--just when you thought one phase has ended and another is in full swing, the previous stage reemerges and dominates again, this time slightly altered in some way.
It opens very strong, but settles to a moderate level after about an hour.
I'm not sure how much I like it yet--I know I don't dislike it. I've certainly enjoyed analyzing it. Now that I've sort of picked it apart in my mind, I'll be able to focus more on the simple enjoyment of it during a 2nd wearing.
Definitely glad I got a chance to sample this. It's interesting.