Le Labo  Santal 33

A beautiful sandalwood greets me from the first seconds on, and stays on.  Australian sandalwood it is. It is not unadulterated though, with a touch of cardamon spice beneath.

In the drydown a cedar note arrives very soon, and this happy marriage of the two wood notes is what this scent is all about on me. The proportion of the two varies a bit over time, and in the last hours the cedar seems to grow stronger. Not unlike Diptyque's Tam Dao as far as the sandalwood is concerned, but a tad less subtle.  There are a few floral accompaniments here, mainly a violet and an iris, but they remain in the background.   

The base continues with the duo of woods, with touches of a darker, slightly crisp and musky leather being present towards the end.

I get very good silage and projection, and a splendid longevity of around seven hours. Top stuff.

To me the focus on the two wood notes of extraordinarily high quality is very convincing, especially the Australian sandalwood.  The whole is quite direct, not very nuanced, and the sandalwood loses ground when the cedar takes over - it lacks the refinement and purity of Creed's Bois de Santal for instance.  nevertheless, is is a very good creation.  3.75/5