Macaque Yuzu Edition Extrait de Parfum By Zoologist

Oh this is so NICE!

It opens up with a bright, natural, tart yuzu, to quickly show the juniper gin-like note. Then it dries down a bit to that green cypres wood (hinoki) complimented by the incense-y myrrh and olibanum. The oak moss brings some additional earthy, bright woody freshness to the mix. The sandalwood is not very dominative here, or sevres more as a creamy, a bit soapy mixed with the citrus, base. There's maaaaybe a bit leathery feel from the labdanum, but this is a woody aromatic citrus, not a leathery fragrance.

This is beautiful. It's deep, rich, mature, but I think it suits 25+. I can even say you can try wearing this to the office, as this projects moderately I don't think you'll offend many people 🙃. Maybe some.

Unisex, but leans masculine, any season (except winter for technical reasons only - moderate projection, the cold will kill it). I'll consider buying a whole bottle if it goes beyond 7 hours on my skin

@edit yeah unfortunately the yuzu, like a citrus, is gone in about 2h tops, and the rest of the perfume isn't that loud. I lasts about 5-6 hours on my skin and after 2 it becomes very moderate, almost a skin scent. As I'm not a collector, i buy to wear and finally wear out, it's a pass for me - for that niche price I can find something that lasts and is equally good.

There's a bright juniper and yuzu opening that slowly fades behind wood and incense. I'm holding hot tea with a slightly zesty citrus in it... sitting in a spa among trees, water flowing nearby over mossy rocks and wood. I can close my eyes and that's exactly where I am. Clean and peaceful and beautiful. No one evokes an environment like Zoologist. This is a love.

Wow! Zoologist really know how to do incense! If you love the incense series by Comme des Garcons, then you will love Macaque Yuzu. The yuzu is prominent in the opening, but it fades during the dry down. The dry down is mostly olibanum and woody notes. This is in my top 4 favorites from the house of Zoologist. My other favorites are also incense--Moth, Cockatiel, and Bee (borderline incense). Macaque Yuzu could be a signature scent and worn all year in all settings. The woody incense is great for the winter, but there is a cooling green effect that can cut through the summer heat. Macaque Yuzu is not as original as other Zoologist offerings, but it fits the theme and smells so good!

Sampled this as a throw in for curiosity as I really wanted to try Chipmunk and I didn’t like the original Macaque too much (had a sharp too synthetic apple note for me), and this has been a very pleasant surprise.

Macaque Yuzu is quite different to the original and I’ll say straight off the bat, I love this one.

It essentially gives what I imagine a Japanese spa would smell like type of vibe off me, it has an effervescent mineral watery like feel that I think is a typical spa-like smell with a citrus twist, but it has a green mossy feel too which I would guess is the hinoki (and maybe a bit from the juniper).

The lightness of that watery mossy citrus is balanced against the darkness of smoky incense which comes into play not long after spraying, and gets stronger as it dries. As a big incense fan this is where the full bottle worthy line is crossed for me.

This is one that opens really well and just gets better as time goes on. Definitely looking forward to trying the Fuji version now.

On the aspect of this representing the animal, I can see this. The Macaque in the portrait is wearing a Monk like robe for the liturgical and warm incense part and a steamy watery and mildly fruity hot spring environment to balance to that out is where a Macaque might hang around in the real world.

edit: If you find it hard to sample this, it smells a little bit like a much more incense focused and higher quality Costa Azzura by Tom Ford. I tried the TF and it immediately brought me back to the scent memory of this.

A lot of the new Zoologist releases are on the more restrained side, although this isn't a big problem for me since a lot of their safer releases are the ones that appeal to me a lot anyway. As a comparison, this really has basically nothing to do with the earlier version of Macaque—which got discontinued apparently for not quite hitting the brief of the animal on the head (and I liked it but I agree that nothing about it really related to the theme of the animal to me).

This one however feels like a thematic home run, having essentially completely revamped it from dusty, sour apple and galbanum to lots and lots of woods and lots of Comme des Garcons-style incense (and also a short-lived but super-zingy yuzu opening, freshly zested). This might be too specific a reference, but the particular mix of citruses and juniper on the sweet incense background give the impression of Chinese Nin Jiom herbal sweets (they have a tangerine-lemon flavour that really does feel funnily similar to the opening of Macaque). There's no mentholated touch here obviously, but there is something here (maybe the cypress, maybe the resinous aspects of the incense) that vaguely opens the sinuses and as others have pointed out really gives the impression of hot steam—whether it be from a cup of tea or a hinoki wood spa.

I've been on the lookout for an incense scent that doesn't lean too spicy or dark and this really hits a spot for me. The drydown does remind me very faintly of Koala too (although, yes, Koala is deceivingly spicy and dark in comparison). I think if anyone is on the lookout for a very peaceful take on that Comme des Garcons cypress-incense formula, this might be for you.

The real question is whether I splash out for a full bottle now, or wait till I can sample the Fuji Apple edition.