Ebenezer Scrooge

[edenssixthday]

EBENEZER SCROOGE
Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn’t thaw it one degree at Christmas.

External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn’t know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often “came down” handsomely, and Scrooge never did.

Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, “My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?” No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o’clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge. Even the blind men’s dogs appeared to know him; and when they saw him coming on, would tug their owners into doorways and up courts; and then would wag their tails as though they said, “No eye at all is better than an evil eye, dark master!”

A dry, dusty, soulless scent, flinty with greed, sour with ill-temper: neglected leather, oakmoss, tonka bean, black pepper, cumin, and vetiver.

Ebenezer Scrooge - I liked this one a lot. It opens up smelling like a typical, strong men's cologne, but as it dries down, the leather really starts to come out, and it begins to smell absolutely wonderful. I never smell the vetiver at all. The lovely oakmoss and tonka bean leave the scent feeling solid and well-rounded, and very warm and masculine. The leather doesn't really blend with the leather or oakmoss, but sits on top of them, as if the scent has layers or levels. It's not the black leather from Whip, but more of a well-worn, old, brown leather. Lastly, there's a hint of black pepper spicing things up, and I think that, along with the cumin, is of what makes it smell "cologney" to me, as black pepper is a note that's "iffy" on my skin. But it never overwhelms the other notes, and complements them rather well. It's not dry, dusty, soulless, greedy, sour, or ill-tempered. It's actually quite lovely, and while it's a tad too masculine for my own personal scent preferences, this is one that would smell amazing on my husband. It's got a ton of throw and the wear-length is quite long. I think people who went gaga over Rivet.Goth should consider trying this one out.

[cfrancesca]

I had high hopes for this one since I usually love masculine, leather scents, but this was pure failure on my skin. I amp the vetiver, cumin and black pepper, as it dries I also get some oakmoss, the leather is way in the background for me. I'm really not a fan of this one, I had to wash it off when it started smelling like

B.O. on me

(must be the cumin).

[Incendiare]

Leather and I generally aren't friends, so I was prepared not to like this one. In my decant, I smell lots of leather and black pepper. Yikes, the leather is even stronger wet. The pepper still fights to make sure that its presence is known. Actually, the more I sniff my hand, the more the pepper tickles my nose. The black pepper is so realistic that it just made me sneeze! Too bad my beloved tonka bean doesn't sweeten things up even just a little bit. Vetiver is hit or miss for me and as long as it's in small doses, it smells alright on me. Ebenezer Scrooge doesn't seem to dole out any vetiver, though, unless it's just cowering behind the leather. I have no idea how cumin even reacts with my skin chemistry but I don't detect any in this blend, anyway. I'm not going to wait and see whether or not it decides to join the party either because quite frankly, the leather is too much for me and I need to wash this off right now. Oh well, I'm sure leather fans will love this one.

[Little Bird]

Ebenezer Scrooge somehow smells a lot like Depraved on me. I always think that black patchouli smells a bit like leather, and this is like a rich, warm, earthy, dark leather that has been very well worn. And I don't know where I'm getting a fruity sweetness from, but this is like Depraved with a muted apricot note and a smooth, masculine cologne edge as it dries down. I can pick out hints of the black pepper if I try, but overall this seems very well blended and works really well with my skin chemistry.

 

I love the Scrooge. This is strong, masculine, sexy, and swoon-worthy. I don't know why it smells like a more manly version of Depraved on me, but it's gorgeous, and something I need a full bottle of asap.

[Schmoozy]

Leather, cumin and black pepper are the standouts here. The oakmoss joins in after a while ands a slight citrus twist, which results in a mens scent. The vetiver smooths the way after a while and adds earthiness and a smokey vibe. I adore leather, but this is not one I could wear. There is no tonka to be had, and the vetiver is overkill. I think this would smell good on Mr. Schmoozy, but he doesn't really love vetiver either. A decant is more than enough.

[strahlend]

I was really looking forward to this scent since my tastes generally run toward the woodsy and musky.

First sniff – Ths mainly seems leathery and metallic. Not woodsy or even vetiver... kind of odd. I'm really not sure how I feel about this scent at all.

Skin test – Woodsy, mildly sweet after being worn for quite a while. It's nice enough but I'm not sure it's distinct enough from similar blends.

Another skin test - hmm... after just a few minutes on my skin this changes into a totally different scent. The metallic element fades off quick and what remains for the duration is an interesting leather and oakmoss blend. I suppose if you told me I could pick out the pepper, but it doesn't stand out. I can't pick out tonka in here at all. I think it's the cumin mixing with the leather that's giving it kind of a warm spiced feeling.

Then one skin test led to another and another and eventually I got a partial bottle. Although I can't really say what it is that's so compelling about Scrooge it DOES have a draw.

[SophieCedar]

Mmm.. This one is my favorite so far.

 

Wet: oakmoss and leather. There's a slight touch of tonka and cumin. Under a different name, this could easily be a sexy VILF or weenie scent. Waaaiiitt..I think if brown musk was added I'd be a WILF hit...

Drydown: aahh. I see. Lack of musk equals dominant cumin and black pepper. It's still darn sexy. The tonka, as usual, is amping on me. The cumin is twining with vetivert, which is news to my nose. Very interesting. My nose is playing it along the same vibrations as anti-byronic hero.

[rayvn1]

I've been looking forward to old Ebenezer. The notes are great on me the vast majority of the time and this combination is spectacular! Rich leatherand incredibly dusty with the cumin and pepper. Oakmoss can be iffy on me but it stays tame this time around. The tonka rounds out the scratchy vetiver and it all combines to a fantastic whole Wouldn't doubt it at all if this is the number one winner of the Yules for me this year

 

And by the way, I have Herr Drosselmeyer on the other arm and the mix of the two is fabulous!! The brighter freshness with its lemony, almost darkly fruity mixture combines to create pure manly, manly heaven!!

 

ETA: Oh my GOD! Half an hour later this has developed into one of the best bpal's I've ever smelled This is what I picture Aragorn would smell like. No joke. Catapulted into a possible #1 bpal for me. Crazy!

Edited December 27, 2010 by rayvn1

[sqwook]

This is a really nice masculine leather-tonka blend. Not overly vetiver at all, it's just adding some depth. I wish that I got more oakmoss here, because that's a note I truly adore, but then again it's probably to any scent's credit that I'm not saying "Hey! Oakmoss!"

 

In the end, while I think it might be a bit too masculine/leather for me, I can see it being fantastic on the right person. Lovers of leather should definitely check it out.

[melange]

When this is wet on my skin, sniffing it feels like it's giving me a hard push. Drydown: BO. I think it's how the cumin interacts with the other ingredients on my skin, probably not cumin by itself. After some time, it changes to a heavy, masculine scent, as though Scrooge had sweated into his leather jacket and wore it to work.

[milo]

Strong vetiver at first, then some leather and a bit of spice come in. This is much to heavy on the vetiver and a bit too masculine for me.

[zankoku_zen]

Synthetic black leather and a hint of black pepper and vetiver. BPAL's black leather note on me is typically overpowering (um, hello, DeSade!) and this one is softer, almost wearable. Very masculine, very cold.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

Ooh.. interesting! When first applied, I got a blast of cologne-like fragrance but with a slightly sweet and almost fruity top note.

 

That soon passed, and the dark sinister side of Scrooge came out as soon as it started drying down

 

The leather here is fresh and a bit sharp - that smell of a leather shop. The tonka bean sits atop the pepper and cumin and vetiver so that none of those come out too strong.. I can smell them, they're definitely there, but no one note dominates. I'm not sure where the oakmoss has gone - there is a slight fresh/greenness here, so maybe that's it. The leather does soften up a bit after it's been on my skin for a while - that 'new leather' smell has gone, it's warmed in nicely and lost that fresh/sharp edge.

 

I think this one would have been right at home amongst the VILF blends - it has that same sort of sinister quality with a sexy edge. If you're scared of vetiver - don't be.. it isn't nasty here at all. And cumin haters can also relax.. it's not dominant here. I think this will age nicely, and it definitely suits its namesake!

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Sharp leather, lots of pepper and some vetiver.

 

Wet: Very sharp leather now, almost chemical.

 

The dry-down: Really not liking this at all. The chemical note of the leather that has just been taken out of the dying vat is rather omnipresent. It's pretty much stomping all over the other notes. The tonka bean, cumin, and oakmoss never showed to the party, and the pepper and vetiver left early. If Scrooge smelled liked this, it's no surprise that he had no friends.

[Suusje]

I'm really surprised this scent isn't more loved. It's simply amazing. On me, it smells like a combination of Enkhespalos and Hellhound.

[surf-tormented]

Spicy, earthy, worn leather. Amazing! Then again I love vetiver.

[mymymai]

• ITB: Oh, the leather has aged brilliantly. Thing London on a crisp, foggy evening, shrouded in a worn, black leather trench. I get the sense of being surrounded by slightly damp cobblestone speckled with lichen and oakmoss, the air effused with the fuzzy tones of cumin and a sharp cut of pepper. The hint of tonka bean keeps this scent as Scrooge rather than Jack the Ripper.

Wet: The leather and oakmoss are more prominence on my skin, and the vetiver cuts in with a green and slightly heady charge through the remainder of the notes. It’s a rather evocative scent and I do like this quite a bit.

Dry: Leather, oakmoss, and vetiver. The scent lasts for a good chunk of time and is plesant as it fades. Very nice!

[spaghettysburg]

All cumin with a slight edge of black pepper on me. I smell like I fell into a spice rack 😕