[Absinthetics]

KING HAGGARD
His eyes were the same color as the horns of the Red Bull. He was taller than Schmendrick, and though his face was bitterly lined there was nothing fond or foolish in it. It was a pike's face: the jaws long and cold, the cheeks hard, the lean neck alive with power.

Dry cedar, bitter balsam, and ashes.

Overall this is a startling dry scent. You could almost leave it as its notes-- it smells like ashes and cedar. The cedar isn't sharp like cedar can be. It's the dried, splintery kind that you can't activate with sand paper. There is a bitter quality to it that speaks of something else, un-nameable, in the mix. I can't imagine this being a person, more like the withered, husk of what a person once could have been. In keeping it in mind that this is King Haggard, it makes me kind of sad. If a scent could be lonely, this would be the one.

[Edens Sixth Day]

King Haggard - This is my favorite from the third set of Last Unicorn scents. It's dry, woody, has the same slightly soapy ash note found in Meliai, and the "bitter" balsam actually has a flip side that's slightly sweet... it's bittersweet, I guess you could say. It's a fascinating scent, oddly appealing in its barrenness. I really like it, but it's more masculine than I typically wear, so I would love to smell it on a dude even more than I like it on myself.

[Little Bird]

King Haggard smells surprisingly outdoorsy and fresh & clean to me. His scent isn't dry, bitter, or ashen on my skin. I get tons of cedar (which is good, because I love cedar) and it's like a mix of spicy, dry cedar chips and green cedar, with something that smells a lot like cold rain water and a hint of mushroom on me. It smells like wandering around in the woods after a long rain, and is actually sort of watery like cucumber as it dries down. I'm puzzled, because it really isn't bitter or dry on me at all. The woods are more creamy and pleasant smelling and there's that cold, watery edge... it smells nice in any case.

[zankoku_zen]

Dry cedar and ashes. Very dry, hint of watery overlay. Strong, masculine dirty sort of smell.

[DarkSinestra]

Imp: A very dry scent, ashen and empty. Cedar is prominent, but it's not the bright cedar chest cedar. It's more aged and splintery.

Wet: For a little while this is really bitter and a little "old man", not like mothballs or anything, but just...old man smell. I wasn't sure at that stage if I'd want to keep it on or not. There was also a tarry sort of resin scent.

As it dried down, the cedar freshened quite a bit, and I also got the sweet side of the balsam another poster mentioned. A few hours later, it's sweetly woodsy, a really comfortable outdoorsy sort of scent that reminds me of when I used to go camping in lean-to type structures. I like it, and I'd say in the wet stage at least, it is very evocative of King Haggard's personality.

[Midnight Aeval]

Whew! Hello masculine scent. I guess with a name like KING, you'd expect as much ;) Nice if you're into that, but man, even as a lover of the masculine scents this one is strong for me.

ETA: in the drydown, I get more of the balsam which is a note I like, makes it less cologney, more sweet/woodsy.

This post has been edited by Midnight Aeval: 20 July 2012 - 09:14 PM

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Sweet wood. Cedar and something a bit lighter.

Drydown/Dry: Leaves and fresh earthy wood. Something vaguely sweet sneaks up from beneath the deep cedar note. Smooth and stately. It reminds me of Azathoth, but this is more sophisticated. A refined and regal cedar blend.



Sidenote - I tried layering Tavern of Hell over this and my gods did that smell good!