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zankoku_zen

Levitating Phallic God

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I am excited to be the first reviewer because this is unlike anything I have ever smelled. It is greater than the sum of it's parts and more ambient than distinct.

 

Bitter vetiver softened by cashmere wood that makes it dry and almost nutty, the licorice and opoponax add a static-like blackness, the lemon peel adds a deceptively fleeting lash of almost-sweetness that reminds me of a stripe of yellow pleather on black. 

 

This is a black scent and fitting for a creepy penis monster/god.

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In the bottle: Wet ashtray vetiver! 

 

Wet on my skin: Wet ashtray vetiver! Luckily, my skin usually tames even the gnarliest vetiver pretty quickly. I'm already smelling a hint of the licorice and woods. 

 

Dry: There we go! My skin has successfully tamed the wet ashtray monster! This is now a quite dark, masculine-leaning blend, with smooth wood and smoky vetiver up front, softened and sweetened just a bit by opoponax, licorice root, and faintly lemony tea as a whisper in the back edge of the scent. It's a little bit leathery-musky feeling, despite having neither leather nor musk in it, but the combination of a few of these notes (mostly vetiver and tea/wood) can do that on my skin sometimes. It's dark and menacing and masculine, and actually rather sexually suggestive. Fairly close to the skin, not a huge or strong throw, but I bet it'll strengthen a bit as it ages. This is what a darkly charming villain or antihero played by 90s Antonio Banderas, or maybe The Crow, might smell like if you got up close and personal enough to hug them. 

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My first impression of this was vetiver, something sort of vanilla-but-not-vanilla cream (I'm guessing the licorice root) and something a tad floral I couldn't identify.  Basically, vetiver and mysterious MYSTERIES. :ninja: 

 

It's sort of metro-masculine, clean without being aquatic, a little sweet, and very nice. It shifts around a lot before settling into a bright vetiver with a touch of spice from the black tea and a hint of wood. I love all things licorice, but I'm not recognizing it here, though it's probably lending the fragrance it's cool, clean vibe, along with some sweetness.  I don't get anything remotely lemon peel.  I really like this, and I enjoyed all the different phases as it settled in.  While the vetiver is the most prominent note to my nose, I wouldn't describe it as a particularly harsh or heavy vetiver. I'd say, if you like spicy black tea and vetiver, go for it!  

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Wet: spicy woody incense. It reminds me overwhelmingly of The Huntsman, probably because it has a similar vetiver + woody incense combo.

 

Dry: The lemon picks up a bit, giving it the occasional flash of citrus. But the vetiver stays the star of the show, with thick incense smoke drifting all around me. The throw is moderate, and it lingers for hours.

 

Overall, I'd say it's The Huntsman's slightly less aggressive cousin -- a bit sweeter, a bit softer -- but definitely in the same family.

 

Edit:  My previous review was entirely from my decant.  The bottle I received is much heavier on the vetiver so far, and it drowns out most of the incense. I'm going to give it a week to rest up and try it again

Edited by Teaotter

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Gross. I hated this from beginning to end. I love vetiver, the smooth silvery grassy vetiver, but it's a full-fledged monster here, a three-headed Cerberus with black licorice and lemon peel, somehow both ash-dark and aggressively bright. This reminds me of The Highwayman, which made me think I hated vetiver for the longest time. Here, it is definitely acrid and vengeful in execution. Do not judge vetiver based on this god!

 

I love opoponax (a deep rubbery resin) and black tea and cashmere wood too. I'm frankly not getting any of those from Levitating Phallic God. Instead, I smell like cigarette butt-filled ashtray. Right down to the papery tar. I am not about this life. 

 

I am not the right person to wear this blend, I'll tell you right now. I love the artwork and the name, and I am just mighty glad I didn't blind-bottle it for those alone. If you are in doubt of what it's like to experience a Levitating Phallic God of your own for the first time, just have a peek at Galen's face in the 15 Minutes of Fume Shunga reviews upon smelling it. That will tell you everything you need to know about it! I should have listened to that face. This is a no for me, dawg.

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Licorice, ash, and a touch of both wood and wool. This one smells like a sweater that has spent ALOT of time with a leather jacket. Somewhat masculine. Great throw and wear length.

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FIRST: Veeerrry vetiver and black licorice dominant, but the tea, lemon, and wood are making this way more manageable than I expected. I like vetiver but do not like black licorice. First impressions are that I still do not like black licorice... but it is admittedly working pretty well in this blend and I am not immediately recoiling. But yes, the first cut is the deepest.

 

THEN: Tom and Galen talked about this in the review vid, but the longer it sits the better and more wearable it gets. There's a leathery vibe without actual leather. It's a gritty, smoky, slightly bitter but bright, woodsy business that feels like a cross between a tailored black Armani suit and a mechanic. Codes very masculine, which I am here for. 

 

I am really enjoying the process of this settling into my skin, and I keep picking out more nuance as it cruises on. Not a ton of throw, but it seems to want to stick around. There's an airy brightness underneath the grittiness that is complex and captivating. If you recall Tsubi Bozu from a few lupers ago, this is in the cohort. I like this one a lot better. Zankoku mentioned a wool note, which I didn't notice before but definitely do now. That is some wool. Two Sheep and Two Goats wool, which like, where did you come from?

 

I think this would age spectacularly, which is making me consider a bottle. If you like vetiver at all, consider trying this one.

 

Edited by supreme_c0rt

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Skin chemistry fail. Levitating Phallic God was one of the lupers I was looking forward to most. I am friends with all but the harshest vetiver, and licorice and I are BFFs. This hit my skin like a plastic bag hitting a hot stove. Not just smoky but chemical. Very dry, no licorice, tea or lemon. 
 

I didn’t scrub it off as I was headed out. Over the next hour or so it faded significantly into quite a pleasant skin scent. Soft vetiver, with a hint of sweetness that is still not recognizably licorice on me. This I would wear, though it’s faint. But the opening ruins this for me. 

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This is a nice one, especially for the vetiver fans out there. In the bottle: Woody, damp, almost musty vetiver. On, wet: Starts to lighten up and "dry out" quickly; musty aspect dispels and fresh black tea steps in instead, which freshens and sharpens things up a bit. Drydown: Takes about an hour to fully dry down; that's when I start to get little puffs of gentle licorice and the "cashmere" note. After a few hours the cashmere and dry wood really is the dominant note, with a veil of vetiver in the background.  The listed lemon note is totally AWOL on me.

 

Edited by Threemoons

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This is the smooothest vetiver on me, and so wonderfully complex! The licorice turns a little sweet on me, not a sharp sugary sweet but rather more of a warm creamy sweet that blends so well with the vetiver, and the black tea and lemon just adds a bit of astringency and brightens the dark murky vetiver. It smells like a black still lake with a reflection of the moon. I don't know what cashmere woods smell like, but I'm guessing that's what's making the vetiver so smooth. It's very unisex to my nose, just that vetiver is a traditionally masculine note, and vetiver is definitely the star of the show here. It's nothing like what I usually wear - florals, woods, but am definitely considering a bottle, just for the complexity of it!  

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My new favorite tea scent! 

 

In the bottle & the initial wet stage are, for lack of a better word, rough. That roughness only lasts for about a minute.

Soon, black tea with a hint of lemon & licorice, dry grassy vetiver & wood spread out. It's a subtle, close-to-the-skin scent, with a dry feeling, like Kathmandu or Morocco

 

Despite that hairy spider-phallus on the label, this is a blend that feels gender-neutral. Love it!

 

2022 update: I really like this, and snagged a backup bottle.  It pairs beautifully with Gloom Meeting HG.

Second 2022 update: The roughness is gone. Smooooooth, sweet, dry, & subtle. 

Edited by Teamama
2022 update

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really intriguing scent. not too heavy. i don't think it's quite for me, but i stay curious about this one, as the notes puzzle me, like a rubiks cube that i can't quite figure out.

i'll be holding on to this for awhile to see what i think over time.

plus the label art is frickin awesome.

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I stepped out of my comfort zone on this one, as I've never tried to wear a licorice note, and I blind-bottle it - so haha I am super relieved that it is genuinely incredible!

 

In bottle: a dark, echoing space, deep and strange. Grit, ash, wood and spectral spice - but like the lining of an ancient wooded trunk rather than a forest.

 

Wet: Rough, very rough initial blast of wood and acrid vetiver. Ashy and strange, twisting between two diametrically opposed poles, one being the scent of a memory-laden leather jacket, left in that ancient wood trunk - for me it evokes early fall nights where you stood around a roaring fire, woolen sweater and leather jacket absorbing the night and the scents just to throw it back at you in the morning - and I'm not kidding, the scent of sun-blasted inner tube. Like being hauled around the back of a speed boat in an  inner tube on a fresh water lake. My nose is lying to me, I know it's not rubber inner tube, but it sure likes bully me into thinking it is. Must be the vetiver/opoponax from what I'm reading above.  And I don't hate it.  This is a very evocative scent, and I can see why so many did not like this at all.  Thankfully it works for me and takes me strange places (which I enjoy).  The dry-down stage lasts a long time and plays between these two extremes for me for several hours.

 

Dry: a beautiful, beautiful close-to-the-skin scent. A dark and inviting scent, one you want to press your nose to, but shot through with airy gasps of these ghostly suggestions of vetiver, tea and lemon, and the soft burr of wool?!  But none of the notes are, for me, individually distinguishable, which is too bad because I very much wanted to see what my skin did with licorice. Lovely yet foreboding.  Soft, yet sharp.  Comforting and warm, yet braced by darkness. If anything, I wish this bottle was louder, with more throw, with a bigger presence once dry.  This should roll off you like thunderclouds, rather than cling like smoke, but that's just me.

 

Really, a genius expression of the artwork.  This is a dark and dire levitating phallic god: bizarre, beguiling and yet deeply enjoyable.

Edited by Llanval

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This one is really interesting.

I get rich dark soil, fragrant mushrooms and dried herbs used for naturalistic rituals.

There is ash, wood, soil, soot, pumice, resin: It feels like the leftovers on a clearing in the woods after a dark ceremony of the night before has ended.

It's a bit stinky but also a bit sweet due to the licorice. It's very earthy, natural and vegetal.

 

During drydown, it gets a bit more acrid and threatening. As if the scent is taking over my skin.

It's a changer that shifts between boiled leather and stinky herbal medicine. It's complementing my skin at one time, then being too masculine and overpowering the next.

 

Thanks for the experience - but not a scent I see myself wearing, ever.

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I was surprised to really like this one a lot, given that some of the reviews are so negative. It’s true that in the wet phase there is a hint of ashtray and acrid ness. But it’s also just a really amazing Vetiver. Manly, but not at all cologne-y. Almost like a velvety chocolate Vetiver in feel. Two Sheep & Two Goats is so sought after, and I think this scratches a very similar itch, though it likely depends on which notes pop on your particular skin/nose. 

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Similar to SeaJewel!  I actually love this...outside my wheelhouse but its unique, refreshing, calming and a wee bit naughty sultry.On me- sweet velvety chocolatey musk, warm black smoke, and a *gorgeous* sweet subtle chypre.  This is the best aspects of vetivert. I fully regret not buying a bottle.

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