Or Black Pascal Morabito for men

Smells resiny in the bottle, and when applied, creates this mysterious sweet-resiny, heavy aroma that lasts two minutes. Two minutes? I was hoping that WAS the scent. After that, comes the skin-scent rose that you literally have to inhale your wrist to smell. If you really overapply it, a third phase comes out -- the wafting ylang ylang. Dark? Depressing? Nope. If you overapply it, the longevity is eight hours, mostly in the ylang ylang drydown; otherwise you're looking at four hours, tops.

Nothing dark about this fragrance...on the contrary, I get a fresh fougere out of it. Oh and longevity and projection are not up the standard....the good thing is that you can open the atomizer, and I added 5 drops of Oud oil that purchased earlier, just to strengthen the aforementioned departments....let's see...

its all been said
a true masterpiece.

15 min. later drydown is same like L`Air du Desert Marocain.

Or Black seems to have slipped off the cogs of the fragrance industry machine, and secreted itself in the darker recesses of its housing. Early accords are close enough to Knize Ten that you can clearly see Morabito doffing his cap to the old Austrian prince. Whereas Knize is allowed to become ever more expansive and indulgent, Morabito retains control with closely calibrated accords, always retaining the initial spirit and style. Even the more distant connection to Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme is afforded a cursory upward nod. That said, Or Black does plough its own furrow, seemingly intent on exemplifying a state of solitude.

Softer ingredients are introduced in the base, perhaps to alleviate any perceived fragrant austerity. I sometimes wish the perfumer had been allowed to descend further into the twisted caves of his imagination and allowed Or Black to become darker still. Melancholy, dry and decidedly bleak, Morabito have produced something for nihilists, poets and geography teachers.

Possibly one of the darkest compositions I've ever experienced. A dense chyprey leather which is almost impossible to describe due to its multi-faceted nature. Smoky, leathery, mossy, incensey (resinous), herbal, old fashioned, modern, bitter, aromatic..OMG there's really a lot going on here.

I do apologize if I can't go through notes explaination but Or Black makes me feel positively "uneasy" and prefer to simply recommend it as the perfect example of a "fragrance for people who actually like fragrances" as diametrically opposed to the Turin's concept of "a fragrance for people who don't like fragrances".

On of the most assertive compositions ever. A masterpiece.


Rating: 10/10

Smelling this I picture the giant aquatic centipedes in Naked Lunch and the black meat for which they are prized. There is something nauseating and compelling about it; it feels hairless, oily, alkaloid, like a jar in which beetles have been kept.

An amazing fragrance, plenty of beautiful accords and well crafted. The genius parfumeur, Jean Louis Sieuzac (Opium, Fahrenheit) made here a super masculine scent.
Or Black is smoky, leathery, dark, but never cloying or heavy
I have the vintage version with the black bottle and silver cap. It´s very dificult to find, but worth a try.
Masterpiece!