I blend everything in this catalog by hand, so my nose has been in every bottle. Most of them I'd happily wear. These four I won't.
None of them is bad. Each one is a faithful impression of the original, and each original has people who swear by it. The problem is me. So this is the most honest review I can give: I don't like wearing these, and I'd still put them up against the originals.
Wampus Cat (Frédéric Malle Musc Ravageur)
Maurice Roucel made Musc Ravageur for Frédéric Malle in 2000. Malle's own copy says it caused a scandal when it came out, and that it's built from musk, amber, vanilla, patchouli and sandalwood with no flowers in it at all. Twenty-five years later, people treat it like a holy relic.
I can't understand why anybody would wear it. I mean that sincerely. I've smelled it plenty, and I still don't get it.
But I know I'm in the minority. The people who love Musc Ravageur really love it, and Wampus Cat is a faithful impression. If you're one of them, you'll be happy. I just won't be wearing it.
Wampus Cat is $55 for 30 mL, or $10 for a 2 mL sample.
White Thing (Nasomatto Fantômas)
Fantômas is Alessandro Gualtieri's work for Nasomatto, and it's named after a famous villain from French crime fiction. Gualtieri doesn't reveal what goes into his fragrances, and once you smell this one, you understand why. It's hard to describe.
To me it just smells weird. Not bad. Weird. And I go nose-blind to it fast. A few minutes in, I can't smell it at all, while everybody around me still can. That's a bad combination for a man who likes to know what he smells like.
White Thing is very faithful to the original. If you like the strange end of niche perfume, this is about as strange as our catalog gets.
White Thing is $55 for 30 mL, or $10 for a 2 mL sample.
Bearwallow Mountain (Zoologist Rhinoceros)
This one hurts, because the opening is beautiful. The current Rhinoceros is Prin Lomros's reworking for Zoologist, replacing Paul Kiler's discontinued original, and it opens with whiskey, rum, coffee, pink pepper and basil. That top tempts me every single time.
Then the barnyard shows up. It's loud, animalic, and completely on purpose. Zoologist doesn't use animal products in it, which means somebody built that smell deliberately. My fear is simple: I'd walk into a room and people would check their shoes.
Bearwallow Mountain is faithful to the original, funk included. Read the warning on the product page. Buy the sample first.
Bearwallow Mountain is $29 for 15 mL, $49 for 30 mL, $19 for a 5 mL travel spray, or $10 for a 2 mL sample.
Mount Rogers (Bleu de Chanel)
The odd one out, because nothing about Bleu de Chanel is strange. Jacques Polge made it for Chanel in 2010, and Martin Scorsese directed the launch film. It's one of the safest men's fragrances you can buy.
My problem is my nose, not the fragrance. I go nose-blind to it within minutes. Then I want another spray, and another, until I'm the guy everyone can smell from across the room. So I don't wear it at all.
If your nose hangs onto it better than mine, it's an easy everyday fragrance, and Mount Rogers is a faithful version. If yours does what mine does, spray twice and ask someone else whether you need more.
Mount Rogers is $29 for 15 mL, $49 for 30 mL, $19 for a 5 mL travel spray, or $10 for a 2 mL sample.
So why sell them?
Most of this catalog is stuff I'd wear myself. But a fragrance doesn't have to suit me to be worth making well. If people love the original, they deserve a faithful version of it, not one I've quietly nudged toward my own taste.
All four come in a $10 sample. If one of these sounds like your kind of trouble, start there.
Maison Appalachia is an independent fragrance house. Our fragrances are inspired by the originals we name and are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced by those houses.