Muscs Koublai Khan by Serge Lutens

Ideal for Kouros lovers. I remember my friend’s grandfather, a seventy-year-old field man, sturdy and weathered, who used a Nokia to talk to his kids. Comparing him to gym bros or bikers who go with supplements, shouts, tattoos, and sporty fragrances is like comparing a hoplite to the guy in the Scandal commercial. Muscs Koublai Khan is the same: a musk close to what you read in magazines, nuanced with flowers and a touch of vanilla that softens the whole. It’s an animal scent without being offensive, experimental, sexual, and sensual, but not romantic, rather lustful. It’s not a love embrace in a tropical suite, but something more real: any boy or girl, dead with desire, smelling and tasting a sweaty body in a committed place, like at the parents’ house or behind a bush. Worth trying, except if you fainted at Kouros and sweat seems unnatural to you.

At first, Muscs Koublai Khan gave me a scare, and I thought it smelled like a stable. I wondered how something like that could be a fragrance. But over time, my nose got used to it, and the experience changed completely. Yes, there are animal notes, but also more exciting nuances. It smells like a girl licked my nose and left that sweet-and-sour saliva scent. For me, being ‘nasophilic’, it’s very exciting; I like it when they kiss my nose. Maybe it’s not rare; they say saliva has pheromones. In summary, although it’s a musk, it’s not dense, but subtle and present. It’s not for everyone; if you like aquatic and citrus, it will shock you. I think it’s good for all seasons because it’s not intrusive. I’m not sure what occasions are best.

I liked it, though in its mid-life it has a slightly tiring tone, maybe due to the animal notes, which remind me of playdough, something lumpy. It’s like a more refined Kouros: it starts with a soft, dry rose on a sweet balsamic and vanilla base. The animal notes are strong, but they don’t smell like urine or sweat; I tolerate them well. Kouros is fresher, this one is warmer and projects less, but you can smell yourself on it for hours. It has quality, evolves, and lasts, but the price makes it exclusive only for fans of the scent or the brand.

The hardest fragrance to assimilate I’ve ever tried, not just from Serge Lutens but from any other house. It has a very animal scent. As expected, the musk has huge weight here. There are many fragrances with this note, especially in men’s, but the one used in Muscs Koublai Khan is the most ‘realistic’. When I applied the sample I ordered a few weeks ago, I literally smelled like ‘cow’; I’m being honest. Plus, I let a relative smell it, and they had the same reaction as me. As it evolved, it became more subtle, and I noticed something sweeter and floral. My advice is don’t buy it blindly; you need a somewhat trained nose to assimilate it. I don’t know what occasions to use it for. For me, it leans more towards the masculine side.