Il Profumo G-11; Cereus Pour Homme No. 11

Il Profumo G-11: boring cliche of a men's fragrance -- green fresh notes, cypress, oakmoss, tobacco, lavendar, vetiver, musk . . . zzzzzzzzzz.

Huh? What? Oh, sorry, I couldn't even finish typing in the rest of the ingredients before I conked right out. They may as well have just named it Narcolepsy Extreme.

Cereus Pour Homme No. 11: Oh! (drops sample vial in surprise, then scrabbles about on the floor to rescue the juice from a thoroughly unwarranted oblivion) What is this?!

Spicy and inviting, with an aniseed opening that's immediately disarming in a "Hey, we're pals, right?" kind of way, but Cereus No. 11 lives its licorice-stick incarnation only briefly before the anise makes a smooth transition into juniper berries and dry pepper with airy, blonde woods and a smudge of vetiver root -- like downing a gin gimlet in a sun-struck mid-century style bar in southern California.

The sad song playing on the vintage jukebox is obviously for somebody else.