Quick Sniffs: Diptyque Tam Dao, Storer Monk for Men, Il Profumo Chocolat Amere, POTL A.Maze

DIPTYQUE TAM DAO: Tania Sanchez says of Tam Dao "My new oak kitchen table arrived smelling like this: dried cut wood, the lime brightness of turpentine . . . not really a perfume, more of a lovely smell," while The Non-Blonde states that it's "mysterious, inviting and very zen . . . it starts dry and clean and evolves into a creamy almost-sweetness."

I guess they could both be right, but I lean more toward the Sanchez camp in thinking Tam Dao makes a better spray for freshening up your closet or living room than something you want to put on your skin. Diptyque is known primarily for its line of scented candles, so the room freshener moniker kind of fits.

IL PROFUMO CHOCOLAT AMERE: the success of Thierry Mugler's chocolate-fruit-&-patchouli Angel kick-started the recent gourmand trend, and Il Profumo enters the field with Chocolat Amere, a dusty, bittersweet cocoa scent that smells like a fresh delicacy from a five star French bakery. The green, herbaceous Galbanum makes an appearance in the notes list, but is employed with a light touch to counterbalance the deep cocoa. Wraps up with an unusual yet highly enjoyable ground nutmeg element that I stumble across only rarely in fine fragrance.

A Minx by Any Other Name states that "Hours into the drydown, the scent is mostly chocolate with a little woods, warm and comforting" while 1000 Fragrances calls it "a very interesting original note, not edible but dry and animalic with a dirty note that fits well."

If you're in the market for a dark chocolate gourmand that's easy on the sugar, you might consider giving Chocolat Amere a try -- not to mention that it lasts for well over five hours. It's labeled as a masculine scent, but I don't see anything about it that wouldn't work just fine for both genders, provided the genders in mention appreciate the aroma of dark, dusty spices.

MICHAEL STORER MONK FOR MEN: As a fan of incense orientals, I had high hopes for Michael Storer's Monk, and I'm sad to say that my hopes were misplaced. I'd been led to believe that Monk would be deep and intense, yet despite the presence of frankincense, sandalwood, civet, tonka and ambergris, Monk is more green and soapy than rich and smoky.

Though the ambergris makes a pleasant appearance once the bergamot has burned off, the galbanum and soapy-musk are turned up too loud to properly hear the rest of the composition. With so many really good incense perfumes now available, it would be somewhat of a disservice to yourself to settle for this one.

PEOPLE OF THE LABYRINTHS (POTL) A.MAZE: POTL went from cultishly sweet and fruity with their Luctor et Emergo, released in 1998, to a bit dull and blase with their nine-years-later follow-up A.maze. The opening is unpleasantly sour (is that saffron? If so, it's the most medicinal saffron I've yet encountered), and when it settles down and moves into the rose portion of the game, it's nice enough, but just not all that original or striking.

If you really have your heart set on a rose scent pitched with green, spicy overtones, I'd recommend Fresh Cannabis Rose instead. It costs far less than A.Maze and smells equally as good, if not better, with the added bonus of a more accessible opening act.