✎ White Whale / Masque Milano: A Niche Perfume Review
The revie of White Whale / Masque Milano was long queued for release. The impulse to complete it came, but unfortunately not the right one: Alessandro Brun, one of the founders and the creative director of Masque Milano, passed away. One of the big faces of the modern global niche. The sad news was written to me by my friend Ermano, who last year left me in slight shock by talking about the fragrance White Whale. But I think, how else to honor a perfumer than with a good review of his good fragrance?
Translated by AI.
Review of White Whale / Masque Milano
We adore Ermano, and Ermano adores us. Perfume blogger, history teacher of fragrances, and consultant. Last year at Esxence, he stopped me right at the entrance: “Romano, stop! Listen, do you know what whale sperm smells like?” Clearly, he was waiting for a listener. We’ve known each other for a long time, and he knows that marketing fluff doesn’t impress me. But Moby Dick in heat? Especially from someone as gentle and cultured as Ermano… it stopped me in my tracks.
A Whale in Love Smells Like Apricots
Ermano held a bottle of White Whale, working as an artistic advisor with perfumer Christian Alori on this fragrance.
He sprayed a paper strip and began describing the scent’s story: a whaling ship made of rough wood sails the sea, sailors coil ropes soaked in salty water, and now, by candlelight, they read paper maps, drink absinthe, and amidst the waves, whale courtship unfolds… or something like that.
“Ermano, sorry, but if it’s a marine scent, I don’t get it, let Mirka try…”
“Wait, try it! It’s a marine scent, but there’s no water. Just a hint of salt. We worked hard not to create an aquatic fragrance. We wanted to depict the intimate life of sailors and Moby Dick. The salty water is just a side role…”
Again… missing out on whale courtship? I try it… and the scent immediately captivates me – osmanthus! My beloved osmanthus! I squeal with delight, and Mirka, a bit mischievously: “What? You and a marine scent? You hate those… isn’t it just another FRESHIE?” Yes, indeed, and what a freshie!
“Ermano… are you sure whale sperm smells like apricots?”
“Romana… and do you know what it smells like? Who knows?”
People sometimes ask me if I enjoy listening to all the chatter at the exhibition… well. I do.
Ambergris is Moby Dick’s Sperm.
I know that by “whale sperm,” Ermano meant ambergris. But it was funny.
The young and somewhat wild perfumer Christian Alori worked in a team creating a new ingredient – new ambergris. This is nothing unusual; teams of industrial perfumers in labs worldwide constantly work on creating new components, better, more beautiful, to sell well.
Christian’s work with ambergris inspired him to create a marine scent for Masque Milano. Masque gives space for young and unknown talents to grow – read here in the article about Esxence 2023.
Ambergris is usually not used in aquatic perfumes. On the contrary, its honeyed balsamic character sends it straight into palatial golden woody scents and gourmand fragrances. It’s strange, isn’t it? Christian decided to return it to the sea.
What Does White Whale / Masque Smell Like?
The first moment is dominated by osmanthus, green osmanthus, very green with everything that belongs to the tree, flowers, leaves, branches, dry leaves and twigs… a dominant fresh, almost citrusy tone, briefly illuminated by a sweet apricot fruitiness, then joined by a very specific scent of fresh salty pretzel. I know the perfumer doesn’t know this Czech pastry, but it’s there. Dry white fluffy flour, a hint of yeast, a crispy baked surface, and a few salt crystals.
The salty effect is very effective: really no sea, no algae, but just like when you eat that basically tasteless pastry, and occasionally your tongue hits a needle of salty taste from a dissolved rough crystal. My goodness, it’s beautiful and interesting!
Slowly, a tone of iris FLOWER and violet LEAF joins in. Beware, you’ll find violet and iris in the composition, which might suggest powderiness – NO! Nothing like that, no iris butter and violet petals. As the scent began with that sour freshness with a bit of salt, it continues precisely along those lines: iris flower similar to Infusion d’Iris / Prada and green violet leaf with earthy tones – simply when you pluck the flowers, all the green that remains in the garden. And hints of orange peel. This phase is also beautiful, dry, sour, green, gentle. Freshie.
After the fresh phase and several hours, the synthetic comes – and finally, there’s ambergris! More precisely, ambergris: a gray slightly suffocating component, woody, coated with gray suede with a hint of cardamom. Here, the scent becomes quite synthetic, adding petrichor – the smell of wet concrete after a spring rain. Don’t look for sweet, resinous ambergris…
At the very end, after about 6 hours, the synthetic essence of the fragrance shows itself: ambroxan, Iso-E-super, and such things. Interesting how it was hidden all along… Weak, pleasant, but uninteresting – but by then, no one cares: you’ve probably already sprayed again and are enjoying the fabulous apricot suede beginning.
Where to Buy White Whale / Masque Milano
Of course, most advantageously HERE at Beautinow, and don’t forget the 10% discount code FRANGIPANI10 – it should automatically apply at checkout.
How I Like It and How Fragrance Lovers Will Like It
Well, I like it a lot. I appreciate the diffuse transition between phases, the veiled fresh start, and the misty mood at the end. This is a fragrance for me; I can imagine spending several days with the bottle in hand: drenching myself from head to toe and enjoying the phases. Decent projection, beautiful sillage, good longevity – just not a powerhouse due to the gentle components, as is popular today.
BTW: White Whale is a total tongue twister, try saying it 3 times fast and loud. 😀
White Whale won’t appeal to niche lovers. The scent is “weak” and not sweet. This will appeal to Jean Claude Ellena. If someone told me it’s a new Hermessence, I’d believe them. But I know his scents are on the consumer blacklist in today’s noisy sweet-woody world, so I think the scent of White Whale’s sperm won’t become a bestseller. But if you like aromatic, light, pleasant, and easily wearable scents, definitely TRY IT! And I’m curious what young Christian Alori will show next.
RIP Alessandro Brun
It’s not easy to write this, but I wanted to add a few words of farewell. Because Alessandro and his partner Riccardo formed a close group of people who can be called “real niche ambassadors.”
Masque is one of those brands that managed to fulfill a big perfume dream: to succeed in the demanding market on an international scale. However, there are many such companies. But Masque maintained moral integrity and support for the creativity of the field: in 2015, they released the Neo Artistic Perfumery Manifest, an eleven-point manifesto demanding the preservation of creativity, authenticity, quality, and fairness over commerce. In the same year at Pitti Fragranze, they left a paid booth and simply didn’t show up after the exhibition management demanded the removal of some erotic art from their booth. They supported young brands (soon you’ll read about Malbrum), small and emerging perfumers, and people around fragrances (including us, the old ones) and the entire community. With elegance, a smile, and kindness.
Esxence 2016: I wanted to choose a photo with action. And here it is: a nervous Alessandro stands in front of the booth at the exhibition, and in the armchair with a glass of champagne sits the emperor of perfume critics, Luca Turin. He is discovering Masque Milano and declared them the niche discovery on his blog that very day.
It’s strange that Alessandro won’t be there this year. He was always there.
Be passionate and sincere (Alessandro Brun).
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Key words: niche perfume review, masque milano review, white whale masque milano review, perfume review, masque milano review
Translated by DEEPLY