ZOOLOGIST
MACAQUE
2016
PERFUMER
Sarah McCartney
Green Apple
Cedar
Blood Mandarin
Galbanum
Jasmine Tea
Honey
Palisander Rosewood
Ylang-Ylang
Olibanum
Cedarmoss
Green Tea
Musk
White Oud
THOUGHTS
Macaque and it’s unexpectedly one my favorites from Zoologist. This review is for the original 2016 release; in 2019 it was re-released as a Yuzu-edition and a Fuji Apple-edition, which I haven’t tried at the time of writing this review.
Macaque packs a punch in the opening, with a bright, sour, almost tart apple. It’s a bit green as well, but a lively, tropical, fresh green. It’s a dichotomy of juicy tropical fruit with some aquatic touches (liquid) and a earthy, hay like scent (dry).
It has a damp forest vibe that I also found in Panda, but it doesn’t smell like mud or wet grass to me, rather like damp flowers and fresh fruit on dry earth, at least at first. It’s slightly fizzy and it made me think of hair spray at times.
The sourness from the opening goes away, but you still get a nice fruitiness, with more of a floral and tropical combination as it starts to dry down. It becomes a bit sweeter, with a honey accord.
I was kind of surprised how long that juicy aspect was present in Macaque and it was kind of what I hoped Chameleon would be. The one thing I really don’t seem to get, looking at the listed notes, is tea. This is supposed to have jasmine tea and green tea, but I don’t get any connection to tea here. The musks definitely come forward in the drydown and it becomes a bit more woody. At that stage the dry earthiness does start to become more like (damp) soil and it’s not up my alley.
Overall, this was a very pleasant surprise to me. I don’t think that it’s something that I would wear often, but it was interesting and unique, which is what I expect from Zoologist. Macaque might be one of my favorite greener fragrances so far.
