THE 5TH
DUMBO

2023

cardamom
pine
tea

driftwood
rose
frankincense

sandalwood
tonka bean
vetiver

‘DŪMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is the stark bustle of a big city, the unexpected blending of raw industrial materials with the refined fragrance of luxury hotel lobbies; a celebration of the contrast that can be found within these artificial cities and the calm natural waters that provide them with life.’ – The 5th

Dumbo is a pretty great warm cardamom-sandalwood scent to my nose, which reminds me a lot of a popular fragrance. The later drydown leaves something to be desired.

That fragrance being BDK Gris Charnel EDP. Now, Dumbo doesn’t list the fig, but the notes are pretty similar otherwise and in my opinion, the wearing experience is very similar. Dumbo being a fresher take.

The opening is all about the cardamom. As mentioned, a bit fresher, sharper. I always get cinnamon from the BDK, here it remains brighter and a bit greener.

A lot of woodiness, somehow soft underneath the sharper spices. Warm and quite sweet, albeit not in a gourmand way. I guess the fig in the BDK makes it even more creamy, but Dumbo does wear quite smoothly after a while too. The type of vetiver adds a tinge that I’ve come across a lot lately and it always reminds me a little bit of Marc-Antoine Barrois Encelade.

After some hours, most of the scent has vanished and I’m left with a woodiness that reminds me more of cedarwood than of sandalwood at this stage. By then (6+ hours in) I don’t get any resemblance to either Gris Charnel or Encelade anymore.

Still, Dumbo is rather nice. Personally, I’m more than happy to stick to my Gris Charnel and I find it a significantly better fragrance, but I’ve heard people complain that it’s too dense and too sweet, perhaps for those people Dumbo offers something that they find more wearable.