MIND GAMES
GRAND MASTER
2022
PERFUMER
Alexandra Carlin
BLACKCURRANT
PEONY
ROSE WATER
KONA COFFEE
ROSE CENTIFOLIA
VIOLET
PANETTONE
MYRRH
FRANKINCENSE
EBONY WOOD
When I smelled the entire Mind Games line in-store (on test strips), Grand Master was my favorite upon first reaction. How does it hold up? Spoiler: I think it’s interesting, but it’s not my favorite as Checkmate easily surpassed it after wearing both on skin side-by-side. I thought it was a fun first time wearing it, but I’m not sure if I would still like Grand Master after wearing it several times.
Instantly, I find this quite interesting, as it really has a strong sense of both the earthy & sweeter tones, as well as the green floral notes. And that green, almost crunchy side is much more prominent than I figured it would be. This is not the lush, vibrant ‘red’ rose combination of a Montale Intense Cafe or Maison Tahite Coffee Bomb (which remains my favorite coffee-rose), but a greener, more stemmy take.
At the same time, the coffee is rather dark, woody and earthy. Not as pronounced as a coffee note as in Coffee Bomb, but also not the vanilla from Intense Cafe. The feeling of ‘coffee’ fades much more than I expected too; making the vantage point I went into the review with a bit misleading; I now feel that Grand Master is not as much of a coffee scent, and more of a foresty, woody scent where the sweet earthiness has coffee connotations.
This is perhaps closer to the earthy tones of a Bon Parfumeur 502 Iris Cartagena, especially in combination with the tangy, almost bitter greener quality. And even that retains more gourmand facets. Eventually Grand Master gets sweeter and less floral/green, but more so in a cardboard woody manner.
I find Grand Master interesting, albeit not the most comforting scent; it’s less mass appealing and easy going than I figured on first impression. At least, if you go into it expecting a sweeter coffee fragrance and like me, are not the biggest fan of green. This was not what I expected, which made for an intriguing ride, but not necessarily for the better.