ROOK
UNDERGROWTH

2020

PERFUMER
Nadeem Crowe

SPEARMINT
GRASS
SOIL

MANDARIN
GREEN NOTES
IRIS

PATCHOULI
VETIVER
White Musk

If you’ve been following my page, you know that green fragrances and my nose aren’t the best of friends, so I knew upfront that some of Rook’s work would be out of my comfort zone. When it comes to Undergrowth, in my two full wearings, I’ve learned to love the drydown, but the opening hours are not for me, so keep my predisposition in mind.

The opening is indeed very green, very grassy and also damp. It lists soil and grass as notes, but I was surprised at how, dare I say fresh, this is. I don’t really get the soil or the earth vibe from Undergrowth, but the dewy grass and maybe moss is there to my nose. Equally important is the mint. Now this kept changing on me in my wearing so far; one moment it felt like the greenness was dominant, so with the mint it became like one of those smoothies that’s so healthy that you lose weight by looking at it. Another waft, I felt that the mint was more on the bubblegum side and was overtaking the green aspects. I found it hard to put the scent into words, but when I read a comment saying that it reminded someone of Un Jardin En Mediterranee by Hermes, I was flabbergasted. The Hermes and Undergrowth barely share a resemblance on paper, but the watery/oily fig leaf with an orange tinge of the Hermes, somehow evokes the same DNA as the drydown of Undergrowth. In the drydown it’s a bit less green, more woody and even a bit soapy. It’s still greener than Un Jardin and the bubblegum wafts keep appearing, but when I reached that stage, I absolutely enjoyed it.

I’m torn between liking this more than I expected and still not liking this as much as I want to. It perfoms really well, so I got a worthwhile time with the drydown. It intrigued me and the opening wasn’t unpleasant, but I think you have to appreciate it more than I do to fully get on the Undergrowth bandwagon.