A Midnight Stroll by Gucci

Gucci, like other luxury brands in this space, has their regular popular fragrance line and a higher end niche options. For Gucci, The Alchemist’s Garden, is where they stash their most unique offerings. I recently received a sample of A Midnight Stroll, from this line, in order to test it out and see what this perfume is all about. How did it do? Is it worth a buy?

What does A Midnight Stroll Smell Like?

Notes include: incense, cade wood, cypress

Click here to try: A Midnight Stroll by Gucci

My Full Review

Here’s how Gucci describes it: An Incense-scented fragrance celebrating the allure of the night.

A Midnight Stroll opens up with a really unique aroma. The key here, I think, is the cade oil. Essentially, juniper and its resin distilled into an oil form. What does this smell like? Mostly, it’s a tar-like aroma with hints of leather and even some rubber.

Weird. Not bad, though.

The incense note itself, is actually toned down early on. To me, the smokiness doesn’t really come through all that much in the opening act. That will change, later.

The other aspect of this is the fresh woodiness of the cypress note. It definitely sits behind the cade oil, but there is a good amount of cypress kicking things off. Sort of smells like a cypress tree that’s been covered in this tar substance. Very resinous and balsamic.

As it dries down, the cypress is the note that fades the most on my skin. The overwhelming dominance of the tar and rubber aroma will also lose its grip. At this point, it becomes more of a straightforward incense and cade oil blend.

The only really difference in the dry down, is the continuing shift towards the incense note, in terms of strength.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

A Midnight Stroll is not a powerhouse. Even early on, it’s pretty moderate with its projection and any scent trail that it’s going to leave behind. Now, I’m sure with a full bottle, you can spray enough to boost its profile.

However, it’s still pretty middle of the road for much of the wear. In the back half, it’s actually a pretty light fragrance.

The longevity was right about six hours. At that point, I pretty much had to press my nose up against my skin in order to smell it. But, it was still there. Pretty standard issue and not going to go above and beyond.

Seasonally, I’d only want to wear this in autumn or winter. A Midnight Stroll is best left for the cold. It is July here, currently. I stepped outside with this on, in the summer’s heat and it was just kind of strange and out of place. This Gucci didn’t adapt well.

While this is listed as unisex, it is a perfume that leans very much into the masculine end of the spectrum.

I guess you could wear this in the evening, as the name suggests. Not very formal, but not a complete party scent either. I’m not sure where or when to try it, exactly.

Overall Impressions of A Midnight Stroll

Overall, do I like A Midnight Stroll? It’s decent. This is very much a niche scent and is going to have a limited audience who will actually appreciate it. Still, even among incense-based fragrances, this isn’t all that amazing.

I’d much rather wear something like Encens Satin. Though, this one does come across as being much more unique with its tarry leather aroma. For me, that’s not enough to want a full bottle of this Alchemist’s Garden release. Especially, at the near $400 price point.

That opening act is interesting. It’s such a weird blend of leather, wood, amber, tar, rubber, and smoke. There’s nothing that I can think of that smells just like A Midnight Stroll. Even so, the aroma itself, isn’t anything that’s a must have for probably 99% of people.

If you’re really interested in this one, I’d track down a sample first. Then decide if it’s worth spending all of that money for it. You might be in that niche group who will be in love with A Midnight Stroll or be like me and just think that it’s okay.

Best Men's Colognes

Best Men’s Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with different fragrances, as I dove head first into the hobby. Since then, I have written hundreds of reviews and other pages about perfumes and colognes.