Munsingwear Original Penguin EDT-Review

I purchased this fragrance for Danny who upon spraying it once, promptly went to scrub it off. He tried being polite claiming it made him sneeze a bit, but I knew better. Penguin isn't particularly strong, or novel but it has a shitload of pine and apple in it. Imagine a pine tree doused in cider, then rubbed with lavender and someone tosses a gallon of vanilla ice cream at it. Sort of apple pie ala mode served on a pine tree. It deserves an absurd name like, "Spokane and Toffee Apples." That said, it isn't nearly as sweet as you'd expect.

Penguin isn't a gourmand. even with all the apple and vanilla. There's something deeper in there, beyond the lavender, and patchouli. There's musk, but I only get the tiniest bit of it, and only when sprayed on my arm-it is nonexistent on fabric. The listed notes aren't much help either. Whatever it is, after the first initial blast settles down (and the sillage on this one is on the large side) there's the bothersome neroli note that seems so out of place in Penguin. It shifts quickly and it is only when you smell the apple in concert with the patchouli that it becomes apparent what you're dealing with-drinking cider in a room where incense is being burned. That's cool, I like hippies.

Penguin is inexpensive (I think I paid about ten dollars US for it) which you wouldn't know from the quality of the juice, or the packaging. The bottle is really quite nice and sturdy-I loathe strangely shaped bottles that you end up spraying in your face, or that tip over on the tray. I don't find the penguin logo too silly, but I remember the clothing line. A good, inexpensive fragrance in a nice bottle ought to be flying off the shelves, not landing at discounters like Marshalls-so what's going on? There's nothing in the notes of Penguin I would call challenging or overly intense. Honestly, I don't know why it isn't more popular unless Munsingwear just seems too outdated a brand for young men. I would hope it sticks around for a bit before being discontinued for lack of interest. I noticed there are already a couple flanker scents, so perhaps that's hopeful.

Notes from Fragrantica:
Apple, neroli, musk, vanilla, patchouli, pine, lavender, pepper

I find Penguin a suitable fragrance for women, but it is woodsy. Not too woodsy, but woodsy enough that you'll think of the woods, if not a lumberjack. Maybe not the actual lumberjack, but someone that fancies lumberjacks. Or a Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Pancake Breakfast in the Wisconsin Dells. No syrup.