The Trained Nose

Baccarat Rouge 540 against Private Musk

One number per era rather than one number overall — two fragrances can be near-identical at the opening and different things by the evening, and an average hides exactly that.
Maison Francis Kurkdjian

Baccarat Rouge 540

Oriental Floral · lasts about 12.2 h
Swiss Arabian

Private Musk

· lasts about 9.8 h

How close, and when

Across a whole wearing, Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 and Swiss Arabian Private Musk are close. They are nearest during the heart and furthest apart in the opening, which is the part a single figure would average away.

70% opening · 0–1 h
81% heart · 1–3 h
78% drydown · 3–8 h
Measured across all twenty-four facets, from the notes below — not from the families on the boxes. They share 3 of 14 materials, which is worth holding beside the figures: a pair can share almost nothing and still converge, because different materials can smell of the same things.

What AKIN predicts

AKIN predicts these two are alike, and the evidence behind that is substantial.

Two signals sit on this page and are never averaged: what the note pyramids measure these two to share, and what AKIN’s resemblance graph predicts. Where they part, that is the finding rather than a fault.

The pyramids, side by side

Compared by material rather than by spelling, so a note recorded two ways is not counted as a difference.
top
both — Jasmine, Saffron
Private Musk only — Orange
heart
Baccarat Rouge 540 only — Ambergris, Amberwood, Hedione
Private Musk only — Caramel, Cotton Candy
base
both — Oakmoss
Baccarat Rouge 540 only — Ambroxan, Cedar, Fir Resin, Sugar
Private Musk only — White Amber

Other comparisons worth reading

Pairs involving one of these two where the notes are fully recorded on both sides and AKIN has enough evidence for the pair to be worth reading.