Yü, a new perfume that costs $5,000 a bottle, isn’t the world’s most expensive—that’s Clive Christian’s $215,000 diamond-topped flask of Imperial Majesty—but it ain’t Shalimar either. However, it might just as well be, according to some of the street noses that sampled the fragrance in our walk-by sniff test:

MARVIN LUBIN
31, teacher, Flatbush
What does it smell like to you?
Egyptian musk.

Does it bring back any memories?
Burning incense in my house.

What kind of woman would wear this?
Someone like Erykah Badu.

Would you want your woman to wear it?
Hell, yeah!

How much do you think it costs?
A couple of hundred dollars. Maybe it’s something I could pick up at Bloomingdale’s.

How would you spend $5,000?
I’ve been wanting to go to Morocco for a while.

ANDI POCH
47, senior vice-president of business development, WNBA, Upper West Side
Take a whiff.
This has a very strong smell. A little overwhelming. Not suitable for a meeting.

What does it remind you of?
Gardenias.

If you had an extra $5,000, how would you splurge?
I’m really corny. I would probably buy New York Liberty tickets and donate them to a girls’ youth charity. Or I would donate the money to a pet charity. I’m such a dork, but that’s the way I’m made up.

RUDY CLINE-THOMAS
29, sports agent, Philadelphia
What do you think?
Smells kind of cheap. Like some Liz Claiborne or an older woman.

What if I put it on?
[Sniffs] A little better. It wouldn’t turn me on, and it wouldn’t turn me off.

How much do you think it is?
$50. Maybe Lord & Taylor, Macy’s, or Bloomingdale’s has it.

What if I said it’s $5,000 at Bergdorf Goodman.
So? It still smells cheap.

Have good intel? Send tips to intel@nymag.com.

Related:

• Archive: “Intelligencer”
• Articles by Aja Mangum
• Table of Contents: May 7, 2007 issue of New York | Subscribe!