Monday Quick Sniffs, part 64

When I recently got a new perfume to celebrate me turning 31, I had a chance to select a couple of free samples as a gift with purchase. I took some time to carefully select what I’d like to test as a bonus to my new flacon of L’Ivree Bleue. Two of today’s sniffs are based on those samples.

I haven’t tried anything from Bon Parfumeur before but from the look at the brand it seems they take a very minimalistic approach when it comes to their bottles and labels. Not only that but all fragrance names are numbers (random or there is a key, I don’t know) and they include few descriptives, notes featured in a composition. I made my choice of sample solely relying on these. I chose 102 which lists the, cardamome and mimosa on a pastel pink label. The perfume bouquet starts with a mild and brisk bergamot note that has a sunny and juicy vibe. It’s additionally warmed up by coriander and cardamom that both add texture & a faintest hint of spiciness. After a couple of minutes the fragrance starts to become more translucent as green tea accord starts to flourish. It has a watery, slightly tangy aroma that becomes more flowery along with the arrival of jasmine. 102 literally becomes a jasmine tea, a flower infused in hot water. It’s quite clean, blurry and soft, lacking any of its grand, indolic facets. Violet introduces a powdery touch, a mix of ozone, dew and floral powder. Mimosa hides in the drydown – it only adds a bit of honeyed sweetness and radiance to the powdery note, making it more like a pollen. It doesn’t stand out as much as it should. Some oakmoss and musk mark the drydown and with them the perfume ends. Stick to Mimosa & Cardamom by Jo Malone, I say.

A sample of Ege / ΑΙΓΑΙΟ came to me via a different channel, namely when a bottle of Nishane Nanshe was sent to me from Istanbul. The blue color of a sample box, same as a bottle if you had it in your hand, is very eye-catching and really invites you to smell. Right off the bat this perfume could be classified as masculine and more mainstream than niche. But speaking of the fragrance itself – Ege opens with a burst of yuzu, it’s an explosion of bitter, sweet, tart and juicy. It’s absolutely mouth-watering. Violet leaf adds its specific ozonic crispiness with a green, vegetal tinge and aniseed adds a tad of cold spiciness with a slight sulphuric inflection that almost immediately directs my thoughts towards a seaweed note. Heart of Ege is a kaleidoscope of green shades. There’s bright green color of basil with a scent that is lush, verdant and edible. Then there’s refreshing mint, kind of watery and cool and green cardamom that is sort of off-green and adds some spiciness to the fragrance. Through these notes the marine aspect continues to peek through – the smell of wet sand and salty breeze can be easily picked by the nose. The drydown of this new Nishane is built with mineral notes such as olibanum, which despite resulting in an incense accord also has a salty aspect to it. The list of notes also mentions licorice but I didn’t notice it, unless that’s what a slightly burnt sensation was. Nishane Ege is quite a summery perfume, ideal for vacations (once we can travel again), inspired by Aegean Sea. Somehow it fits together with popular aquatic fragrances for men like Acqua di Gio or Bvlgari Aqua pour Homme.

The only perfume that I tried from Vilhelm Parfumerie so far was Modest Mimosa. Because I liked it a lot (but not strongly enough to justify the steep price) I thought it won’t hurt to explore this line a little bit further. Many people at Now Smell This commented that they liked Morning Chess so I asked for a sample when buying a birthday perfume. This composition starts with a freshly sliced bergamot note, very realistic, slightly acidic, tart and also very aromatic & fragrant. After a couple of minutes a cutting edge of green galbanum pierces through the citrus and cuts it into smaller pieces. There’s a certain sharpness to the note accompanied by a metallic facet that stands out in this resinous note. After some time Morning Chess develops more density as the leather accord is unveiled. The brand specifically names it as Tuscan leather. I don’t know exactly what’s that supposed to mean but perhaps it’s a reference to the fact that it smells very soft, fuzzy, almost plush when you smell it. It’s more like a suede rather than the smell that could be associated with a new car interior or a pair of new shoes. The drydown provides a warm and comforting blend of earthy, slightly camphorous patchouli and resinous amber tones. It’s a very pleasant perfume but as soon as the leathery tones came to the fore I was instantly reminded of one of my favorite leathers – Memo Italian Leather. The one from Vilhelm doesn’t have that lovely sweetness of vanilla and Memo has that tomato leaf note that makes me go wow, so my preference still goes towards Italian Leather.

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Party All Night Long, Kilian Liquors

This year’s carnival was especially short and it’s already Ash Wednesday today. Not that it really mattered since the whole world continues to live in sanitary regime so no big parties are allowed these days anyway. But still it would’ve been nice to enjoy it in one way or another – even if at home. Parties usually involve alcohol so I thought why not tell you about two fragrances from Kilian that premiered in 2020. At least one of them could be a good substitute of having some booze while dancing your legs out. So without further ado let’s pour a glass and find out what it smells like.

Angels’ Share is a very warm, sensual and enveloping perfume. It begins with a boozy cognac accord that feels incredibly smooth on the skin. It’s like a combination of full-bodied liquor flavor, some sweet ambery tones in hues of golden, orange and yellow and a decadent woody aroma of aged oak barrel. This in fact is very apt impression because the name of this fragrance refers to a natural process of losing a part of liquid through evaporation when the liquor is aging. That lost part is called angels’ share. After a while the fragrance unveils more of that delicious & rich booziness. It also gains a spicy edge when cinnamon joins the composition.

I like the cinnamon note in Angels’ Share because it shows more than one of its facets. On one hand it smells quite woody, as if you were experiencing a just removed cinnamon tree bark. It’s even slightly earthy. Then after some time it presents its more typical side which is warm, spicy and has a sweet, tingly aftertaste. Oak absolute accents additionally the woody aspect of the scent. A dry wood note permeated with the liquory scent. Tonka bean brings some smooth richness – gently spicy, creamy and almost aromatic to the nose. Like a bruleed sugar a bit. A tad of chocolate with delicious nougat appear as the praline note arrives in the base. Oriental and rich vanilla add more full-bodied flavor and a nice texture. Relatively dry and rough sandalwood crowns this interesting perfume.

If we think of Angels’ Share as fire then a second perfume in the Liquors collection is definitely its counterpart and should be considered as ice – especially that its a part of its name. Roses on Ice opens with a blast of cucumber that packs a serious punch in the opening. As much as I generally dislike the note in any perfume I have to admit that in this Kilian it is very realistic. You get the vibrant green note of just removed cucumber peel that reveals a light green pulp that gives off a vegetal, watery smell. After a moment it starts to resemble melon – the scent gets slightly more fruity and similar to calone but much lighter. Some people probably won’t last to go beyond this point.

Underneath the opening cucumber tone there’s a splash of zesty lime that adds a citric element to Roses on Ice. There’s also a juniper berry facet that adds a cold, metallic facet that at the same time gives the association that instantly links to gin tonic and ice cubes. Rose was supposed to be a key ingredient of this new perfume but on my skin I can hardly see it happening. The composition is still heavily dominated by cucumber and while I can detect some green floral back note that slightly veers towards crispy geranium leaf, saying it’s very important would be so wrong. After couple hours the base becomes kind of fluffy. Musk and sandalwood slightly change my perception but they don’t do much good in changing my overall feeling towards it.

I like the concept of the Liquors collection from Kilian and I think it was a brilliant idea to present the fragrances in bottles that resemble a styled crystal glass for your booze. Despite not being a real follower of the brand I would be curious to find out if they explore other liquors in the future or if cognac will be the only one due to Hennessy expertise and heritage. Whichever it might be, I liked Angels’ Share a lot and wouldn’t mind wearing it from time to time. On the other hand it’s olfactively related to Amber Oud of which I still have a bit in my decant from Undina. These eau de parfums come in 50 ml size and were created by Benoist Lapouza and Frank Voelkl respectively.