Rome 1963

Now this one, thankfully, I meshed with instantaneously. That isn't to say the other one's aren't fun to get to know, but sometimes it's good to come to a party and quickly make a friend, avoiding all the small talk. I think, in this fragrance's case, that the year in the title is just as, if not more, important than the city itself. Having never been to Rome, I have no idea of what it smells like - much less, what it smelt like in the 60s. However, I do know about Italian bergamot and I do know what scents of the 1960s smell like and honey, this is a modern vintage. As I first tried this, I was unravelling my initial thoughts to a friend. I couldn't quite get bergamot which is weird, but once he mentioned sicilian bergamot it all clicked. The bergamot perists all the way throughout, mixing perfectly with the fresh tobacco leaves giving it a real classical feeling. That's where the magic begins ... right from the start. It's a blast of tobacco, chocolate and bergamot. The one thing that perplexes me is... the tuberose. I've never smelt a tuberose scent like this in my life. When Sarah mentioned this to me when I said I love tuberose scents, I pounced without an ounce of hesitation. I'm glad I didn't because it's beautiful, but this isn't what I expected. It seems I really need to try more tuberose scents because the closest tuberose aroma I've smelt even close to this was in Carnal Flower and that's bizarre because the two aren't in any way comparable. When I wear this, I remember a movie I watched during my free time in high school. It was called 'Le Orme', or Footsteps on the Moon. The film was a bizarre thriller about a woman who has sleeping problems and constant dreams about a film she saw when she was a child. As she wakes up after what she believes is a four day nap, she discovers she went to an island city. Based in Italy, the architecture was something to behold. Filmed in 1972-1973, this scent sort of reminds me of it. Buying expensive clothing from a super exclusive Italian boutique, wandering around strange city streets and eventually into the woods to investigate a burnt down hut. The outfits, the buildings, the ever so Italian city structure... Rome, 1963. All in all, this is a truly magnificent scent that I'll definitely be buying a 100mL bottle of - probably my favourite of the Vintage Cities collection, except perhaps Dark Heart or New York... truly marvelous.

It's interesting that the previous reviewers smelled old hymn books. I can completely related to that. Rome 1963 smells old. Not like old perfume, but old like antiquity. It smells like slightly dusty books, which cling to a faint trace of tobacco. Of carved wooden shelves which have been carefully polished for hundreds of years. When I closed my eyes, at first sniff, I could be curled on an armchair inside an library at Cambridge or Oxford. Or one of the many beautiful church libraries around the world, tying in with previous comments. I also noticed, during the dry down, a slight touch of vanilla and anise. Not in the notes but they added beautifully to the overall feel. If curling up with a book is your idea of bliss, you'll love this.

I get old hymn books to but only after a couple of hours or so. Im usually wary of that very potent note tuberose but there's nothing to fear here. Yes there is an initial bergamot and tuberose hit but this quickly settles down. I can easily imagine wearing this on a summers evening to a barbie perhaps. The chocolate, patch, ylang ylang and tobacco combine beautifully to create a rich, stimulating, not heavy or cloying perhaps unique "woody" fragrance. Its quite lovely. Moderate sillage and good longevity. Definitely a winner!

I'm wearing Rome 1963 today in warm weather and loving it! To me there's always this little bit of darkness mixed in with the light in Sarah's scents that is unlike anything else. A touch of strange otherworldliness that is very enchanting indeed. It's not innocent white flowers, it has a bit of a gothic spell mixed into it and that is just the way I like it best.

Classic,chic and romantic... a chypre scent of great impact, shy and sophisticated. There is a delicacy behind hidden behind this fragrance,a feeling of elegance and luxury. Sarah always surprises me, this is a very nice parfume...! Sillage: 7./10 Longevity: 7.5/10 Scent: 8.5/10 Overall: 8.5/10

Incense (not in notes but that's the impression) and old church interiors;) Lovely, fairly low key; woody. I was worried about chocolate but it's not very noticeable.

On my first test, I caught lovely jasmine and then the real smell of tobacco leaves. As this developed, and it is the best tobacco in fragrance I have found - more realistic of real tobacco leaves than Lutens or Ford - I found it too masculine and dismissed it, not even trying it on my skin. I have since tried it on my skin a couple of times and I still get the lovely white floral opening (much more strongly jasmine than tuberose for me) and that semi-sweet, semi-dry tobacco leaf, but then I get a softer and sweeter, honeyed drydown - I sense the ylang at play here - and it feels entirely whole and complete. I really like this - it is not easy to find a white floral fragrance that does something other than just shout white florals at you. This one turns and changes twice and each stage is interesting and lovely. It feels totally suitable for all seasons, day and night. My husband gave the most enthusiastic response to a perfume I have had in a very long time - he said it was very nice and really interesting. My son said he liked it too, and thought I smelled like a volcano (not sure what he's picking up in the note pyramid and also not sure why that gets such a definite thumbs up)! No doubt I'll be draining my sample soon. I have a couple from this house on my want list now and this is a very strong contender for a full bottle purchase. It just knocked off Bottega Veneta, that's for sure. They do not smell the same but this combines lush white flowers with something a little cool, dark and interesting in a similar way. The difference is that Rome 1963 has a third tune in its sweet drydown (and it skips the nail polish opening of BV).

To my great surprise, the first few seconds of Rome 1963 were like an antiseptic, perhaps with notes of mint or menthol - fresh and strong. That sounds unpleasant but it wasn’t. It then seems to me to become more and more mellow over time. The ylang ylang and tuberose emerged early on as well as the patchouli. Patchouli isn’t mentioned in the notes on the 4160 Tuesdays website, but I could definitely smell it and that, in fact, was what sent me across to Fragrantica to check the notes here and discover others have also detected it. The white flowers are definitely in the mix but as some others have said, the overall impact of this perfume, although somewhat floral, does not shout tuberose, jasmine or ylang ylang. There is a very faint whiff of banana I sometimes get from ylang ylang. This will sound weird when I have just mentioned white flowers and banana, but there is also a slight dustiness that creeps in as the top notes fade and more of the heart notes emerge. I don’t get the chocolate, citrus or tobacco at all. If I haven’t detected the citrus at this point I don’t think I’m going to but maybe the tobacco will be along later. This is a very interesting perfume. I wouldn’t buy a bottle (not while 4160 Tuesdays makes Temptation, Take Me To The River , Dark Queen, Killer Rose ... ... ) but if someone gave me a bottle I would wear it.

This one to me is austere; elegant, refined and classy. It feels like I'm in Italy in the 70s. It reminds me of many films from the era. It smells so tobacco-like that I almost feel like I have a house near a tobacco field. The bergamot is sour and vivid. The tuberose to me is slightly mutated and abnormal, but it works so well and I love it. It's soft, but it's there. The one short falling for me, on my skin, sadly, is the longevity. I know fragrances aren't always about the lastability, but this one is disappointing for me. Trips and memories sometimes work better short-lived, but I'd have loved to spend a bit more time in Rome. All in all, though, I'd still give it a 7/10. An incredibly beautiful fragrance.

A really nice old style chypre, sans moss. Reminds me so much of the Holy Cross Hall where we were subjected to the "tender" ministrations of the beautiful but somewhat terrifying Irish Dancing teacher. That hall, with it's polished parquet, always seemed to smell of cigars and guinness, flowers and whatever the Priest drew in the wake of his swishing cassock and everyone sang "Danny Boy" as they slid from laughing drunk to mauldlin drunk. It was a Roman Catholic hall, so there's your connection. Oh, and we always scrumped apples from the Priest's garden in autumn, and his dog could run bloody fast as well.