Decembrie 89 - Freedom elixir

For what it's worth, this is the fragrance that made me finally decide to register on Fragrantica. I will admit, I ordered a sample of this, tested it on paper, and immediately disregarded it as overhyped. The opening, for me, was too strong and unconnected. Sadly, that's really all a paper test can tell you. After a long night I got hope and decided to test this on skin for the first time. At first opening, I was met with the same semi-disjointed notes that I expected from the paper test, but I wanted to be certain. I decided this fragrance was probably not for me. And then about 5 minutes passed. The fragrance started to dry down, and that's when the story started. The smell of pastry dough and butter in the over down the hall as I wake up on christmas morning. The smell of the fruits in the pie starting to become aromatic. The vague sweetness and vanilla tying this beautiful combination together. I kept checking the notes, not that I needed to get close, a half spray on the back of my hand was plenty to allow my nose to experience this artwork in all of its glory. That said, I kept putting the back of my hand where I skin tested the fragrance up to my face, as if I was deeply invested in a book. It kept changing. For a brief moment my mind conjured images of sitting around a christmas tree, the gourmand notes fading for a few moments, followed by the gourmand notes coming back, as if my mother had just walked out of the kitchen with a freshly baked pie for us to cut into. To call this fragrance a masterpiece would be an understatement. This is the single most incredible work of art I have ever smelled. That said, if you're reading this and thinking about buying it, don't. I want it all for myself.

Having a sample now. Was waiting for long. It's... December, before the New Year's Eve (post-Soviet guys will understand what I write below). It's going home when it's -10°€ outside, in the suburbs in the evening. Street light, snow flakes sparkling, and you going faster, wearing a cozy wool scarf. When you come home, you feel a smell of a holiday. Your dad brought a fir tree and you need to decorate it with old Soviet decorations. And your dad still has ice on his moustache. :) Then you move to a living room and see on an old wooden table you grandma had a nutty pie with vanilla cream. All is shining, and it's time to prepare for the New Year's Eve. It's such an intense, cozy, sweet and nutty fragrance. The most intensive that I've ever heard. Real niche. You want to dive deep in it like in a blanket. It's a masterpiece. But unfortunately... It doesn't pass me... It chokes me immediately, and around maybe 2 meters radius I feel its intoxicating aura. And an extreme headache immediately. But... It gave me some memories I wanted to experience, but unfortunately I didn't have them. But yes, they give you this vibe and you feel it like you had it or even experiencing now. I even don't know: I'm happy that it doesn't pass me because it's expensive, or I'm sad, that such a unique scent can't surround me... Controversial feelings and thoughts. Scent: masterpiece/10 Sillage: around the world/10. Extremely strong. But such a wonderful piece to have in a collection. Price: very expensive/10 Taste: for sure not for everyone's taste. But such a warm and amazing part of my collection.

In my second taste of Adi Ale Van, I was able to try Decembrie 89. And WOW. This is a beautiful gourmand scent that oozes comfort and coziness. To me, it smells like a day at home as a child after a snowstorm just blew through. This gave me intense nostalgia. It’s amazingly comforting. The hazelnut note is this beautifully sweet note that reminds me of a hazelnut coffee (without smelling like coffee), the vanilla is unlike any vanilla I’ve ever smelled. Incredibly unique and comforting. And the rum note... I’m not usually a fan of boozy scents, but this rum note is incredible. This fragrance is a testament to how high quality ingredients can make a fragrance truly great. This is my favorite gourmand scent of all time, and I’ve smelled some truly beautiful ones. Another beautiful piece of art. One of a kind.

If this weren’t an ultra-niche perfume you need to track down to test in store, it would be one of the most popular gourmands out there. The personal backstory, handmade box, waxed card, leather wrap, satisfying drawstring, and hand-carved/painted flacon make for a wonderful experience as well. On application, it’s the most realistic orange chocolate fragrance I’ve ever smelt. Over time, that realistic composition develops boozy, nutty, and vanillic notes. 5/5 Composition: long-lasting, strong sillage, no harsh notes, smells great on fabric and skin. 5/5 Personal Preference: I paid more for Dior’s Vanilla Diorama, but this smells far higher quality and actually commits to the concept of being a wearable dessert from start to finish.

Wow, this stuff is insane. To me, it smells like a vanilla rum cake that you’d find in the Caribbean. If you know you know, it’s such a gourmand-y smell and I love love love it. The opening hits you with this blast of like a cakey feeling with citrus that quickly dies down into a vanilla rum cake. Amazing 10/10. In terms of projection and sillage... it’s crazy. I sprayed this stuff in my room, one spray, and it filled the hallway and into different rooms. Not even joking when I say this, it legit filled my whole living room.

This fragrance is actually so legendary. The bottle looks epic with the drilled hole and masterful handiwork. The fragrance has insane sillage like I’m talking 3-4 meters at least. The longevity is really good too like at least 11 hours. As for the scent, it’s very festive and inviting. It’s like a nutty apple tart. It smells as if you added booziness to an apple strudel. This is like a way better version of angel’s share. Sillage -> 9.8/10 Longevity -> 9.3/10 Smell -> 10/10 Bottle Art -> 10/10 Total -> 9.78/10

At first this is very nutty. Think hazelnutty type of a scent. About 10 seconds later or so the fruits start to kick in, theyre not overpowering, but they are more subtle, and serve to compliment the nut beast this is. Over time, after 5 or so hours it almost resembles angel share, but 1000x better. Its more nutty, rather than boozy, with light hints of apple and orange. Overall such a great fragrance that I will definitely get a full bottle of as my next pickup.

To me, this smells like how winter as a kid felt. It’s really comforting and warm. I’ve heard some people say it smells a bit like banana, and I absolutely agree. Other than that it is pretty vanilla based, but you can definitely smell the hazelnut. It’s unlike any other vanilla fragrance tho, and the experience is absolutely worth the price.

Although I love the Ambre Narguile DNA (angel share etc.). That DNA does not really smell like Christmas for me. This however does. When I smelt this, I was immediately transported to being a child and going to stores during the holiday season. This literally smells like Christmas in a bottle. 10/10 beautiful.

This opens with an amazing citrusy fruity opening with some rum to balance it into a perfect vanilla nutty dry down that's better than anything I've ever smelt 11/10

Think of a vanilla hazelnut syrup that had apple at citrus floating around in it Very sweet gourmand Very realistic hazelnut Monster performance Overall 9.3/10

Christmas in a bottle. Smells like chocolate wafers. A bit fresh with the apple but still very sweet but not sickly sweet for me at least.

Just got a sample of this. I like it, but I don’t love it If it starts growing on me, I’ll update!

Gotta be my fav gourmand frag!

Idk if im just uncultured or got a bad sample but I have no idea how People are enjoying this. Got a Sample, sprayed it on my hand and was immediately greeted with just a punch in the face with an overwhelmingly synthetic scent. I worte my Initial thoughts down: - Super overwhelming opening to the point of being genuenly repulsive - Smells fine from a distance (1-2m) but still has that overwhelmingly synthetic nose piercing nutty/boozy/vanilla-ish dna with hint of orange warmth that blends with that nutty/boozy note, sounds good on paper but it really isn't. No citrusy or apple freshness, just a pure engulfing heavy unbalanced scent cloud that'll give you a headache and doesn't even smell good, just feels poorly balanced/made - Let it dry down for 20 mins and the opening doesn't seem to be the issue, had to wash it off because it was just too overwhelming. The core dna is just way to much to be enjoyable let alone wearable. Maybe works after letting it dry down for 12 hours and even then it'd probably be a 3/10 Should be common knowledge but this is NOT blind-buyable. Really can't understand the positive rating, yes its a cool bottle, yes the background story is cool, yes the super cool mysterious tiktok slideshows make this seem like the holy grail of niche scents. But this just isn't what it's made out to be. Either I just have horrendous taste/got a bad sample. Or People spent a bit too much money on this and are trying to justify their purchase. Either way, not for me Only positive thing I can say about this is that the longevity/silliage probably gets into Followed territory because I sprayed one spray in the bathroom and the scent is still stuck in my nose while im writing this review two rooms away. Be careful with your money and expectations Edit: I sprayed it once in the lid and let it dry down over night and I might've been a bit harsh initially. The opening was super overwhelming but the dry down after 10 hours is really pleasent. The synthetic overwhelmingly profile goes away and the citrus/apple sets in with a small hint of warm freshness before transitioning into the warm Vanilla/Hazelnut/Orange profile which so many people associate with christmas season, and I agree. This is a really nice sweet mix of fresh fruityness and tastefully done vanilla warmth. If sprayed in extreme moderation this is a great winterscent, but beware because this is nuclear. After 10 hours of drydown it smells great but the first like 5 hours were unbearable to me. Maybe It'll still have to grow on me a bit more but overall by far not as bad as I made it out to be

I had such high expectations for this and wanted to love it. The issue I have with the fragrance is its punchiness, It is so agressive and sharp that the smell is honestly not as noticable as the spicy hit to your nose. It doesnt smell bad by any means quite smoky but nice its just to agressive for me. if it wasnt so punchy I might have gotten a full bottle scent 8/10 artistic experiecnce 9/10 longevity 10/10 wearability 7/10 overall 8/10

The notes listed nailed it. It has a very nice vanilla smell that is very different from other fragrances on the market, and as the other commenter stated it does smell like vanilla hazelnut syrup with citrus. The performance is not that good imo. It doesn’t last that long only half an hour to an hour of it diffusing and it stays on the skin until 2-4hours on a good day.

bought a decant of it (so might've got scammed), wore it only on my wrist so can't comment on longevity but it stayed a pretty long time, smells overwhelmingly like an apple e-liquid with a high nicotine content (friend had a 60mg apple liquid and it tasted and smelled basically like this) , for like the first hour really unpleasant to the nose, then it gets tamer but nothing to write home about, will update after wearing it

The strongest fragrance I've ever tried after coeur de noir, high projection 10+hours and amazing sillage. I'm not enjoying it that much tbh. I agree with the previous reviews, it's a punch in your face and its not well blended. Its a weird mix of lemon and orange with nuts and acid vanilla. It's like a dirty and sour citrus nishane ani

After a four-month anticipation, I’m left profoundly underwhelmed. While I respect the brand's artistry, this was a fragrance "miss" for me. The complex top notes listed in the pyramid were entirely absent; instead, the scent immediately devolved into a heavy, waxy hazelnut that felt more like a scented candle than a fine fragrance. On my skin, it was a linear, nauseating nutty assault with barely a whisper of vanilla. Sadly, this one is unwearable for me.

Bad rum with a slight nut undertone, but 90% just a bottom shelf rum. It honestly got better as I tried to wash it off, it is still not good but it is at least bearable, after the wash the nutty notes comes more forward. 100% Sample it first. it is not for me even though I love the listed notes. If I was to suggest a time to wear this winter at night in a sketchy bar, wanting to be left alone.

Just because it's a super niche doesn't mean it's good. It's just a boring aa vanilla perfume. Save your money

Do not get fooled by the "4.33" on fragrantica. It's not good at all, nor wearable. Do not blind buy this

Blind bought this because we like gambling (samples were sold out), and wow I got lucky. This really is targeted towards a niche audience and I just so happen to be part of that audience. As soon as the juice comes out of the sprayer. My memory brings me back to my childhood where my mother baked a special type of bread (cinnamon bread is my guess). One of my favourite childhood foods scent captured in a bottle. I wonder if Adi made this fragrance to represent a recipe or just his own twist on a gourmand. Incredibly strong fragrance with easily 18 hours of longevity. Doesn't just fill a room but a warehouse, and leaves a trail and leaves a trail larger than the Eiffel tower. Overly sweet to most people and it is impossible to wear in warm weather. Do not wear this if you like your coworkers because they might suffocate even with 1 spray. I'm missing something like cinnamon in the notes. Keep in mind this fragrance is both too strong and too concentrated to spray on clothes. Hazelnut in here can be quite overpowering to people who dislike the note. described in 1 sentence: Super happy nostalgic edible powerhouse. 9,6/10

This is my holy grail. Opening is very sweet and nutty with a little booze and a hint of citrus, reminded me of something in from my childhood. This scent as a whole does, I couldn't really seem to place it, but as I read the comments I do think it might be banana bread. The apple in the opening adds an amazing touch, giving it a little freshness to balance out that overwhelming sweetness. This is absolutely nuclear as well, it still projects after a full day of school for me, like 12 hours of projection, then another 12 hours of skin scent. After the opening it's decently linear, it only becomes a little softer as time goes on. Yes, it is expensive, but this might also be the best gourmand fragrance ever made.

An extremely spicy and nutty opening with an aggressive apple feel. It smells like those Christmas pine cones you see during the holidays. I am surprised that cinnamon or some other spices aren't listed as this is very much a warm spicy fragrance. I can see this being far too strong for some and off putting. Definitely suggest a sample first before purchasing. As it settles for a few minutes it becomes more tamed, still strongly spicy, but the apple is peaking through in the background. This fragrance took me by surprise and this is my first from the house to sample. Hopefully will be able to get my hands on some other samples soon.

This "perfume" tries to capitalise MONEY from the romanian revolution in '89. I can guarantee you that NO ONE remembers Decembrie '89 as 'a nutty vanilla with a hit of rum and apples'. People were dying then. On the streets. Like in today's Iran, under a totalitarian regime. People such as this 'creator' have the GUTS to sell that suffering. Is like the Trump project on Gaza. Period

Ok, but I have a problem with this perfume, not the smell itself but the symbolism. What is the connection between the perfume and the association with December 1989 that ended in a drama(revolution)? Plus, it was a warm month, without heavy snowfall, so neither with the memories of the creator.. Just asking.

Got a small sample first. Had hopes to like it,It`s def very nutty, that`s the first impression. The thing is although it doesn`t have a banana note in it, it smells exactly like a banana-choco tarte i used to eat as a child, which honestly i now hate, because i dislike both banana and chocolate

This is perfect,heavy cinnamon with very waxy fruits,super nutty and sweet,kinda like a candle,then this sorta chocolate/nutella smell and it’s nuclear,it’s dry down is a nice rum and banana bread and chocolate 12/10 scent 10/10 silliage 10/10 longevity Best winter scent

This really got to me, powerful caravels that smell like crushed insects in a basement during the snow. The best hazelnut note in perfumery! The vanillas are phenomenal. 10

37/100 if this was an “apple” scent candle in ikea i would’ve believed it. super intense - like something used in toilets

Just received it and i can say for sure we are not a match! If anyone wants to have it i m willing to sell this jewel

If anyone is selling the Bottle for this Adi ale Van, DM in Insta. ilovelindsay_17 TikTok- shoakahn

This thing is so dang fruity its a beautiful nutty scent that lowkey smells like banana bread 9/10

This fragrance is just so in your face and blended horribly... not good.

Anyone come here after seeing TikTok niche review?

Everyone yapping ab meaning jfl