Brooklyn

There is one thing common to most Bond scents - their construction tends to be relatively simple and with that simplicity comes a clarity of structure. This is not always a good thing - the simplicity often fails to hide synthetic aroma-chemicals that have the texture or smell - or both! - of various body products such as inexpensive shampoos or body lotions. With Brooklyn though, the simplicity and clarity of the structure is brilliant, and that is thanks to Laurent Le Guernec's carefully chosen ingredients, and the deft - and light - hand that he used to blend them in masterful balance. The opening is airy, one might say ethereal, with juniper leading the charge with a diaphonous grapefruit note in the background along with a hint of cardamom that flits in and out of perceptibility. This is not a sharp opening though, and although it is very light overall there is a depth that is perceptible that keeps Brooklyn from feeling like so many other lesser 'fresh scents' that are overly chemical or piercing, as if someone had turned the treble control of a stereo way too high. No, Brooklyn has depth and balance from the moment it hits your skin. It really does call to mind a gin and tonic, although much more than that, too. As it progresses the woods come into their own as does the soft leather note - which here smells more like a soft suede, actually - all the while surrounded by the wonderful juniper note that is never sharp or abrasive as it can sometimes be. The berry element of the juniper note is present and long lasting too, although Le Guernec keeps the berry note very very light and restrained and it sits in a higher register than much of the rest of the perfume, thus it is noticeable and yet never obtrusive. Speaking of registers - or to step into a more musical analogy, octaves - Le Guernec's brilliant formula here exposes just how wonderful intelligent simplicity can be, and how it can do much to enhance the structure of a perfume. To continue with the musical analogy, the 'sound stage' of this perfume is very wide, and the separation between the notes is easily discernable. Whereas some perfumes have such dense and obfuscated structures that they feel like the equivalent of a band with 2 (or 3!) bass players, Brooklyn is wonderfully tight trio of airy citrus/berries/juniper, woody guaic and cedar, both dry and yet neither scratchy or heavy, and anchoring notes of soft and deep suede and a prominent but soft and expansive white musk that manages to play an enchanting and continous bass ostinato that explores an almost dream-like atmosphere. Le Guernec's style is of a calculated simplicity and while it doesn't always work for me (ie: Astor Place, which smells nice but doesn't hide that shampoo like texture/scent, which is inexcusable for a product in this price range), when it does, it is sheer brilliance (Harrods Ltd Edition, Washington Square, etc). Brooklyn joins that list of brilliance.

Bond no.9 totally out did themselves with this wonderfully blended fragrance. Honestly I have never smelled a fragrance like this ever. Brooklyn is the correct name for this fragrance. The bottle is the correct design for this fragrance. This fragrance is vibrant, energetic, ruthless and in your face...AT FIRST. Then like anywhere it begins to settle and becomes a place you can call home. This fragrance is a woody-spicy-oriental. It features cardamom, geranium leaves, cedar, grapefruit, juniper berries. Guaiac wood, cedar wood, cypres and leather. Its hard to detect all the notes at once because all of them come flying at you left and right, up and down. As it settles I definitely get the grapefruit, woods, and leather. To me these 3 are the dominant parts of the fragrance. As far as projection and longevity this fragrance is just weird. Others have said that this fragrance has very poor longevity 3-5hours max and that projection is non-existent. I must admit when you first spray this fragrance on you will swear that that it has vanished within 30mins. YET when it hits that one hour mark this stuff starts projecting hard. I have had people 5 feet away able to smell me. The more this stuff settles on your skin the stronger it gets. I consistently get monster projection and longevity. This is one that is really hard to describe. I would just suggest everyone to sample this extraordinary fragrance as I will not be able to give an accurate description of the goodness of this fragrance. I feel that Brooklyn is the perfect name for this amazing composition as it is bold and in your face. Representing BK to the fullest!!!! Sillage/Projection: 9/10 (Projects for a good 5 hours) Longevity 10/10 (12+ hours typical from all Bond no.9 fragrances) Scent: 10/10 (Never smelled anything like it, which is a good thing) Compliment factor: 7/10 (Will get compliments, though it may be “too in your face” for some) Purpose: 10/10 (Can be worn for any purpose) Season: Any season Bang for the buck: Worthy of the price. Nothing on the market does what this does. Niche quality for sure.

So I decided to "rediscover" this from my personal collection recently. I'll try to 'distill' this into a more visual context, and in a moment, the why of it all will become more clear. Imagine you opened a cedar chest. Not an imitation-cedar-really-pine chest, but an honest cedar chest that still gives off its original aroma. It's unmistakable. Next, you grab a bottle of Gilbey's or Tanqueray, and you open that as well. Then you proceed to pour the contents of the bottle into the chest. In fact, repeat the procedure a couple of times for good measure. You have Bond No 9 Brooklyn. It's cedar and gin, simple as that. I'm not saying it's bad, but it's a bit heavy on the gin elements (juniper berries, largely). If that's your thing, then this is probably right for you. But in rediscovering it, I found it really linear. The way it began was the way it continued and after a couple hours of what became a nuisance, it was more annoying than an autotuned pop song. And I'm not sure it captures (or ever intended to capture) the sense of place implied in Bond No 9 fragrances. Maybe it's been a while since I've stayed more than a couple hours in Brooklyn, but I don't recall it smelling like a gin mill. Again, it's not entirely unpleasant, but it does become cloying over time rather than fading (I'm writing this 10 hours into wearing it, it shows no signs of waning). I'm not certain of those who've criticized it for being too sheer or 'weak", but that wasn't the case with me and I sprayed it only on pulse points. Clearly, your mileage may vary. Safe to say that I'll resign this to the back of my collection and not revisit for a while.

I love the scent. So far my favorite bond I've tried, and this is my go to summer/spring scent.. Or when I don't want to smell like anyone else. To me it's totally unique. Like one reviewer said below me.. If someone knows of anything that smells like this for cheaper I'd gladly buy it, but since I can't, I still keep coming back to Brooklyn. I get a fresh opening. Very green and spicy and clean. After a hour or so it starts to settle down and loose a bit of the sharpness it has. This also doesn't really change or have a difference in the dry down from the opening. What you smell is what you get, start to finish. For me it's mostly woods, spicy, clean. I get cypress, I get leather, I get cardamom, juniper berries, wood, rum or gin. It's like this clean smelling scent is wrapped up into a woody/spicy oriental aura. Best used in warmer weather but I wear it year around. Longevity is on the weaker side of bonds, but it's still not a slouch. Better then most of my designers. This isn't a projection beast either, but get in close to someone (arms length) and they should notice it. Its more of a strong silent type of fragrance. I think also, when I wear it I smell it so much that I go kind of scent deaf to it. Not something that's gonna kick your door down, but will be there knocking loudly. All in all, I will get it again when my bottle is empty.. Not because I want it, but because I have to. A must have for me, and a try for most.

Good GOD I love this stuff. It definitely can be offensive to some, I get it. It's very dry, very dandilion/gin-like but I just adore it. It's been my favorite for a long time now. The downfall with Niche houses is... the price. Over $200 for this at the store and still over $150 on most discounted sites. I wish someone could tell me of a cheaper designer fragrance that this smells like. OR better yet, I will swap with someone who has this and doesn't like it or wants to try something different. Update: I just bought it for a very resonable price. It's my special occasion scent, since I cannot afford to wear this as a signature. It is by far my favorite scent in any fragrance I have ever smelled, however the projection is sub-par from how I like it. I'd rather wear less of something with a big projection than more with a small projection. The longevity is squared away though. It lasts 8+ hours easily on my skin, but it's very, very subtle after the first hour. As for bvlgari man smelling similar, I agree to an extent. Bvlgari man has the same dry, woodsy, slightly sweet factor that is similar to Brooklyn, but the longevity is nowhere near to equal. If you want a much cheaper (price and quality) alternative to a fragrance in the same genome, than go with Bvlgari man. As the description says in the box of Brooklyn, this fragrance, and all bond fragrances are considered works of art.

this is first time for me trying Bond No 9, my pre-impression was it just non sense expensive perfume , BUT once i smell it i totally Shocked how it is really beautiful. not easy for me to describe it, i found it oriental citrusy fresh , like it got awesome note all the way. its totally unique , made me feel like my pre experience in perfumes was nothing and now i am in perfumes world. 90% of my collection was online blind buy or depend on Fragrantica members review , and i am usually satisfied with, i wish i had risk blind buy it, because discover something awesome like this will give me a nice feeling , any way from now on Bond No 9 in my circle of trust.

This is certainly not a unisex scent. I find it to be very masculine. One of my GF's very favorite scents, she melts like an M&M in my pocket every time I wear it. Brooklyn has a great contrast of bright and sultry notes. The grapefruit mixes well with the juniper(which is the main note to my nose)and the woody, leathery base is subtle and that settles it all down to be a sexy, masculine fragrance. I have not had anyone say anything except "DAMN THAT SMELLS GOOD!" Longevity: good 8+hours Projection: 3 feet Sillage: average. 3 hours and it's a skin scent.

I have a sample of this unisex fragrance that I tried for myself and while I adore it, it was just a little too masculine for me. It's not too heavy, the citrus keeps it light. There is a lot of juniper and cedar, which I love. Then, I sprayed it on my husband. Holy cow! It's like he's been outdoors chopping wood with leather gloves in wintertime. I am crazy for this on him. It doesn't last forever, I'm afraid, but while it does it is heaven. I bought him a bottle and I'll be stealing some for myself from time to time.

Enjoy the hype. I like this frag, smell clean, unissex, gin note is there. Try sample first, buy in a sale, because its expensive or spent your money with a real gin bottle. New Review: 29/out/2014 After use a lot this frag I change my opinion. This is Brooklyn, baby. The top notes its a blast of soda gin and lemon, and after 1 hour starts to warm, the cardamon and suede (not rare leather) lead the frag in bright way. I cant live without this anymore. Be carefeul, its delicate frag, hype and poor long/prog.

It’s an ongoing relationship between this stuff and I. I typically use her up and discard her. Then like any man, when I miss her, and want to smell her again... I go back and get her. And she comes willingly. I honestly don’t think that I could ever live without her. She’s always going to be on my arm. A true gem and compliment getter. A crowd pleaser. But be prepared to return to her again and again. She won’t last too long. A few hours and she’ll be gone. (Wood, gin, leather, honey even.) 8/10.

My fav Bond 9. I like the cardamom citrus woody smell. I usually don't like Bond 9 but and never think of buying one due to it's price but when they made special offer for Eid time in Harvey Nicholas buy 2 and get one free it was no braining to buy this fragrance. It really unique and special smell. The woody spicy in this perfume is just amazing with high quality cardamom smell. It also a very masculine smell don't let the unisex fool you.

A sparklingly beautiful perfume, probably more masculine than feminine, with a strong spicy gin beginning, yum, yum, then the citrus arrives like a welcome late comer to a boisterously happy summertime party. The dry down introduces a woody element to the show, but the spicy gin remains, hanging around as the night turns into the early morning and the party eventually begins to wind down.

Brooklyn is a fresh, green, woody and very natural scent. Imagine young cypress trees in the tuscan country side, sprinkled with early morning dew. It has the most authentic cypress smell that i have come across. It smells just like when we trim the cypress hedge in the early summer at my parents place. The stupid name and bottle really is a far fetch in regards to the actual smell.

to be honest i might have just bought this based on the bottle alone... its gor-geous! however to my surprise the smell is also intriguing. my collection lacks something that is spicy and this is a very welcomed addition. so far im quite satisfied with bond offerings which i think at par with creed, which is the best in my opinion. this is definitely a 10/10

Oh, my, goodness. This is exactly what I like this period. So unisex, so not trashy, so cool and spicy. Cardamom takes me to the next level. Grapefruit and a buttery kind of leather... Oh please let me drink it all! Absolutely buying this sometime soon. PS: Growing up in the 90ies as a toddler/child, the colours really make me think of my childhood days...

I have Bvlgari Man and Brooklyn and my nose are different perfumes. Both are nice and large but are not equal. Brooklyn had a taste unlike anything we have experienced to date. Lightweight and sophisticated. Very good for me. The disadvantage of this fragrance is its high price. Her scent and beautiful bottle leads thumbs up.

یک عطر چوبی خیلی خوشبو که منو به یاد لالیک مشکی میندازه و البته با کیفیت خیلی بالاتر و بوی کمی ملایم تر با بالانس عالی. از وقتی سمپل این عطر رو دارم لالیک رو استفاده نمیکنم چون لالیک با همه خوشبوییش مقابل کیفیت این عطر کم میاره. البته این هم از تفاوتهای برندهای نیش و معمولی هست.

This was my signature in late high school, early college. I loved it, used the whole bottle but didn’t repurchase as it’s very pricy for something maybe not that unique. Good unisex fragrance - warm, woody, and spicy but not cologne-like.

This is one of my favorite fragrances, and like the city, it's sexy, edgy and not for the faint of heart. I've received numerous compliments when I wear it, and because I'm partial to spicier fragrances, it definitely works for me!

Nice warm smell, with a hint of almonds to me, not too spicy, but still interesting. Loses a lot of its power through the day, but blends well with the smell of the skin, enhancing it’s natural fragrance. Very nice.