New Haarlem

My knowledge of Bond No. 9 is not super extensive. In fact, the only reason I added this one to my "buy list" was because it got talked about pretty regularly by fragrance influencers on YT, and it was described as "smelling like breakfast" which caught my attention. What held me back from purchasing it was the price; I was reluctant to spend that much money blind buying a fragrance from a house I had no experience with. However, when I saw a full bottle come up for sale for under $150 I took that as a sign to take the plunge. Here's how it went; Scent: Opening is sweet, green, and aromatic. The primary notes I get off the top are green leaves, lavender, vanilla, and coffee. The strongest of the notes are the vanilla and green leaves. The vanilla note is very sweet in a syrupy kind of way. The green leaf note is very, as you would imagine, green. It's a stark and quite jarring contrast to the heavy sweetness, but somehow still works. This is followed by the lavender and coffee. The coffee is not what one would typically expect when they think of coffee notes. It isn't like a cup of brewed coffee, I would describe it more like the aroma of opening a fresh bag of unground, roasted coffee beans. The experience continues as the coffee note blends nicely with the vanilla to form an accord that is very reminiscent of maple syrup. The lavender note hangs out in the background to provide a subtle and familiar aromatic touch. It's worth noting that right after spraying it on there's a strong pop of the green leaves note, but it dissipates into the background within 5 minutes. Dry down is sweet, spicy, and warm. The primary notes I get are vanilla, coffee, tonka, and amber. The strongest of the notes are the coffee and vanilla for that same syrupy sweet accord. This is followed by the tonka for extra powdery sweetness, and the amber for even more warm, resinous sweetness. There's a bit of woodiness from cedar in the background along with the faintest hint of the green leaves and lavender from the opening. In the dry down it really does smell like a stack of syrupy french toast with a cup of coffee on the side; people aren't lying when they say it smells like breakfast. This fragrance is ultra-gourmand. Performance: Initial projection is strong and can reach well outside of arms length. Sillage is strong as well with an easily noticeable scent trail. After a few hours the projection and sillage were unchanged; still strong and easily noticeable. At the 8 hour mark the projection and sillage were still unchanged; strong and easily noticeable. This fragrance didn't become a skin scent until after the 12 hour mark, making it certified eternal on my skin. When to wear: This is a fall/winter fragrance most suited for evening wear. It would be too much to wear to the office, but would work great for a date night. Blind buy: If you like sweet gourmand scents, or the idea of smelling like breakfast appeals to you, this is a safe blind buy. Final verdict: My friends, we have a perfect score. This fragrance hits all the targets; powerful performance, intoxicating scent profile, and a positive attention magnet. The only negative thing I can say about this fragrance is that it isn't super versatile, and I can only think of a few occasions where I would wear this. But man would it be a showstopper in those scenarios. Either way, I think anyone that enjoys sweet gourmand scents owes it to themselves to at least try this one. Sure it's expensive, but it's definitely worth it. Who knows, you may just fall in love with it like I did. Scent: 10/10 Longevity: 10/10 Sillage: 10/10

This is such a sexy mature syrupy scent...with no syrup or maple sap note in it. but i still smell it. Syrup you put on pancakes type of a scent. Tasty, in fact it made me go & order pancakes at my local diner before work. God this thing smell delicious. Must buy, if you love gourmand fragrances. I was on the lirr, heading to work after finishing my meal at the diner. And someone said out loud what the fuck smells so sweet? At first i thought it was"shit did i spray too much on", and then it was followed by.... now i want pancakes or a cinnamon roll. I started laughing after that comment. She & her friends sat across from me and said "it's a lot stronger now"...they're looking around and finally asked do i smell anything. I said you're smelling me... we spoke about the fragrance and random stuff afterwards till we hit Penn Station. Not bad bond no.9, not bad at all. With all honesty this fragrance makes an excellent wingman...This frag will be in my favorites from now on. I used six sprays...both wrist, back & front of my neck, chest and front of my shirt. Will I buy this again?...YES!(If i can get it at 90 again or lower). Does this fragrance enter BEAST MODE, good, just okay or weak sauce at best? Beast mode in Sillage & projection! What's the strength of this? EDP. Am i willing to trade this fragrance? No. Should You Skipped It, Sample It First or Blind Buy It? Blind Buy worthy, if you love gourmands and like syrup like scents this is a must for you! For everyone else, sample first. Can you use it as a unisex scent? Yes. Is it the old, new formulation? Current. What's its availability; in production, limited edition or discontinued? In production. SKU Number: 888874000896 Batch Number: 2855 (Production Date: Unknown) Age: 25+ From: Let It Go (Someone didn't want it and bought it off them) Size: 100 ML Scent: 5/5 (Amazing). Value: 3.5/5 (Cost $90.00). Sillage: 5/5 (Six feet easy). Longevity: 5/5 (Ten hours). Creativity: 5/5 (Tonka bean, amber, coffee & vanilla smell like maple syrup). Projection: 5/5 (Three hours plus maybe four hours, then a skin scent afterwards). Versatility: 5/5 (Fall, Winter & early spring time, anytime of the day). Compliments: 5/5 (I was told i smelled like hotcakes). Until next time, I'll catch you on the flipside.

I needed this beauty back in my life and after years of searching and waiting I finally found a 100 ml bottle for an acceptable price and could not be happier. It's a vintage bottle, I believe pre-2009. Somehow I'd forgotten JUST how smooth and yummy it is. Could be due to the bottle's age or the fact that I've aged since last owning a bottle, but the top notes aren't as colgne-y as I remember. It's irresistible and so attractive to me with its masculine edge. Because my bottle lost some of its top notes it gets to the yummy stuff a bit faster. I detect the lavender and something bright and juicy in the top. It's incredibly smooth, smoother than I remember. I will be buying a backup once it's re-released. It's my perfect winter fragrance. So people describe it as maple syrup and pancakes with coffee and lavender but I don't read it that way. To me it's cinnamon coffee cake served fresh out of the oven with brown sugar syrup on top combined with the aromatics of coffee and lavender @ a wooden table in a log cabin with a fire roaring in the other room. It's very warm, very gourmand. It's sweetness is offset by woods and patchouli. There's a a slight smokiness (fire in a log cabin, not sitting at a bonfire). Coffee Break and By the Fireplace evoke a similar FEELING in that one has coffee, lavender and vanilla, the other is warm and toasty like a literal fireside, but nothing else suffices as an alternative to this. New Haarlem IS the coffee, lavender, vanilla combo to end them all. As a woman in my thirties it's incredibly wearable, comforting and Delicious. A cold weather scent indeed. As for performance, it's beastly. No more than three sprays for me. I recently wore it to a family breakfast and felt a little self-conscious as I realized my two sprays applied two hours earlier were still up to my neck. I knew everyone could smell me and they probably weren't thinking, "mmm she smells like pancakes, how fitting!" Next time I'm in an intimate setting I'll stick with one spray to the back of my neck.

I purchased 5ml from a fellow Fragrantican. Thanks again Michael! WOW, this is the textbook definition of "gourmand". They should've called this one "Breakfast in Haarlem". I literally smell pancakes with syrup and a cup of coffee. It's interesting to me how the lavender just kind of comes & goes, keeping this from smelling too syrupy. I barely get cedar or patchouli, but there is an herbal essence to it that also keeps the sticky sweetness in check. A somewhat linear scent, it smelled fairly similar for hours. Longevity is good but I find sillage to be not so great, even in 88 degree weather. In fact I still noticed a faint trace of the sweetness when I woke up, some 20 hours later, but I had to crush my nose to my wrist to smell it. I probably should save the rest of my atomizer for Fall, because I've made the mistake of wearing Bond colognes out of season, and they are drastically different. Scent of Peace for example; if you wear it when it's cold, the brightness of the pineapple is largely subdued and the cedar comes off somewhat skunky to me. But in the Summer, SoP is a freakin beast. Not sure I would buy this one, as I don't find it versatile enough. This is merely something I'd wear around the house for my own enjoyment. I wouldn't even really know how to rate this, and I feel i shouldn't because I don't want to do this cologne a disservice, or be misleading. Bottom line: try it for yourself. I've tried like maybe 15 Bond scents, and this one isn't anything like the others, whereas many of the others might have some vague similarities, this one is off in left field eating pancakes with extra syrup.

Let's start with a bold statement... Bond No. 9’s New Haarlem is a fragrance that has secured its place in my top 10 Hall of Fame. Composed by the perfumer Maurice Roucel, whose other masterpieces include Musc Ravageur, L and Voyage (...), this 2003 creation is a standout in the gourmand genre. New Haarlem greets you with a unique blend of lavender, bergamot, and green leaves. But it’s the heart of the fragrance, where roasted coffee meets dry lavender, that creates what I like to call the “pancake effect”. This magical accord evokes the comforting aroma of a café on a crisp morning, yet it never veers into cloying sweetness. Instead, it maintains a refined, almost gentlemanly character that sets it apart from more juvenile gourmands. The base of amber, vanilla, tonka bean, and cedarwood adds warmth and depth, allowing the fragrance to evolve over time. Performance is solid, with longevity in the 8–10 hour range and a projection that creates a pleasant scent bubble for the first 3–4 hours. What truly surprised me in New Haarlem is its versatility. Despite its gourmand nature, it could be worn year-round and suits virtually any occasion... from office settings to dates. Where most of the contemporary gourmands are vanillic sweetbombs, New Haarlem remains a strong staple since 2003. After all, it's been around for more than 20 years and luckily it reappeared after being discontinued by Bond No 9.