Mystery Tobacco

How did I get here....oh yes, I purchased "M.Alhambra - Hercules" last month, in my search for a good Tobacco fragrance to replace my "A.Fragrances - Hafez 1984" as it's getting low. Well that one has the "Cherry" note in the undertone and as smooth as that frag is...I can't stand it. So, my search for a good Tobacco fragrance began again. I considered "M.Alhambra - Tabac" but didn't want another super sweet gourmand honey-tobacco like my "Animale Animale", so I passed and kept looking. My search led me to this fragrance and when I saw the notes I knew it was what I needed. A softer smoother "Mancera - Red Tobacco" with added citrus and vanilla! However, when I saw the price....yikes. So the search continued and led me to "M.Alhambra - Exclusif Tabac" which is an exact clone of this fragrance. Placed my order yesterday and it's on its way... Will update once the package arrives this weekend. 11AUG23 Arrival day. First spray...this is a smoother and more refined version of "Alexandria Fragrances - Hafez 1984". "Exclusif Tabac" has the same powerful dry tobacco with a hint of spicy green something in the background. Performance appears the same also. This is very powerful, with HEAVY projection in the first few hours, then reducing to a foot-wide scent bubble until you shower it off. "Hafez 1984" is a brighter, more "punchy" and less refined version of this fragrance DNA which now makes me think "Red Tobacco" is it's closer kin. I will have to order another sample of that one to compare the three together. "Exclusif Tabac" lands warm-calm on my skin, whereas "Hafez 1984" lands bright-energetic. On clothes I expect this to never stop radiating for hours...just like "Hafez 1984". Thankfully, I won out on the pricing of this venture!! "M.Alhambra - Exclusif Tabac" is $30 for 100ml delivered. "Alexandria Fragrances - Hafez 1984" is $120 for 100ml delivered. So yeah..."Exclusif Tabac" is a better deal for a smoother version of the same tobacco fragrance DNA. 15AUG23 Wow...I've been wearing this as a base layer for EVERYTHING in my collection. It goes great with ALL of my "Vanilla" fragrances, ALL of my "Citrus" fragrances, most of my "Floral" fragrances and ALL of my "Musky" fragrances. I'm absolutely floored....I did NOT expect this level of layering compatibility and flexibility!!! I'm torn between buying a backup bottle or just finding other fragrances like it to experiment with. There are about 3-4 other "Red Tobacco" type clones that are close to this fragrance. But then again, why mess with perfection...I should just get a backup bottle on sale before it's too late. 09SEP23 After wearing a sampler of "Mancera - Red Tobacco" and experiencing both fragrances.......I can say that this fragrance is "Red Tobacco light". Much more controlled, softer, rounder, more wearable. "Red Tobacco" is that friend you ONLY get together with once or twice a year and paint the town red. That friend that is loud...abrasive...starts bar-fights...gets you into all kinds of trouble and adventure. You'll wake up with a hangover, tattoo and strange woman in your bed hanging out with them... "Mystery Tobacco" is the friend that you can invite over to your mothers house any day of the week. Always dresses respectfully and speaks intelligently, always has your best interests at heart, makes sure you don't fall for the wrong woman and makes sure you conduct yourself wisely so that tomorrow isn't affected negatively.

Edit: I have to adjust my prior opinion. After a few weeks of regular use this has jumped to the top shelf and indeed I find it worth every scent! It’s performance lasts 24 hours though it wafts in and out becoming a little anosmic but it’s there for sure. It’s also realistically far superior and not really comparable the Mancera RT. This easily sits with TF TV and PDM Herod. Best discovery in 12 months! As it’s so expensive and I’m on a budget I’ve had to consider upgrading from my decant to more decants or even a full bottle. For me this is a technical masterpiece even though it is not necessarily my favourite. The reason over simplified - two things 1) It’s one of only a few that present a photo realistic pipe tobacco other than TOm Fords Tobacco Vanille, Parfum De Marlys Herod and though more blonde cigarette tobacco maybe Atelier Colognes Tobacco Nuit and Ormande Jaynes Montabacco 2) The blend is just right with performance boxes ticked. Before I go further, for reference I own: For reference - my current tobacco collection: PDM Herod Atelier Cologne Tobacco Nuit TF Tobacco Vanille Phaedon Tobacco Rouge CSP Rhum and Tabac Killian Light My Fire Miller Harris Feuilles De Tabac Xerjoff Naxos Xerjoff Comandante SL Chergui Czech and Speake Cuba Kerosene Broken Theories Ormonde Jayne Montabacco Ormonde Jayne Montabacco Intensivo Farmacia Ss Annunziata Tabacco d’autore Nicolai Perfumer Cuir Cuba Captain Fawcett Booze and Baccy Sweet Tobacco Spirits 18.21 Man Made Slumberhuse Baque Slumberhouse Kiste Initio Side Effect Angelo Caroli Vanilla and Tobacco Pierre Guillaume Animal Mondaine So, I’ve enjoyed some reviews here. Some comparisons are reasonably spot on such as Initio Side effect though it has a much sweeter cherry and cinnamon like middle vibe as well as class leading woomph. Side Effect which is one of my favourites also has a synthetic feel - even though it’s natural- and this is what makes this work - same goes for Mancera Red Tobacco. This has an almost linear sweet dusty tobacco throughout darkened, again perfectly, with just the right amount of patchouli. The vetiver providing just enough rounding to make it feel organic. The initial ginger and citrus burst gives you a wake up call reminding me of a Cuban cigar before the warm fuzziness of sweet tobacco lulls you into a feeling of alpha male manliness and others start to turn to sniff and their beer goggles turn you into a sophisticated moustache twirling besuited gent with an expensive Lock and Co. Victorian Top Hat or Coach hat and your Pin Stripe suit. Elegantly tipping your hat as you pass the ladies... the secret I think is just enough chocolaty tonka just rides out the bottom. It just about exactly the right amount of everything - I know Quentin Bisch is good but I’m going to have start going through his catalogue. This may not be perfect - I’m yet to verify whether it has the stamina of some of the others but geez I just want to smell it so much... if you like tobacco you have to try a sample.... So sad - still can’t work out why this is so hard to find???

As it’s so expensive and I’m on a budget I’ve had to consider upgrading from my decant to more decants or even a full bottle. For me this is a technical masterpiece even though it is not necessarily my favourite. The reason over simplified - two things 1) It’s one of only a few that present a photo realistic pipe tobacco other than TOm Fords Tobacco Vanille, Parfum De Marlys Herod and though more blonde cigarette tobacco maybe Atelier Colognes Tobacco Nuit and Ormande Jaynes Montabacco 2) The blend is just right with performance boxes ticked. Before I go further, for reference I own: For reference - my current tobacco collection: PDM Herod Atelier Cologne Tobacco Nuit TF Tobacco Vanille Phaedon Tobacco Rouge CSP Rhum and Tabac Killian Light My Fire Miller Harris Feuilles De Tabac Xerjoff Naxos Xerjoff Comandante SL Chergui Czech and Speake Cuba Kerosene Broken Theories Ormonde Jayne Montabacco Ormonde Jayne Montabacco Intensivo Farmacia Ss Annunziata Tabacco d’autore Nicolai Perfumer Cuir Cuba Captain Fawcett Booze and Baccy Sweet Tobacco Spirits 18.21 Man Made Slumberhuse Baque Slumberhouse Kiste Initio Side Effect Angelo Caroli Vanilla and Tobacco Pierre Guillaume Animal Mondaine So, I’ve enjoyed some reviews here. Some comparisons are reasonably spot on such as Initio Side effect though it has a much sweeter cherry and cinnamon like middle vibe as well as class leading woomph. Side Effect which is one of my favourites also has a synthetic feel - even though it’s natural- and this is what makes this work - same goes for Mancera Red Tobacco. This has an almost linear sweet dusty tobacco throughout darkened, again perfectly, with just the right amount of patchouli. The vetiver providing just enough rounding to make it feel organic. The initial ginger and citrus burst gives you a wake up call reminding me of a Cuban cigar before the warm fuzziness of sweet tobacco lulls you into a feeling of alpha male manliness and others start to turn to sniff and their beer goggles turn you into a sophisticated moustache twirling besuited gent with an expensive Lock and Co. Victorian Top Hat or Coach hat and your Pin Stripe suit. Elegantly tipping your hat as you pass the ladies... the secret I think is just enough chocolaty tonka just rides out the bottom. It just about exactly the right amount of everything - I know Quentin Bisch is good but I’m going to have start going through his catalogue. This may not be perfect - I’m yet to verify whether it has the stamina of some of the others but geez I just want to smell it so much... if you like tobacco you have to try a sample.... So sad - still can’t work out why this is so hard to find???

As I write this review, I have Mystery Tobacco on one hand and TT Arrakis on the other. This specific genre of fragrance is one that I absolutely love, and therefore have sampled a large number of them with minimal differences. I'm going to do my best to differentiate between five of the best IMO from the ones I have sampled in this very narrow scent profile. Those I have chosen are: Mancera RT, PDM Carlisle, Argos TOB, Mystery Tobacco, and TT Arrakis. From a distance (or on the back of my neck) the sillage on these are pretty indistinguishable with slight differences. Up close, I believe the closest two are Mystery tobacco and Arrakis, and the main difference for me is the emphasis on certain notes. I'm going to be rather general in my descriptions of these five so as to save words. MT and Arrakis I would describe both as sweet cherry tobacco scents, with MT having slightly more emphasis on an underlying ashy tobacco, and Arrakis having more emphasis on the aromatic and sweet cherry accord. I believe Arrakis leans more towards TOB which is boozy, sweet vanillic, and aromatic; whereas MT leans more towards the opening of RT and the dirty tobacco. NOTE I said 'leans'! To me RT is not super pleasant, too much sweetness in the drydown and harshness up front. Carlisle in the opening comes the closest for me into gourmand territory, with an almost baked pie accord. Unfortunately the dyrdown has too much vanilla and is pretty guaiac dominant. I have finally ended on Mystery Tobacco because it is my favorite blend and fusion of all these characteristics, despite being probably the weakest of the bunch in performance. However, by no means is it a weak fragrance. I'm not going to rank these; it depends which characteristic you want to be highlighted. BTW I don't think Herod belongs in this discussion, as it is too far removed from these five. If you're deciding between these, give 'em a sample! You can't go wrong secondo me :)

This is far far better than TV, I was much surprised. The initial tobacco wave isn't as overpowering as TV but it is a photorealisitc blonde roll; fresh, sweet and very high Quality. The sweetness comes through right from the start but from what I tried you should also get that satisfying muscle from the tobacco. What is standout is how smooth the blend is while being a 'true tobacco' scent (ie; tobacco focused) and while not using vanilla Carolina has made this more refined than the Tome Ford as well from just using Tonka. There are no nasty surprises here; no random animalic, oud or saffron notes tossed into the mix. And none of that Cyroil oil of Herod. Ahem; are you taking notes Herod?? The addition of ginger is genius; I simply could not detect it in it's 'fresh prickly' form in the scent but did get a wonderful 'smooth spicy' vibe. The drydown is even better with hints of some pipe cherry or other fruit and creamy, smooth floral but always playing as support for the woody tobacco. A great scent and deserves much more fame than TV which it obliviously won't get despite being a CH and by far the best scent She has ever release. Strange World, non? =)) Testing courtesy of Harrods. I will test further, as I feel this 1 is very close on verging on a 9 or even a 10 if I can find the vanillic cherried-tobacco baker shop drydown of Herod on some wearings; we'll see but for now, an 8/10 is bottleworthy enough for me since I own Tauer's Desert Marocain; and I gave that Fragcomm's hearthrob a 6/10!! My rating: 8/10 Well done Carolina H