No. 64 Ume

Whenever I go out for sushi, I always, and I mean always, make it a point to order umeshiso maki rolls. I just love to bits the sour, sweet, salty, savory taste of ume-shiso, a mixture of umeboshi plum paste and red shiso. The plums are pickled in salt and the red shiso leaves give it a red-orange color. Imagine my surprise when I first laid my nose on No. 64 Ume and realized that it smelled so much the way that ume-shiso tastes, yet in a perfumed context. It begins with the most legible shiso leaf I have ever smelled in a perfume, as if perfumer Jo Shaw used the essential oil to the absolute maximum allowable limit, with some added trickery to render it crisper and leafier. No sooner than I am greeted by the shiso that I pick up the ume itself: lightly sweet and sour, with the slightest cool tingle, resting comfortably on a coniferous, incensed base. It is a deftly-rendered pleasure.

Beautiful. Captures the essence of snow so perfectly; delicate, cold, slightly translucent with the most angelic touch of sweetness from ume. I never cared for any fragrance with a note like plum but this is balanced so perfectly with its other facets. Also to note; this is an unbelievably well priced fragrance considering the juice, the gorgeous bottle and the fast shipping. The best value for the quality that I’ve seen in a long, long time. A new favorite house of mine.