Teisenddu

It is pronounced tay-sen-thee, often spelled teisen ddu, and commonly referred to as torta negra, it is a dense, brown, Welsh fruit cake. It is delicious, both the cake and the perfume. Seriously, the perfume is making my mouth water, and, most notably, it is a very interesting take on the gourmand genre because it doesn't just rely on your usual cast of characters - baking spices, cocoa, vanillics, syrupy sugar, basically your typical modern-day band of amberic notes used for gourmand - and instead lets some new and lesser known characters of the genre have quite a bit of say, namely florals and leather. The opening notes are tantalizing. There is plenty of oily orange zest mixed with nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, and some other spices it seems, plus a rum note likely the same one used in Dormir (it smells largely the same and lacks the alcohol heat). Fruity, spicy, boozy with touches of caramel from the rum, without being the least bit thick and not at all sweet; it feels vivacious and fresh, as if it was masterfully blended by a professional baker. Hardly anything new, but very nicely put together. Then comes the heart, where things get quite interesting. There is a floral note playing loud and clear here, which the brand says is mimosa. I can believe that because there is something quite yellow floral, but that in itself is nondescript, rather it is the honeyed sweetness to the heart that is very familiar with mimosa. This is paired very nicely with dried tree fruits and an unctuous and savory quality (nuts, we're told) that altogether create a very well-rounded heart that is full of light and airy yellow pollen-like notes (florals), denser and happier notes in the middle (honeyed florals and fruits), and an oily umami quality (nuts) down below giving the preceding two layers a lovely richness. I had never heard of Roxanne Kirkpatrick up until now, but she has my attention; here is a perfumer that seems dedicated to composing cohesive heart and base layers that themselves are multi-layered and very comprehensive to the creative vision. The heart section of Teisenddu is one of the best I've smelled in a gourmand for a long time. The interesting and well-crafted turns don't stop there, with the final dry down revealing an animalic castoreum, woody, and molasses base that, I guess, is supposed to represent black tea, but smells of... sweet leather. Bizarre - but pleasant! It does actually get pretty close to a sweetened black tea. Though I can't say it's a photorealistic presentation, the contrast with the heart notes that came before have "calibrated" my nose to understand it as a sweetened black tea. Very interesting. I don't think I've ever encountered this presentation of "sweet leather" before, but, again just like the heart, it balances savory (animalics), sweet (sugar), and light airy notes (a gently woody facet) very well. Throughout the entirety of this perfume's life, each time I smell it on me, I smile; every moment I catch a cloud of it coming off of my skin is a joy, and each moment I revel at how unique and well done it is. At no point does it feel too close, cloying, dense, sweet, lumpen, or that any aspect of it is dead weight (like so many gourmands). Instead it always feels alive, energetic, happy and well cared for, like the smells and the energy you encounter walking into a Welsh kitchen to find a joyous baker singing to themself, thrilled to be making a teisen ddu for loved guests. I am completely sold on this perfume. I think this is another Frassai I'll be adding to my collection.

This perfume sent me into raptures. I’ll try and break down the notes to kick off my review but I just want to say that first off, I don’t know what a Welsh Black Cake/torta negra is and I’ve never had the privilege of stepping foot inside a Welsh tearoom and knowing what it smells like. Secondly, I don’t perceive this fragrance to be much of a gourmand despite the brown sugar and the brand’s synopsis of this particular offering. I can only try and explain what this little sample has done for me and how it smells to my nose. Singed molasses sugar meddled with ash from freshly burnt incense sticks—you can still feel warmth to the touch. It feels like a sweet, almost balsamic smelling ash rather than overly dry and dusty. The juniper lends a subtle and fresh aromatic feeling along with the bitter orange which if I try to explain the visual it conjures in my mind, it is not a blast of citrus, no—it’s almost like a bitter orange fog or gentle mist, the kind that becomes visible over jungle mountain peaks at sunrise—but it has an airy, refreshing quality to it which I think is because it meshes so beautifully with the aromatic juniper. The nutmeg and rum add warmth and comfort, just an ever so slight vanillic booziness. The leather soft, suede, buttery. It’s sweet, smoky, powdery, ashy in texture but not coarse, almost like the consistency of flour but also a bit boozy and vanillic and gently aromatic. This doesn’t deliver festive or “holidays” to me, although I do see where people get that—I think skin chemistry is interesting with this fragrance particularly, as it seems to pull more spice forward for some rum-soaked cake and dried fruits to others. On my skin it’s mostly sweet, spiced incense ash with burnt molasses still sticky and bubbling, a supple, soft leather and the smooth, aromatic juniper stays quite persistent in the scent bubble around me. I do wonder how it would play off in different temperatures. For me it is incredibly nostalgic as I used to burn incense sticks daily in my home (don’t anymore because of my babies), it reminds me of calm, it reminds me of a ritual I loved to do in order to be at one with myself and feel peace—to me this is deeply meditative and spiritual. I cannot stop smelling myself. It’s interesting to see what other reviewers are finding and feeling when wearing this fragrance—different to the brand’s interpretation of Teisenddu but I guess that’s the beauty of an art form such as perfume. Frassaï are doing something quite magical with naturals in their formulas. Quite breathtaking. EDIT: 24/08/23 Received my FB in the post yesterday. Delighted it is part of my collection.

I was immediately addicted to Teisenddu at first sniff. It’s the sweet ‘n spicy type of fragrance that I love, along the lines of Theorema or Ambre Narguile. Although I purchased a full bottle and have been wearing it for many days, I am still trying to figure it out because the pyramid just doesn’t match with what I am smelling. My first thoughts were a big, sweet brown sugar note quickly followed by the perfect blend of male and female, like a man who is wearing cologne and a woman who is wearing perfume spent the night together, and in the morning this blended scent is lingering on their bedsheets. Upon many more trials, I began to notice the scent of strawberry cream and pastries. It reminds me of Sweetie Aoud. I smell an entire patisserie filled with croissants and strawberry tarts. I catch whiffs of gingerbread in the heart after a couple of hours. About 6-7 hours later I notice sweet incense like creamy guaiacwood and opoponax. Personally I don’t get any leather, mimosa or juniper, but that’s fine. It’s a gorgeous perfume!! According to Frassaï’s website, the actual ingredients list is much longer than the notes list. This perfume is loaded with all kinds of essences—coriander, cinnamon, cloves, cocoa, ginger, guaiacwood, opoponax, tonka, beeswax, vetiver, patchouli, ylang ylang, lemon, davana...and more! I smell more of these things than the few notes listed in the pyramid. Truly beautiful and complex, this perfume! I’ll be wearing this constantly throughout fall. Update: Fall and winter are over, and it is now spring 2024. I’m reaching for Tiesanddu a lot. It’s not overly heavy/cloying as I find Ambre Narguile to be, and it’s also somehow comforting in the cool air. I can wear it in every season. I love to wear spices in summer and think this will work in hot weather too.

What a gorgeous fragrance! I have to laugh at myself as I recently bought the Frassai sample set and on reading the notes for each fragrance prior to receiving it had completely written off this frag as the only one I would not like. You see, I tend to really dislike gourmands that replicate the smell of cakes/desserts. I view these style of frags more as ‘house smells’ rather then ‘ me smells’. Lo and behold my sample set comes in and I immediately sniff Blondine and Verano Porteno ( the two I was most excited about) and although they are nice, I am not struck by either of them. I continue testing and begrudgingly sniff the final one—Teisenddu. Well, if my mind isn’t blown...it’s an instant love! My heart rate raises, I swoon, there’s fireworks, the whole shebang! What a stunner. The brightness of the bitter orange (especially in the opening), the sweetness of the brown sugar, and the bitterness of the juniper come together to create such a balanced, light as air smell that is never too sweet, or syrupy. The beautiful nutmeg is really apparent to my nose and the brown sugar adds the perfect dash of molasses that combined with the rum adds richness and depth. There is also this delicious bread/ cereal like note. Overall, I think it must be the juniper and mimosa that keep the fragrance smelling elegant to me, and something that I want to wear. Thank you Frassai for blowing my mind and giving me the cakey gourmand I never new I needed! I bought a full bottle the very next day.

This fragrance is incredibly interesting. My initial thoughts at first smell: this smells like Christmas trees and sweets! And I love it! Looking at the notes, that idea is pretty spot on. The juniper and the sugar seem to be what I pick up the most but with the addition of the rum and leather that gives Teisenddu a slight masculine edge. Though, I do think this is/can be very beautiful on a woman. I would love to wear this in winter, especially during the holidays. This fragrance brings this image to mind for me- a wealthy man, sipping a drink from a crystal tumbler by the fireplace during Christmas. Very festive and expensive smelling. This is a special kind of fragrance. Edit: Longevity is excellent. I slept in this fragrance and I can still smell strong hints of it on my wrist 13 hours later. Sillage, I sprayed this at night, so not many people around but it is at least arms length if not more.