Botrytis

ok that is freaky. it signed my review as guest... so lets try it again and it cut off the end. strange. Heaven I’m in heaven And my heart beats So that I can hardly speak And I seem to find The happiness I seek When we’re out together... If heaven has a scent please let it be this. And if heaven had a song Frank Sinatra would probably be singing it. Botrytis, I find, is just as golden as its color. This has to be the truest honeyed perfume I have tried to date. I don’t think I need to look any further. After this I think everything else would pale in comparison. The honey is so deep and rich. It has a rawness about it. It seems unfiltered, if you will. Also the second thing I smell is tobacco. Even though it is not listed it is unmistakable. When they combine together it becomes unbelievably rich and decadent. Then it turns boozy with the help of the grapes, wine and dried fruits. Gingerbread sprinkles its spice gently along in the background. Amber and a touch a vanilla seem to wind it down at the end. I also hesitated to use the word “sweet” when trying to describe this. Yes it is sweet but not the typical sugar-coated candy fluff sweet or big heady floral sweet. This is a natural, earthy and deep intense sweet. This deserves to be savored like a fine wine. I remember reading a blog post on it (I wish I remembered who so that I could give credit) but they wrote it was a “gourmand for grownups” and I couldn’t agree more. Not that I think you couldn’t enjoy this in your twenties. I imagine this has fans from all ages. But I think if you can appreciate a nice glass of wine you will appreciate this fragrance even more. I think this fragrance can be worn all year long. I have a feeling it would bloom better on the skin in the spring and autumn months when the bees are especially active and the sun’s warmth just touches the skin but the shadows are still cool. I only have a sample of it at the moment and I use it very conservatively. It seems to stay close to the skin. But it seems to last a good 6 hours on me. This would be a great fragrance to wear for an outside event. It will remain close to you but anyone that steps into your space will be so glad they did.

Mature, raunchily honeyed fruit. This is the wine perfume I was looking for. The gingerbread note is tantalizing and so well placed! Edit: This fragrance is my husband's favorite on me, which is saying something. It's really underrated. I could wear it every day as the perfect warm honey scent, but I don't overuse it because I'm not sure how long it will be available. I was only able to find it at Luckyscent for about what you'd pay for a designer scent (so, highly reasonable for a niche scent), and it only comes in one size. It's got kind of cheap packaging and a pedestrian bottle design, but don't let that sway you against it. There is, however, a lovely satin drawstring bag that it comes in, so the little touch of luxury is there. However, I say judge by the scent alone. The longevity is fantastic and it lasts all day. It's a close-to-the-skin scent, but I did get a sweet compliment from someone who hugged me. It seems as though it's a weak performer but I contest that the wearer should spray lightly, 1-3 sprays, so as not to be overwhelmed into perfume numbness. This way I get lovely whiffs of honeyed raisins with a hint of yeast and spice all day. *Eyes roll back in my head* For a while I was looking into smell-alikes out of curiosity, because I want more of the same. The Al-Rehab Dalal is very close but smells cheap with some annoying plastic note. Lush Honey I Washed the Kids is heavier on the honey, so much that it's more of a beeswax scent. Hiram Green Slowdive has some comparison but it was really too heavy and foul for me, even dabbed. Escada Collection...I can't even touch the stuff, it's so expensive. So I've settled on my beautiful Botrytis and am happy that this local French winery decided to branch out into its inspired perfumery. This is one hidden gem for sure.

I wanted this since forever and a day. I wanted it so badly, all of sniffing a tiny sample a couple years ago. Finally I decided to treat myself for Chrsitmas. And after the first reaction ( my precious, finally mine ! ) disappointment came.... Not because it isn't as stunning as I remember , but because the silage is weak and the lasting power is not stellar either. Other people described this well . It's liquid honey. Nectar of the deities . Mixed with flowers and maybe some propolis . The top notes can't be beaten by anything, honey shines here... And then there is a floral Amber developing softly , beautiful, feminine, curvy . The bottle looks much smaller than what one would think 100ml look like, it's round like a ball with a silver wine leaf on the cap. The bottle sits in a brown satin bag and the box is quite plain. A beauty so soft and I can barely feel it and I need to be heavy handed spraying . Maybe my skin eats it... I wish it didn't. It is better in clothes but the juice is rather ambery in color so I am not sure I want to spray much on my clothes. Very beautiful and sweet!

My signature for years was Escada Collection. I almost paid $300 for it on eBay, it's so rare now. After reading some of these reviews, I ordered a sample of this to compare, and I am stunned at the similarity. They don't even have the same notes, but they smell nearly identical. The only difference I can detect is that this perfume seems slightly less rich than Escada. I think the plum and caramel notes in Escada make a difference. Still, this is close enough that I am thankful I did not purchase a $300 bottle of Escada Collection. For those who don't know the scent of Escada, it's like dried fruits that have been stewed with honeywine and cloves until it becomes a syrup, then it is poured over a panettoni; and then, oddly, moss is added. It is rich, rich, decadently rich! This is also the scent of Botrytis. Sounds weird, but it's like a gourmand chypre. There is nothing else like it (well, I guess now there is Botrytis, the ever-so-slightly anemic version that is actually quite awesome).

WHOA!!!! This perfume is out of this world! Picture sitting at the head of a long table in 18th century France. You reach out to the delicate china holding an assortment of dried fruit. As you pick up a juicy dried apricot, it's dripping with honey and a hint of lemon zest fills the air. As you take a bite, you feel the honey drip down the side of your mouth. You lick it off and take a sip of dessert wine, sit back, and enjoy while someone walks by wearing a sensual amber perfume. The scent fills you up with richness as you smile at the delightful taste in your mouth. This is the experience of Botrytis Ginestet. It is breathtaking. Sweet, sophisticated, sexy, sensual, and utterly irresistible. I would bathe in this, if I could. The scent is very close to the skin but seems to last on and on. Wow, I can't wait to try this on for my husband. Delicious. Definitely full bottle worthy!

I absolutely love this perfume. It is my all time top honey perfume. The honey wraps around the amber while somehow staying light. I want to take a deep and breathe it all in. She’s sweet, she’s bright, she is GOLDEN. I had a sample from Lucky Scent Years ago. Over the years I would open the little vial of liquid gold and smell ambrosia. I wore it a couple of times, but never wanted to use up my precious vial. I kept telling myself I was going to buy a bottle. I don’t remember how much it was, but I remember the price wasn’t pocket change. So I put it off, put it off, and put it off. Fast forward to present day and my sample vial has evaporated, and the perfume has long since been discontinued! It is no where to be found online at discount sites or ebay. If anyone knows where I can BUY A BOTTLE message me please! Thank you, Desperately Seeking Botrytis Ginestet

I just recently received a sample of this because I am a lover of gourmand perfumes and several people have told me to try this one out. I am in absolute love with this smell! It is a sweet smell and stays fairly close to the skin, yet strong enough to smell if you walked past someone. I can see this getting a lot of compliments if you wear it because it is somewhat unusual, unlike most fragrances out there at Macy's, or Sephora. The honey is very dominant, which makes this special and unique. The dried fruit and gingerbread notes make this very gourmand. If you love gourmands this is one to try. This is a grown up smell and does not smell teeny bopper. Athough a young woman could wear this, I think it is aimed at ages 25 and up (IMO). It's worth a sniff. And I will be buying a full bottle soon.

This is a piece of art, IMHO. The very first sniff reminds me strangely of JPG-s Classique EDP, but with lower sillage. After a while this similarity is gone, and all I get is a wonderful, spicy, warm honey and yes, there is a wine-like feeling, too. It's not too sweet, but very comforting, cozy in colder weather, I just want to eat (or drink) it. Unfortunately I don't know Sauternes (which fine wine inspired this little gem) but in Hungary we have a very good dessert-wine, called Tokaji Aszú and when I wear Botrytis it reminds me of this one and I have a very familiar feeling to it. On my skin longevity is pretty good for an EDT (6-7 hours), but sillage is close to skin. I wish there'll be an EDP version, because the price is pretty high...sigh...

I finally got myself a big bottle of this, I just had to. According to my dabber sample, this is a soft, sweet honey with dried fruits. The scent is different when sprayed though, it has a slight, sparkly, fresh white floral scent to the honey. Very easy on the senses, soft and not harsh, artificial smelling, and no traces of beeswax. No bitterness, and the white flowers are an excellent addition to the honey. I wouldn't want any other flowers in it. The longevity and sillage are both unfortunately quite weak, but what you gonna do if you love something? Reapply. I love this. It's very similar to Escada Collection but has a more expensive feel and more prominent honey, whereas Escada feels younger and thicker, more caramel, longer lasting.

This is a perfect honey fragrance to me. It has sweetness and spice akin to stewed fruits, it is thick and golden, rich and full, juicy and boozy. This throws me into a medieval tavern or the tent of a desert mystic. It is warm and inviting but still intriguing and sexy. Similar take on honey as Back to Black by Kilian, only I find b2b too masculine and the honey overwhelmed by other notes. Here the other notes create the correct atmosphere for honey to come alive. It isn't honey out of a jar from the supermarket, it is honey presented to you in fresh combs on a silver platter, as a great luxury. Longing for a full bottle of this. Love to layer with alkemia's smoke and mirrors for extra depth/mystery.

Botrytis is so delicious and enjoyable. I'm not a gourmand type of girl but this has some really great elements that balance out the delicious notes. Initially I'm met with a chewy patchouli type note that becomes boozy and caramelized, thinning out into a dark honey-wine like mead. Lightly fermented fruits, perhaps dried apricots with a touch of fizz, soft floral, spice and warm smoky tonka, almost tobacco-like and woody. Yes, mead aged in an oak barrel spiked with ginger beer. My spray decant seems to perform pretty well -- it's a total bomb that lasts a good 8 hours on my skin. Botrytis could be a great comfort scent for winter and fall.

Spoilers: I'm a shameless honey lover. The story of Botrytis and Ginestet was so interesting to me that I went back and forth on splashing out on a bottle until finally the siren song of notes like honey, quince, raisin and gingerbread reeled me in. This juice is worth every penny, it hugs the skin in such a seductive way. Initially the sweet sauternes dominates but, recalling the 'noble rot' that Botrytis refers to it suddenly begins to transform. If you're the type of person who admires the skill required to create a bottle of petrichor, then I recommend Botrytis to you. It's exactly what it's meant to be, a little work of art.

Smells like honey, but somehow doesn't make me feel like a walking snack. Although, it smells so much like honey, I'd probably avoid wearing it around bees or mosquitoes. It's warm, spicy and gorgeous. That said, much as I admire the scent, I'm not sure I want to wear it. Tried it before a meeting with my supervisor and in her office with the door shut and being a little warm, it projected like crazy. Thankfully she's not sensitive to scents, but be forewarned. I'm going to try my sample again next fall and see how I feel then. Still, really spectacular perfume and totally worth trying.

I love dessert wines, particularly those made from botrytis-affected grapes, so I cannot resist Botrytis. I find Ginestet Botrytis to be very, very similar to the basenotes of classic Escada Collection, but Botrytis has none of the cherry topnotes or hints of cola. Botrytis connotes honeyed-tobaccoey notes here and there, but it very quickly develops the intoxicating aroma of a late-harvest dessert wine, with aromas of honeysuckle, caramel, and crème brûlée. The lasting power is superb, and this scent seems to dazzle everyone when they smell it on me.

Beautiful, oh so beautiful. The nicest honey! Lovely, sweet yet light and ethereal. But the perfume is really strong, and has a very lovely wine aroma. It does remind me very much of certain wines. It's so delicate yet full and rich. Nothing heavy though. And the bottle is adorable! The perfect colour. I love it. It has very good sillage and is also very long lasting on me (I must say I generally am very lucky in that way, with most perfumes) - good for the whole day. Botrytis by Ginestet - what a gorgeous name - and what a gorgeous perfume.

This is such a BRILLIANT perfume. I am completely in love with this fragrance, and every time I get a whiff I am drawn in. Every. Time. The honey is captured in the warmest way; the tobacco keeps it in check while the fruits dance merrily in the background. So luscious, so elegant, so well crafted, it just makes my heart ache for more all over again with each whiff. I don't know why this has such an influence on me, but hey, I'm not complaining. :) And yes, longevity is amazing---this lasted 12 hours on me.

i love this perfume. i had a sample and just received my full sized bottle. on my skin i don't notice much change to the fragrance over time but i love the scent. on me it's all honey and fruits. a lot of people compare it to escada collection, i thought it was similar as well until i did a side by side spray of each. the opening is similar but collection dry down is much darker and spicier at least on my skin. botrytis stays all sweet and honey. i love them both, they're just different.

This is one of my top ten perfumes ever. The kind that's so delicious and intoxicating that your eyes roll back in your head with ecstacy as you breathe a deep sigh of contentment. You know you've smelled one of the world's greatest perfumes. Sweet honey, slight florals, warm amber and tasty gingerbread means I'm reaching for this one quite a bit. I feel like it envelops me in this warm, soothing hug. I hope they never stop making it! Long lasting and great sillage too.

The smells like warm honey drizzled on a hot buttered bed of boozy fruit. I LOVE it. I have been searching for the perfect honey scent and I may have finally found it. The only problem I have with this scent is it has no silage and I have had it on for an hour and it is already so much weaker than when I put it on. Maybe it will be better sprayed rather than being dabbed like I did with my sample.

Best honey ever! Exquisite nectar from heaven. Deep, rich,sweet and multifaceted the way honey should be. Heavily complimented as well. When wearing this at work one day my boss started sniffing everyone trying to find that amazing scent. Obviously projection is not a problem. Ditto for longevity. I wear it in any season and it works so well. A must-have. I'll never be without it.

Just got this today and I think it's love at first whiff! It started out with spices, must be the gingerbread. Then came a sweet boozy smell, followed by something that must be the quonce. Not sure as I have never tasted or smelled quince before. Over, under and throughout is this warm honey. I wish I wasn't so new at this, so my words could do it justice...

I am in love with this fragrance, the honey note is fabulous. The scent is not gentle or lovely or comforting or snuggling in front of the fireplace on me--it is full on loud and bawdy after dark. If I wore this to work, I'd probably be sent home. Debating if I could get my moneys worth if I purchase, it is riveting but just don't know if I can pull it off.

Honeyed dessert wine. Very linear - which is to say scrumptious from first spritz to last wisp. Perhaps I could say the flowers seem to come out a bit more near the end. I absolutely see the comparison to (gasp!) KK's Honey, though Ginestet is a smidge more refined and smooth and a bit quieter. So lovely.

Pure, warm, spicy, buttery, musky amber and honey on me. I love it! Sophisticated, mature, and classy. The floral and the fruits aren't absent, they're just blended in very nicely. Smells like a fragrance that a wealthy, brilliant woman would wear. Sillage: 8/10 Longevity: 9/10 Scent: 10/10

this has been my all-time fave since it first came out. my boyfriend goes wild for it (i go heavy on it- especially after an argument!) it's a gorgeous, decadent bath of dessert wine & honey, mostly. i can still smell it the next day. it's absolutely *intoxicating* and worth every penny.

Sooooo sultry, warm and luscious! A gorgeous fragrance with buttery honey and warm fruit (raisins drenched in cognac, dried figs, sweet dates!) in the forefront, just delectable! As it dries down the musk comes into play, and honey and musk were made for each other! Love this fragrance!

This is a very good and interesting scent. I only have the sample, I wish I knew where to get the full bottle. I'm impressed with this one, it's the purest honey scent I have tried. It's literally honey and dried fruits. So natural smelling and good. It is one of my favorites now.

Honey in a bottle! With raisins soaked in Sauterne. This is probably what the botrytis-affected grapes from which Sautern wines are made smell like. Dreamy, just beautiful. This scent lasts a loooong time on clothes. Not so much on the skin, with average projection.

The gingerbread and the honey are so yummy in this, and that slight booziness is more than welcome. I always find myself craving for this in the autumn. A great comfort scent, but needs to be applied lightly, otherwise the sweetness can be too much.

Beautiful honeyed fruit. Full-bodied but just the right sweet. I'd swear there was tobacco in it too, but it's not listed in the notes. I only wish it lasted longer, but it is an EDT. I hope Ginestet keeps making this forever!

I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Granted, this is a super sticky sweet honeyed fragrance but I just love it. It doesn't last terribly long, but I've been layering it with Chergui an dthat seems to help.

This scent meshes well with my body chemistry-on me it is mostly amber with a hint of honey and fruit, very pretty and warm. I really like it and can't wait for cooler weather to wear it more often.

honey, a little maple(?), and something creamy soft and powdery. but, mostly honey. i really like this, but it faded really quickly. still, the honey and creaminess might be worth a fb. undecided.

Vanilla and honey, far out. I reeeeaaaaly wanted to love this one, but on my skin smelled like burnt rubber. Dalal al Rehab is very similar, but married way better on my skin.

One of the best sweet honey scents available, smells just like a heaenly sauternes wine! Honey, dried fruits, amber and a little spice, can it get any better?

I love this. This and Frapin 1270 are my beloved boozy scents. Both are opulent, warm, delicious. Just what good perfume should be.

Fresh baked apple pie, crust and all! Lasts at least 8 hours on me. Warm and cuddly. Looking forward to October with this one.

Botrytis by Ginestet is one of the lovliest perfumes I know. I think this scent is warm and comforting.

I love this fragrance.It is fabulous!On my skin it smells like Escada Collection.

This fragrance have been discontinued?

When I tried this the first time I couldn't think of what it reminded me of. A nice honey scent that's like the super refined light, syrupy honey, not the thick, dark stuff I get from the woman here in Haiti, which still has pieces of wax in it! Ha It's super sweet and springy. Pretty, but really fleeting. After an hour I have to struggle to catch it at all, even letting my breath warm the skin where I sprayed it. So last time I tested it, I realized what it smells like. I had put Al-Rehab Dalal on the night before and then put this on the back of my hand in the morning to test it again. I caught myself saying, "wow, that Dalal has some amazing staying power," before I realized I was smelling this. Yes, ladies and gentlemen. This SAME scent can be had for under $3 for a rollerball full of oil with much greater longevity. But it's lacking the refinement, you say? Sure, if by "refinement," you mean "weak and fleeting." If you insist that this scent is far superior to the cheap alternative, go ahead and wear it. And when I pass by you, I'll sniff and say, "oh, you're wearing Dalal!" But only in the first hour, cause after that I won't be able to detect anything, and neither will you! Haha Lovely, but overpriced and easily replaced.

Botrytis is such a feminine, sensual scent, with a curvaceous bottle filled with a liquid of a golden hue. I adored this on paper, as it smelt absolutely stunning, a beautiful natural honey with a white floral background. I was really hoping that this would become my special and long-sought after honey perfume. Nope. During the opening, I get wine-like honey, warmed with a touch of spices... I'm now waiting for those white florals here, where's the magic gone... where is the honey... waiting.... waiting... waiting... nothing... except a synthetic vanilla. This scent smells like a cheap vanilla candle on my skin. The same thing has ruined many fragrances for me, most notably, this and Kenzo's Jungle L'Elephant (which I was also devastated about). To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement, so I would advise you to test this before you buy, especially if you have skin like mine that strongly projects synthetic vanillas. Vanilla is also not listed as a note. Whilst I still consider this a beautiful scent, this brand has definitely cut corners with the quality of the ingredients used. Soft sillage on me (barely projects at all); longevity was for about 4-5 hours.

Botrytis is a strong candidate for "ultimate honey fragrance": I agree with the reviewer below, the bottle sets high expectations of a rich, dense, delicious honey scent and what you see is what you get. Botrytis (cool name!) smells very sweet, very natural, and very much edible (or drinkable, more precisely, considering the wine associations). At the same time it's quite perfume-like, not at all sticky or too heavy if you don't overspray. Sillage is fine but not too overwhelming, just right, and longevity is more than okay. So it could be worn in any season, I think, and for pretty much any occasion where smelling like honey is not a problem - and is it ever? Honey isn't one of those special favourite notes for me that make my heart beat faster when I find a good representation, so although I like this very much I'm not frantically googling full bottle prices yet. I would like at least a little decant of this, though, and if you're a honey lover I can't imagine you can do much better than this.

I've had my sample of Botrytis for such a long time and my opinion on it changed quite a bit. Many years ago, I loved this scent and wanted to own a full bottle at some point. Now I tried it again after a long time, and I don't feel that need anymore, especially not for a 100 ml bottle for ~100 €. Botrytis smells very good. The main note is honey, which is generally a hit or miss note for me. This honey note is very natural and works nicely. Besides honey I smell wine (white wine, fruity) and a hint of spicy gingerbread. And that's it. Warm and sticky sweet, just like honey. I have to admit it's quite unique, and the fruity wine note lightens up the honey, but in the end, I don't think I would wear this really often. It's a delicious, but pretty linear scent, so it's easy to get a bit bored of it. But if you're specifically looking for a honeyed wine fragrance, look no further, this is it!

I suppose I should never have any preconceived ideas when I try a perfume sample. However, the name and description inevitably set up some sort of expectation that, more often than not, isn't met. With Botrytis I was expecting the sweet, floral, nutmeg-like scent of Muscat or a late harvest dessert wine. Instead, it's a scent that starts off with a characteristic light yellow, prickly, raspy sensation that makes me feel like I need to sneeze, then settles down into something like my recollection of Chopard Casmir, which I wore for a while when it first came out. At the end of the day it's still going strong with a synthetic plastic-y smell. I think that somewhere in the mix there is a grape-like scent that I catch a whiff of now and then, but it's buried under all the other stuff. I don't really dislike the perfume - it just didn't live up to my high expectations.

My goodness! In a word, decadent! I get a smell like fine whiskey sniffing straight out of the bottle, so I was a little apprehensive about this little jewel. Boy, was I mistaken. I get at first, honey, and the dried fruits. After about 20-30 minuites, the white flowers developed which cut the sweetness and lent it elegance and sensuality. It's hard to explain the way this beauty is comforting and sensual at the same time. I about dismissed botrytis as a cloyingly sweet mess, but it is overall a scent of pure excess, and gluttony, well composed. It lasted all day. I applied this morning and it has developed well, I catch a very slight powdery note, but it did not last long. A scent of seductive, sexual sweetness!

I like this one quite a bit which is understandable since I tend to really like amber fragrances. It has sweetness to it that agrees with me tinged with a bit of floral. This is not a smokey amber scent, not really any aggressive masculinity to it which if was present could make this fragrance even sexier. Even so, I can still see a man being able to wear this scent. Alas, I don't think it's original enough and for the price ($110) not really worth purchasing though I'd wear it in a hearbeat if gifted it. I own B&BW Sensual Amber which smells enough like this (not as sweet though but that can be achieved by fragrance layering) that costs 1/4th the price.

It's a beautiful scent, a precise honey, spiced and laced with flowers-- A _not-too-sweet_ honey scent where you can smell the pollen that goes into the honey, and the honeycomb. The lasting power is decent, not amazing. I find this scent a gourmand but I prefer a touch of honey to smelling like an elegant queen bee. With a scent so well-made, I would sometimes hang onto my 1 ml sample and find the occasion to wear it, but everyone who likes the smell of honey and spiced bread should try this, so pm me if you want to swap for my sample.

Auntie Joanne is in her 50's now and never got any children of her own, but she doesn't seem to mind much. The lines started appearing around her kind, brown eyes quite some time ago already, but she is particularly radiant today, swirling around the tables on the lawn at the yearly family gathering in her sun hat and floral dress, bottle of home-made summer wine in hand. "TRY THE WINE", she insists a bit too loudly, already having "taste-tested" the latest batch repeatedly.

I wanted to love this one and was excited to receive my sample. It went on like smooth honey and dried down pretty much the same way. For me it wears very very close to the skin and every now and then it turned into something beautiful and mysterious – then disappeared. So overall, I think it is nice but was disappointed that the mysterious beauty did not reside on my skin for long. This is a “no” for me but I can imagine that this can be truly beautiful on others.