Vienna 1900

The opening is very cool and damp, almost wet. I imagine freshly turned soil in a shaded, cool temperate forest setting. The soil is damp (not wet) and drops of mint infused water have been sprinkled on the fresh upturned earth. The patchouli smells sweet, earthy and vaguely chocolatey. Deeper inhalations capture a slight, somewhat mentholated sensation. There is a cool freshness/dampness and a slight berry sweetness that hides behind a porous veil. It maintains its cool, green forest vibe until somehow it morphes into a dry-down of what I can only describe as a vague, sweet and semi-herbal, flashback of a day old vintage Antaeus dry-down. This is patchouli done correctly, magnificently. I had to re-learn/clean my patchouli palate after years of smelling San Francisco hippies doused in heavy, medicinal patchouli mixed with sharp, putrid body funk. Vienna 1900 is unique to my nose and quite stimulating, enlivening. A cerebral boost. It does not elicit sensations that I would call cozy, sensual or romantic . For me I would use the words boost, energize, uplift, stimulate, refresh, etc.

Finally gave this a full wear and was so very please with the performance, intensity and scent. My gosh it is beautiful and like nothing else. Very natural smelling. Very well blended. Breaking the notes down is quite difficult for me. Patchouli is dominant, it is dewy, sweet and liqueur like. Not boozy but smells like a fine bottle of sweet liqueur. Difficult to compare.

An interesting one, mint chocolate and patchouli blast from the outset that gets earthier as time goes on. A slight cannibis type feel is around it, but not enough to make you smell like you've been smoking a load of the stuff. Gives off a nice natural feel. This is good, but I think I would want a decant than a full bottle, it seems more of a one off to wear every now and again than a mainstay.

Vienna 1900 made me realise there’s mint perfumes, and then there’s MINT perfumes. The mint in here is brutal, obnoxiously strong and in a lot of ways simply too much. However, it does smell amazingly natural and vibrant, like the leaves are right there in front of your nose. Matthew Meleg claims to use 3 different types of patchouli here, although does not list exactly which types. Given patchouli is a part of the mint family, I can see how seamlessly it integrates with the mint and provides that punchy earthiness to the scent. This dark, earthy aspect is elevated by a very subtle dark chocolate accord, which isn’t too noticeable to me. Overall this is a very interesting fragrance. I don’t like mint at the best of times and so this simply isn’t wearable for me, but if you’re a lover of mint this is undoubtedly one of the highest quality examples of it I’ve ever come across.

Opens with the musky tang of patchouli, sharp and soapy. It combines with the mint for an almost bergamot-like freshness, but with more of a muted and mulchy undertone that's all patchouli. Based on notes and accords, I might've thought Vienne 1900 would be a fairly dark and heavy scent, but I don't get that from it at all. Instead, it opens soapy, fresh, and crisp. Then the dry down hits, and Vienna shifts rapidly, turning from fresh, soapy, and grassy, into a smooth, muted, earthy scent, like chalky potters clay, and line-dried linens. You're bathing in an outdoor clawfoot tub. There's a slippery bar of white soap that keeps disappearing into the bathwater, and a stack of newly line-dried clothes resting on a wooden chair beside the tub. Nearby, a fallow field was recently mown, and the clippings left to mulch.