The Taste of Fragrance A*Men

Pure Chili was retired to my off season shelf yesterday along with Pure Havane and Pure Leather. It reminds me of a really tasty sausage that I used to buy and cook for breakfast. Of all the Angel Flankers, Taste of Fragrance or Pure Chili is to date my favorite. I really love the spicy chili in your face blast of spice that gives a clear contrast to the sweet and beautiful traditional dry down that all Angel Man flankers have. Its a broken record talking about performance with Angel Man. All of them that I have tried have excellent quality, longevity, projection, sillage and lasting power. You do not need many sprays of this fragrance and when you put it on then you will be wearing it and noticing it when you go to bed and probably the next morning. You can almost say that it lasts until you shower it off. Pure Chili is no different and it lasts and lasts and lasts and can stand toe to toe with 99% of niche and parfum strength fragrances when it comes to quality and performance. As for my usage this past year, it wasn't much. I only pulled it a few times this season. And the reason is honestly price. I own probably a dozen bottles of Angel Man and its flankers and a good amount of similar fragrances. I have 4 from the Mugler line that I have opened and am working on. Of those, I clearly like the overall scent of Taste of Fragrance the best. And yet, I do not own a backup bottle of it and the only place that I know to get one is the Mugler website and its $90. There are a few that I do not own and now they have Pure Tonka as another new fragrance in the line. Mugler lists Taste of Fragrance as a limited edition and we all have seen favorite Mugler fragrances disappear from backstock. And of course there are many fragrances from other lines that cost less that $90 that I have on my buy list and would like to try that seem to make more sense than a backup bottle. I consider $20 an ounce my reference point for designer and at $30 it commands a steep 50% premium to what I like to pay. Overall, I am going to grade this fragrance out at a 84 or a tick below a solid B. It gets perfect scores for performance. And it gets very high marks based on smell as it is my favorite of the Angel Man fragrances. Unfortunately, I have to dock it quite a bit for price and availability. It costs 3X more than Pure Leather and as a result, I own less of it and I treat is more of a niche special occasion scent rather than a daily wear fragrance. I bought my bottle as a tester but I was lucky. If this cost $40 or less like Pure Leather then I would insta buy a backup bottle, wear this 5X more than I do and it would creep into the territory of an A and it would be a favorite fragrance. I've never had a compliment with taste of fragrance and this might be a result of lower wear frequency and it might be the strength of chili on top. I recognize that this is a gourmand fragrance and there are a lot more people that will respond to baked goods and cookies and the many sweet Angel Man fragrances over a spicy peppery chili. I marked my grade down a point because of lack of compliments but it is a small complaint when this is my current favorite of the line. Angel Man is a very sweet fragrance and it is easy to find fault with cavity inducing fragrances. But what they do is to contrast the sweetness with distractions so that you get the sweet lovely foody dry down but different looks at the top. Traditional Angel Man has the famous tar note, and pure leather the harsh rawhide. Pure Malt has a boozy feel, and Pure Havane delves into notes of the cigar. But I think Pure Chili is the one that works the best. It takes the sweet but goes in an entirely different direction. I realize that many of the people who wear fragrances are elegant and refined and would consider themselves the top 2% that get talked about in the press. But I am a person that can appreciate a really good bowl of chili as well as a plate of Lobster Thermador and the spoon feels better in my hand than the seafood fork. I own so much Mugler and so many flankers that sadly I almost have to try to find reasons to pull this one when I own an excess of juice regarding others that are also quite good and more available to find, buy, and wear. I really would like to move this to the front of my shelf but I do not want to run out of this one and it is too pricey for a backup bottle so I use it gently. And honestly, I am happy with Pure Leather and others in the line. I love a good breakfast sausage but sadly I rarely have it anymore. It costs a fair bit and is harder to cook than just scrambling up some eggs. It is messy and sizzly and it leaves a sausage smell in the kitchen and the house which is nice for awhile but then you kind of want to smell something a bit more clean and fresh. But on those rare occasions that you have a taste for it, sausage is a treat on your plate.

I have to tell you that I almost always contemplate buying a perfume and test it several times before I make a buy. This one is the exception to the rule for me. I visited Nordstrom's a few days ago and saw this limited edition on the shelf and quickly sprayed a sample on a card. I was impressed at the first sniff. The SA approached me and throughout the conversation (where she tried to sell me other things) she told me it was a limited edition and they only got 6 bottles, all still on the shelf. I asked for a sample so I could wear it that night, got my sample and left. For the next half hour I was smelling the card and kept getting more impressed with this unique fragrance. After a few minutes the pepper really came to the front! I quickly went back and bought a full bottle. In the half hour or so while I was walking around one of the six bottles was sold, I bought the second. On the skin this one performs just a little bit differently for me. The initial blast presents mostly a nice lavender with mint with a touch of bergamot and coriander. It does not take too long for the pepper to come to the front, very noticeable and well blended, yet not as strong for me as when I smelled this fragrance on paper. The slight citrus/bergamot smell is soon overwhelmed by the pepper (which to me smells more like freshly ground black pepper than chili pepper) and a vanilla and/or tonka bean smell is added to the chorus. Soon thereafter I get the smell of cacao which must be a combination of coffee and vanilla, maybe with some musk based on the notes listed. Throughout this fragrance's life I get pepper at every stage except for maybe the first minute or two. Pepper with vanilla and coffee. And I can't help but think of cacao or dark chocolate with hot pepper, something that the Mayans used together. Chocolate and hot pepper is a favorite food combination of mine...the Mayans knew how to use cacao and pepper so this combination seems like a natural for a perfume. Needless to say, I love this combination. (A good friend makes habanero fudge every Christmas and it is my favorite holiday treat.) I always have a problem determining how long a fragrance lasts and how it projects to other people. I tend to get fragrance fatigue and don't smell what I am wearing after a couple of hours and have to rely on others to tell me. But it seems to last several hours for my nose and I would guess this lasts at least 5-6 hours for me, maybe more. I will have to ask others and report back. This one is an unique gourmand with so much pepper, coffee and vanilla. Definitely in my rotation for the cooler months. I love it! A limited edition so if you like it and want it, get it while it is available. UPDATE: On drydown the pepper goes way to the back (but is still there if you search for it) and it ends with a nice, close to the skin cedar accord.

Launched in 2011 as part of a long-lived fragrance, The Taste of Fragrance A*Men represents a sensory and intense interpretation of A*Men's family and, most importantly, it is back that but leaves me and conquers me within the collection. A fragrance comes with an aromatic and fresh aroma, mint, lavanda and bergamot, with a light herbal and energizing sensation, which is the logo of space and the green DNA of A*Men: especiarias and doçura envolventes. No heat, a pepper aquece and an acre cent of a spicy toque marcante – a difference between the two sides, while patchouli and virginia cedro call for a terrosa base, amadeirada and solid. O grand espetáculo, no surprise, no fundo: a delicious mistura of encorpado coffee, baunilha cremosa, fava tonka and a toque of almíscar formed a assinatura viciante, quente e gourmand, com um certo amargor sofisticado que quilibra a doçura. The spicy chili pepper chord has been made to become almost edible, returning to a spicy chocolate dish or an espresso with exotic flavors. Fixation: excellent, lasting 8 to 10 hours easily on peel. Projection/Sillage: Our primes are strong for 90 minutes, constantly visible for varying hours, depending on the raster marking, which will be invasive from now on. Ideal for nights out, romantic encounters or occasions that you want to have a personal presence. You can use the weather in winter or out of doors, but not in moderation in climates but for a short time. Its gourmet vibe, especiada e sensual or torna perfect for special occasions or moments of sweet pesoal — almost as a dress that is what you want. Out on and in winter it is perfect for its bright fragrance. The intensity of the notes and the heat of the composition are perfect at low temperatures, such as an aromatic blend. Among the various verses of the A*Men line, this is one of my favorites, you have to try to balance the DNA of Mugler with a unique, playful and provocative assinatura, only to be accompaniment. The spiced hat is that but the difference is different, tornado-a quase “greedy attitude”. Final Rating: 9.6/10 A brandy perfume, used and deliciously stale. The Taste of Fragrance A*Men is a rare joy and a little comment from the Mugler house, but that's what it's all about... it's simply inesquecível. Se busca um A*Men com tempero, calor e alma, essa é a pedida certa.

This one, as my other A*men flankers, was also a blind-buy. It is a very rare one, i had a hard time finding this. So, when i first sprayed it on my wrist, i was a bit dissapointed, i didn't like the blast of pepper and ground coffee. It was intoxicating. But, after like 10 minutes, that spicy feeling is a bit mild, at this moment, first thing that came to mind was "hm...Pure Havane". Yes, it has that cherry vibe from Pure Havane. Only this one, is like a sour cherry with pink pepper and coffee. After 30-45 minutes the fragrances becomes very pleasant. At this moment i get a nice vanilla cappucino smell with a touch of that sour cherry. After a short period of time, comes the sad part: the projection drops dramatically, but not at that level that you have to stick your nose on the wrist to get a whiff. Let's say, if someone will be very close to you, or hug you, it's there. But it doesn't have a scent trail. I was expecting a better performance considering that it is after all, a Mugler fragrance. Overall, it was a good blind-buy, not as succesful as Pure Malt and Pure Havane, but i like it. After 3 wearings, i will give this one a rating of 7/10 (i could give a higher rate if the projection was better). So is it worth buying this? Well, if you are a Mugler fan and a collector of the A*Men flankers, you should get it.

Finally got a sample of Pure Chili (this thing is so hard to find nowadays) after years of anticipation. The idea of a prominent chili note was simultaneously intriguing and scary lol. I was pleasantly surprised! The chili note is definitely noticeably there, and is very realistic, but doesn't smell harsh or off-putting at all. I think it works really well because the rest of this fragrance is on the lighter side for an A*Men flanker. It's smooth and reminds me a lot of Pure Havane, as opposed to the denser, heavier scents like the original, Pure Leather etc. It smells like a sweet creamy coffee with cayenne chili powder. You really have to smell up close to get the full potency and details of the chili, when you're just catching a whiff of the sillage it's more just like a delicious warm spicy accord that blends in smoothly with everything else. I can safely say this is one of the most unique fragrances I've ever tried. Adding a chili note to a fragrance that already has a reputation for being bold and challenging must have taken a lot of courage and the final result is done masterfully. Opening: 9.5/10 Dry down: 9.3/10 Uniqueness: 11/10 Versatility: 3/10 Presentation: 9/10 Sillage: 9.5/10 Longevity: 9/10 Sprays: 2-3 Season: Fall, winter Occasion: Cold weather signature, date, casual Overall Rating: 9.3/10