Baraonda

Having finished my journey of Sphinx Fragrances for now, I'm moving on to a niche house that's rather notorious in the fragrance community. Some of the notoriety is good, some of it is bad. One thing is for sure: they are known for their artistic liberties. That house is none other than Nasomatto, and I'm starting my journey with them by reviewing Baraonda. When I looked up "best Nasomatto fragrances", this is one that was pretty regularly mentioned. Hopefully, I picked a good place to start, because I know I'm going to end up in some dark places on this journey. Let's get into it. Scent: The opening is boozy, woody, and floral. The primary notes I get are whiskey, woody notes, rose, and musk mallow. The strongest of the notes are the whiskey and woody notes. The fragrance starts off with an atomic blast of photo-realistic whiskey. I've experienced my fair share of whiskey notes in fragrance, but this definitely takes the cake for the most realistic. It's like they put straight-up whiskey right into the juice. Behind the whiskey are the woody notes. It's non-descript, so it doesn't state exactly what type of woods they are, but it does conjure to mind the aroma of oak barrels, which pairs perfectly with the whiskey to create a barrel-aged whiskey accord. Up next is the rose and musk mallow. The rose, while not the focus, is very noticeable to me in the opening as a delicate floral note. It's a powdery type of rose, as opposed to a sweet, jammy type. Lastly, the musk mallow lingers in the background for an underlying animalic muskiness. The dry down is boozy, woody, and musky. The primary notes I get are whiskey, woody notes, musk, and rose. The strongest of the notes are still the whiskey and woody notes. Both notes are the same from the opening and still carry on that barrel-aged whiskey accord. This is followed by the musk and rose. The musk has emerged in the dry down to provide a noticeable sweet and freshened musky accord. Lastly, the rose is still there in some part with the soft florals from the opening, but it is situated far in the background. There's also an almost smoky quality in the dry down, which I'm led to assume is a result of how the ambroxan interacts with the whiskey and woody notes. Performance: Initial projection is very strong and can easily fill a room. Sillage matches that with a heavy scent trail. After a few hours the projection was largely the same, and the scent trail was a bit lighter but still easily noticeable. At the 7-hour mark the projection had died down to about 3-4 feet and the scent trail was lighter, but still noticeable. The fragrance became a skin scent around the 9-hour mark. When to wear: Baraonda is a fall/winter fragrance best suited for evening wear. It's rich and boozy, so it pairs well with special occasions like date nights, anniversaries, etc. However, it is, in my opinion, too heavy for casual use and too boozy for formal use or office wear. Blind buy: I don't have anything in my collection to adequately compare this to. Givenchy's Gentleman Reserve Privee has a highlighted whiskey note, but the realism and strength of the whiskey in Baraonda is honestly beyond comparison. For this reason, I wouldn't say this is a safe blind buy. However, if the idea of smelling like expensive, barrel-aged whiskey straight from the glass appeals to you, this is definitely one you'd want to try. Final verdict: Baraonda turned out to be a great introduction to the house of Nasomatto. Never before have I ever encountered such a powerful, rich, realistic whiskey note in a fragrance. And that whiskey note, coupled with the woody "oak barrel" notes and the ambroxan to create a smoky effect, was a lesson in masterful blending. The performance was strong, but not quite as strong as I expected from true extrait. Projection and sillage were powerful for the first few hours, and the fragrance lasted around 9 hours altogether before fading away. Again, not bad by any definition, but I've experienced EDP's that last 12 hours, so take that for what it's worth. Versatility is not what this fragrance is made for. It's a special occasion fragrance, through and through, and that's about the only time it will feel appropriate. Likewise, this fragrance (as I imagine most things from Nasomatto are) is not made to be mass-appealing. It's made for fragrance connoisseurs who appreciate artistry in their fragrance. That's not to say Baraonda is challenging, because it isn't. It's just not an easy, casual wear like most fragrances. In conclusion, Baraonda is hands down the best representation I've ever encountered for a boozy scent, and I would go so far as to say it's probably one of the best realistic yet wearable whiskey fragrances you can buy, period. I will be adding a bottle of this to my collection. I might not get a lot of use out of it, but when I want something that will command attention on special occasions, I'll have this to reach for. Scent: 10/10 Longevity: 7/10 Sillage: 8/10

I have a strong penchant for perfumes and then for whiskeys. So, what could be better than perfumes with a whiskey accord? I have never wanted anything as badly as I wanted to try this. Suppose the rose-oud combination of Middle Eastern oriental perfumes is your obsession. In that case, this fragrance will leave you speechless with its captivating combination of whiskey, which blends harmoniously with touches of rose and amber. Yes, a rose-whiskey combination, you heard it right. Remember that the first time you smell it, you may not immediately detect the aroma of whiskey despite the strong liquor inflection, as happened to me. But over time, I began to associate it and recognize it on the fly more and more. Baraonda opens with a cloud of boozy accord and whiskey, the same one I smell when I pour a drop of whiskey into a tumbler and bring it to my mouth. It is more similar to fruity American bourbons and rye whiskeys than to peaty Scotch and Irish whiskeys. It is so vivid, very identical to the hints of real whiskey. I immediately detect a background of fine oak barrels, with hints of cherry and bourbon, without smoky and earthy inflections of peat. To say that this perfume has an alcoholic accord is an understatement. There is much more and it is much more complex than it may seem. After about half an hour, the alcoholic notes reduce their intensity while continuing to vibrate in the background for the duration of the perfume. And from this initial burst of alcohol, a sweetish floral accord, rose petals, and candied fruit timidly emerges. This transition can be likened to a 'drunken chaos' settling into a more harmonious blend of scents. I seem to recognize a mix of ripe red fruits and apple pulp, not fresh and crunchy, but slowly cooked in the oven, which crumbles to the touch. I am pleasantly surprised and fascinated by the evolution of Baraonda. However, I can't help but observe that the formula is not entirely original; it reminds me of something I have already smelled and that I probably have in my collection. The rose becomes increasingly mellifluous, sweetish, soft, and creamy without ever crossing the threshold separating it from the cloying. The closer the perfume gets to the dry-down, the more the amber, woody, slightly animalic nuances are perceived. The musky accords are the somewhat soapy white musk mixed with the more animalistic one of the ambrette seeds. And precisely, these seeds give the sensation of an ancient book, filling the air with the dry and papery scent of lignin. But on my skin and nose, the sweet and salty facets of ambroxan stand out, with a hint of coumarin or vanilla, which I pleasantly recognize. They are slightly caramelized but far from the burnt ones that we perceive in "Baccarat Rouge 540 (Eau de Parfum) | Maison Francis Kurkdjian". Now the initial pungent notes of the alcoholic whiskey have faded, and are very similar to the woody and aromatic aroma that remains in the now empty glass, with a few drops that cling to the glass before slipping into your mouth, making you savour the last moment of pleasure. As I see it, Baraonda smells of autumnal pleasures, red and yellow foliage, cold and foggy evenings, intimate dinners, and outdoor evening events. It is for those moments when it is important to stand out without appearing. The trail and projection are average after the initial explosion, which refers to the strong initial burst of the alcoholic accord, but the duration is exceptional, especially on fabrics. I would have expected something scary from a brand like Nasomatto, and instead, Baraonda is particular but caressing, cuddly, warm, and sensual without being too irreverent or disruptive. I wrote my opinion based on a bottle I've owned since November 2024.

"You don't spray Baraonda.You uncork it" is what i saw in a Baraonda review on parfumo, and when i finally got the chance to try it, i find it more accurate than ever, this has choosen itself to be my signature scent, and my favourtie whisky fragrance. Imagine you are in a bar at 3 a.m. The kind of place where the lighting is amber and the secrets are cheap. There is a glass in front of you a single malt cask-strength whisky, neat, one ice cube that has already melted into a thin, apologetic puddle. The wood of the counter is sticky with years of spilled drinks.That is the opening of Baraonda, mot the polite sip of wine at a gallery opening, not the crafted cocktail served with a twist of irony. This is the raw, unvarnished smell of whisky, the peated kind, the kind that tastes like burned earth and regret, like a deep cut type of whisky with no reflux used in the distillation process, almost like you are smelling the spirits. It hits you not gently, but with the insistence of a drunk who has something to say and will not be ignored. But here is the strange thing: almost immediately, something else emerges. Rose. Not the dewy, romantic rose of a Valentine's bouquet. This is a dried rose, petals that were once red, now faded to brown, pressed between the pages of a book you haven't opened in years. It is the ghost of something beautiful, still lingering, still fragrant, even as it crumbles. The whisky and the rose should not belong together. One is rough, masculine, unapologetic. The other is delicate, feminine, nostalgic. And yet, in Baraonda, they dance. Boozy, smoky and leathery whisky with an added jammy, old rose note that make the malty quality more realistic and tamed the booziness a bit, you can also notice a dried fruits accord being added, like raspberries and plums. Baraonda passes hours like a long, slow evening. the scent transforms. Not dramatically. Not with theatrical shifts. But like the tide, pulling back to reveal what was always there beneath. A reiseinous, sticky, malty amber base, it's sweet, fruity and oaky, the booziness from the opening is tamed down yet still act as a main character, the rose is jammy, citronic added depth to the overall fragrance.By the dry down, you are no longer in the bar.You are in the aftermath.The glass is empty. The rose has turned to dust. The wood is still warm from your palm. And you are, perhaps for the first time completely, terrifyingly, sober. Baraonda is Italian for "chaos." The chaos of a crowded bar, yes. But also the chaos of wanting. Of desire that has no name and no end. Of nights that blur into mornings, and mornings that forgive nothing. It is, in the end, a fragrance about pleasure. Raw, imperfect, fleeting. And because it is fleeting, it is beautiful. Most fragrances are written. They have a beginning, a middle, an end. You can wear them like a narrative, comfortable in the knowledge of where they will take you. Baraonda is not written. It is improvised. A jazz solo played at midnight in a room thick with smoke. It will not hold your hand. It will not apologize for its roughness. But if you let it, if you stop trying to understand and simply feel,it will carry you somewhere you've never been. The perfomance of this fragrance is also elegant, Baraonda on my skin last about 10 hours, but it never scream loudly, the projection is moderate, not room filling, not cloying, quietly present on your skin. Scent: 10/10 Perfomance: 9/10 Wearability: 9/10 Price: 8/10 Funfact: If you want to fully discover the story, artistic background of this scent, you can try reading Moscow-Petushki by Venedikt Yerofeyev, which this fragrance is inspired of. One of the best Gualtieri's work-Baraonda Nasomatto.

Nasomatto Baraonda may be one of the booziest fragrances; the fragrance opens with a strong and slightly sweet whiskey tone that feels fantastic. The musk and Ambrette have only a light contribution that enhances and sharpens other accords in the fragrance but don’t create a musky accord themselves; the woody tone is soft, aromatic and blends well with the whiskey; the floral tone is faint and it is there just to enhance the overall aroma; finally, the ambroxan boost the projection and makes the blend feel dry. Nasomatto Baraonda is linear, the changes from the opening to the dry-down are close to none. Once Nasomatto Baraonda has reached its full dry-down, it can be summarized as a slightly sweet strong boozy (whiskey) fragrance with some woody notes. The fragrance feels dry, casual, exotic, high-quality, pure, natural, mature, sharp, and very pleasant. BATCH REVIEWED: 2020. WOW RATING: 10/10. Baraonda is possibly the purest, most realistic boozy aromatic fragrance in the market. DISLIKE RATING: 3/10. The boozy notes are strong and could be offensive to some people. UNIQUENESS: 10/10. The purity of its notes makes Nasomatto Baraonda highly unique. MASS APPEAL: 6/10. This is the type of fragrance reserved for connoisseurs looking for uniqueness. PROJECTION: 3/10. Moderate, about three feet around the wearer. SILLAGE: 4/10. Moderate, about four feet behind the wearer. APPLICATION: Two or three atomizations will suffice. LONGEVITY: 4/10. Moderate, it projects well for about four hours then it drops quickly. SEASONS: Winter, fall, spring, colder nights, and climate-controlled environments. OCCASIONS: Outdoor gatherings, casual, clubbing. VERSATILITY: 5/10. This fragrance that fits well casual wear. GENDER: Masculine. Advertised as unisex, the boozy tones are very strong and possible above what is normally accepted in feminine perfumery. AGES: 30 and above. RECOMMENDATION: Nasomatto Baraonda can be found discounted for about $100 but just 1oz. Its price places it among some of the most expensive fragrances in the market. This fragrance is nice to have but not a must-have. BLIND-BUY: No, sample it first. SIMILAR: Boozy fragrances are relatively common. These are fragrances that have similar compositions but not necessarily smell the same. Amouage Sunshine Man EDP brings brandy, orange, and woods, a niche that lacks performance; Bentley for Men Intense EDP features rum, leather, woody, and incense accords, a great bold fragrance; Carolina Herrera CH Prive EDT has fruity, whiskey, and leathery accords, a good scent; Carolina Herrera - 212 VIP contains vodka, ginger, fruits, leather, and woody accords; Kilian Single Malt is a great one featuring whiskey, plum, woods, and vanilla; Guerlain Spiritueuse Double Vanille EDP is a delicious fragrance that contains spices, fruits, rum, and vanilla; Kilian Black Phantom EDP brings rum, chocolate, spices, and delicious coffee; Thierry Mugler - Angel Men Pure Malt is a fantastic one, with whiskey, coffee, vanilla, and fruity accords; Bvlgari Man in Black features boozy, leather, tobacco and spicy accords, a great scent; Azzaro Pour Homme Intense EDP is another superb brandy, vetiver, and tonka fragrance. SUMMARY: A slightly sweet strong boozy (whiskey) fragrance with some woody notes. The fragrance feels dry, elegant, exotic, high-quality, pure, natural, mature, sharp, and very pleasant.

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous perfumery. I read a comment on a review of Baraonda in which someone said they held this up next to a glass of Whiskey and couldn’t tell a difference apparently, and went on to say how photorealistic it was. I don’t know why people obsess over the apparent “photorealism” of this scent to Whiskey as it is so much deeper than just smelling like Whiskey. I’m not sure if some influencer said that and people are latching on to that description, but trust me - this is absolutely beautiful and layered. Yes it’s very boozy, but you’re getting spiced rum in the air rather than whiskey in my opinion as there’s a spicy boozy vanilla vibe. Then lovely, heavy, expensive woods beneath the booziness which gives some depth and character to the scent. Then you get very subtle rose working in the background to soften the scent and add elegance. It’s really gorgeous, warm and comforting. Baraonda is signature scent worthy in my opinion. I think it’s one of those scents where if you really appreciate and love it I don’t think you’ll want to smell like anything else (which is sort of how I feel using this current decant alongside 4 other decants - I just can’t get enough of it). The projection and longevity: Today I used 1 spray on my left wrist on a cold, overcast day. First 2 hours good projection. Not a room-filler but moderate/arm’s length projection. Around the 3-hour mark it becomes closer to the skin and at hours 4 to 7 it’s a skin scent. For me it disappears at hour 7. This is by no means a massive performer due to the heavy compounds used, but for the entirety of the 7 hours you’ll be in love with it. While I was wearing it I mostly just did some work from home and then at around hour 4 I was cooking food and as my temperature picked up from being in front of the stove and multitasking it suddenly projected wonderfully again for 30 minutes - I’d be very cautious wearing this in warmer weather and would recommend limiting it to a single spray. In cold weather I’d go 2 sprays maximum. Wow. I’m really in love with this. I’d fully recommend lovers of boozy fragrances to try this one. 10/10 without question.