Raised Spirits

I ran, not walked, but ran to this site to comment after receiving the newest batch directly from Navitus which took 18 months to macerate. Well over a year ago I decided to change my diet by becoming a teetotaler along with cutting back on white flour and sugar. After experiencing this pimento opening it turns out I’ve just decided to wear the booze and chocolate. I can’t drink like I used to, but at least now I can smell like I still do. The opening hit me with this warm, boozy rum note reminiscent of a stronger Monkey Special opening, the kind that instantly transported me to a koa wood-paneled Hilton Waikoloa Village Hawaiian lounge where the chairs are worn-in wicker and leather where the mierda is this buttered coconut accord coming from, and the bottles on the shelf have been waiting years for the right company. Then that caramel and brown sugar rolls in, sweeter than a Butte, MT Casino barmaid winking at you after payday at the coal mine. The opening is not flashy and it’s not loud. It’s simply comforting. Postscript Uno: My dioses mayas del grano de cacao this stuff is maikaʻi loa excelente. Six hours later and the dry down is a beautiful Tahitian vanilla bean that avoided morphing into a cloying powder, although I wish there was more tobacco in the closing act. I may be mistaken, but I also smell a faint rose for some odd reason. The sillage remained strong for roughly three hours. Postscript Deux: This is the third consecutive day I have worn Raised Spirits.

How to write a review that accurately describes this?! It's truly amazing. I sampled first, as boozy fragrances are usually too loud on my skin, but as soon as I sprayed, I smashed the button to buy a full bottle. Vanilla - check Sweet - a bit, but balanced Boozy - yes, but not overwhelmingly so What makes this a real "stand-out" fragrance and different from another boozy vanilla (::snore::) is the pimento leaf. This is magic. And with the oak and cashmere wood, it gives the fragrance a smooth and grounded landing. I get no tobacco from this -- but perhaps the vague impression of a wet tobacco leaf if I think really hard about it. I would never claim this this had tobacco in it if not prompted by looking at the notes. Overall, dark and mature. Perfect for cool weather and gloomy days. My husband says it smells like the old fashioned doughnut shops with creaky wood floors and spiced hot drinks that you might still find in the Catskills in some tiny town that time forgot. This is just SO GOOD. Great staying-power, too.

A rich boozy sweet caramelized vanilla and tobacco fragrance. Quite unisex in my opinion. With 6 sprays I get a nice scent bubble and 8 hours of wear time. I love how weather plays a part in this scent. In the warmer weather I get that initial blast of pimento and Rum and tobacco. The caramel isn't as sweet. It's like being tipsy from a glass of rum while smelling pipe tobacco that hasn't been smoked yet. In the colder weather I get this beautiful rich caramelized vanilla tobacco fragrance that has a slight booziness to it. Now it is a bowl of sweet caramel candies and vanilla taffy next to a bowl of sweet pipe tobacco that hasn't been smoked with an empty rum glass that still has a lingering scent next to it. I find this to be quite sweet in the colder weather and more spicy in the warmer weather. A beautiful gourmand fragrance that I love to wear all year but definitely find it more feminine leaning in the cold weather on my skin.

This is a warm, sensual fragrance that perhaps leans just a bit masculine. I am shocked that this doesn't have any cardamom in the notes, perhaps it's the tobacco in this that reads like cardamom to my nose. It is such a cozy scent that I find very comforting with a lot of similarity to one of my favorite fragrances, Jovoy's Remember Me. To me - Raised Spirits is a bit deeper and heavier and therefore better suited for winter, whereas Remember Me is my perfect fall scent. But honestly they are similar enough that I do not need them both.

I was scared it was going to be too sweet because of the caramel. I was also worried it might be too smoky because of the tobacco. I even feared it could be too green due to the pimento leaf. But I was WRONG! It arrived in my mailbox just a minute ago( July 20/25) complete with a mini sample of the same (Raised Spirits). I sprayed it on my wrist as I walked back home. This is SEXY, SEXY, SEXY! 🫦