Agua Maya

Came across this house while visiting Granada. Had dinner on the terras of El Huerte de Juan Ranas, a restaurant on the top of a hill, with the best view of the Alhambra, with snow covered tops of the Sierra Nevada on the background. It took us half an hour to get there from our hotel on the other side of the Alhambra. It was a steep climb but it was worth the afford. The physical afford that is. Not so much the slightly overpriced food but the view was just stunning. On our way back, we took almost the same steep path over small streets but just before reaching the flat carrera del Darro we took a different street and passed this beautiful 16th Century Patio Palace. With a Fragrance Museum, distillery, patio and shop. Their website is amazing. Unfortunately we entered the store at 21.30h and it closed at 22.00h. The next day heading to Ronda and booked hotel in Sevilla, we had no time for a 2e, longer visit. I bought Agua Maya which I only tried once, since it is not for warmer weather. Therefore I will not rate it yet. They gave me a sample of Mandarina Imperial, which I find suitable for Summer-Spring and even Fall. I bought this soon after I got home in the Netherlands. That one I just love. I also have 4 more samples. I have promoted this house here on Fragrantica and on FB several times and now it is finally here. Again, their website is amazing and so are their products. Hope to visit them once again.

Triggered by the lady below, Kinskig, I decided to give Agua Maya a proper wear. Meaning, in, according to me the most appropriate season for it. It is only my second wearing this Winter/Fall. Did I miss something? More appropriate for Summer? As I noticed before, it has a very dense smoky Tobacco opening. Unlike many sweet Tobacco fragrances I own, often pared with Honey, Cinnamon or Tonka. Not this one. Sure you can detect the sweeter notes like Cacao and Vanille, but they do not overwhelm the Tobacco, like for example in Tom Fords benchmark, Tobacco Vanille. The Copal (Incense) and Tobacco are strong for at least 2 hours. I wanted to monitor the development each and every hour, but, as usual, I got caught in work and forgot. It is now 5 and half hours after I sprayed it. The dominant notes of Tobacco and Copal still persist, even if they did calm down. So maybe Kinskig is right about the projection. It is now fairly close to the skin but not entirely. I can agree on Moderate. But I would never suggest this for warmer days. Patio Perfumes has a wide range of fragrances for warmer days. To start with their Colognes . They have 9. I didn't try the Neroli but Mandarina Imperial is great for Spring and Summer.

Yesterday I visited Patio in Granada for a 2e time. They have far more frangrances than here listed. I bought Poema and Naranja Colonia. I have now 5 of their fragrances. I wanted to blend my own fragrance but that was not possible this week. Nevertheless I got a palace round tour. In spite of Granada being far away from my usual holiday destinations, this time I was only 2 hours away from our hotel in Roquetas de Mar. Something tells me I will return for a 3e time.

Well, I found this house back in June but am not able to nominate this fragrance for the best of the year 2023. That is odd because it was released this year.

Picked this up this past summer in Granada. Unlike the prior reviewer, I find this to ne more appropriate for warmer weather than cold. While the cacao and vanilla are present, I don't find this to be a gourmand fragrance. I pick up traces of mint (not shown as a note) that freshen it up more than you might think given the other notes. I get an overall apothecary/spa impression from this one and I find it pretty unusual, even for a niche. If it had better projection and longevity, it would be a "love" for me instead of a "like". Even then I wouldn't consider it an easy reach. More of a "today feels like an Agua Maya day" vibe.