Coze 02

Parfumerie Generale 02 Coze This fragrance is Amsterdam in a bottle. I was in the middle of backpacking around the world with one of my best girlfriends when we landed in Amsterdam. We had just come from the beaches in South India where a palm reader had foretold me that I would soon be married to a Dutchman. This became a huge joke between my friend and I so, of course, when I arrived in Amsterdam, I was already in an adventurous fun-loving mood. Well, if the whole of Europe had to name one city as THE party city, Amsterdam would be it. I had been living in Berkeley, so I thought I had seen it all. But, this city took it to a whole new level for me. I had, what I call, the Amsterdam Deluxe experience. We were lucky enough to stay with two of the most beautiful people on earth who had an open marriage. A funny thing happens when you’re with two beautiful locals active on the dating scene, and that is that the entire city opens its arms to you. Within days, I found myself at a huge out of control boat party on the canals with a full band, cocktails, space cakes, chocolate and beer from Brussels, you name it. The boat took the entire party touring through the red light district. I met my “Dutch husband” that night and we were “married” by the DJ on the dance floor. I couldn’t have dreamt up a more hedonistic, fun, once-in-a-lifetime experience if I had tried. This fragrance has bottled that entire experience for me. From the top notes, to the heart, to the dry down, I feel like I’m on that party boat again, touring the city. The patchouli and tobacco were the first partiers to arrive. I’m not a huge patchouli fan, having been around the Berkeley locals who drench themselves in it, so I was a little worried, but this is probably the best patchouli note I’ve encountered. It’s so perfectly blended with the tobacco that it gives the tobacco a rich, smokey depth. I was actually surprised that there is no incense note because that’s what I got, but not head shop incense, but the same smokiness that you find in vintage Habanita. The sticky black cannibis note and the dark chocolate heart is what I fell in love with. That lasted only about an hour and I wish it would have lasted much much longer, although, it was such a fun ride while it lasted. The dry down on me was ebony wood with coffee and a lingering smokiness; exactly like that warm happy feeling you get when you go home after a great party, having met some incredible people that you just know are going to become great friends! Just, wow. Thank you PG for that incredible adventure.

Near my house there is a record store, the employees are all of the overweight, long-haired ex-dead-head variety. While I'm sure most of them have put their drug days behind them (sarcasm), a few like to light up behind the shop during their lunch break. Theres musty patchouli from a forgotten rack of incense and theres a worn in, comforting, almost dusty woodiness from shelf after shelf of vintage used records. Coze reminds me so much of this record store that upon first sniffing it I was instantly brought back there. Not many fragrances successfully transport me like this. Outside of my own personal memory bank, this is also just a really really well made scent. Warm and cozy (or coze'). It's blended immaculately and no one note stands out in an unnatural or unpleasant fashion. It creates a scent instead of just being a jumble of notes, no doubt because of the genius selection of notes. There is obviously very realistic cannabis (which i love in fragrances) but it blends with an extremely natural, strong earthy patchouli note which keeps it from smelling like a fresh bowl. Underneath the green bitterness there is a thick, toasty, sweet mocha accord. Slight peppery spice and some generic woody notes round it out and make it decidedly masculine to my nose. Not that a woman couldn't pull it off but this sort of sweet and dirty-yet-compellingly-alluring vibe I associate closely with masculinity. In the past I have retired Coze' for the patchouli note. I occasionally find myself intolerant. Most fragrances with a strong patch note I cannot wear but this one I always come back to because it's just such a good combination of notes and I feel that it suits me quite well. This is one of the few patchouli dominated fragrances that I love. Performs pretty great and garners quite a huge amount of compliments for me. 8/10

Warm, enveloping, velvety, chocolatey, dark-brown scent, absolutely radiating tobacco and spices. The smell of cozy pubs and bars in northern cities, with extra whiffs of old vinyl record shops in the 1970s. I find it delicious, but verging juuuuust on overbearing territory - it surely wouldn't go with everything, and seems so strong and rich it could be overwhelming on warm or hot days. To me this is a great big, bulky, imbued-with-bar-smells woollen overcoat you'd wear to protect from winter drizzle. At the beginning there's even a noticeable waft of ashtray - not poisonous nicotiney ash, but definitely a sense of something that's smouldered and been stubbed out. Hugely characterful - and I don't mean that as a polite way of saying 'borderline weird', but in the sense of being distinctively itself and not like much else I've ever tried. I'm powerfully ambivalent about it: for about 80% of the time I love and admire it, then for the other 20% I'm wondering if it's just too much. And this is, I'm pretty sure, the modern formulation tried on a woman - what must the old stuff on male skin have been like? A knockout, no doubt. Definitely unisex-skewing-masculine, but wearable on women - it's really *not* shy, though, it projects like a mother and is not a discreet kind of smell anyway, so definitely do try before you buy. ETA: Ended up thinking about this one so much I sprang for an FB and on this near-freezing, foggy, grey dark day in London it is EXACTLY the protective mantle my spirits need.

Coffee, vanilla, good herby almost black dope resin, chocolate, pepper, sandalwood, patchouli, cedar, ebony wood, the inside of a golden virginia tin. Coze by Parfumerie Generale, this stuff is "The Little Shop"/1978-79 in a bottle. The scent of those sophisticated chaps we were all in awe of, of deep polished wood, 1930s club armchairs, Italian coffee and mocha, dusty second hand fur coats and flapper dresses, chunky silver bracelets under the rolled up cuffs of crisp cotton grandad shirts, braces and bowler hats. David Essex and all the fun of the fair circa 1974 "Tarmac Your Drive For A Tenner Miss?" Oh. My. Goodness. Please God, do not send a man wearing this within ten feet of me, or my vow of celibacy is shot to sh*t. I gifted a sample of this to one of my more discerning male chums for assessment. He wrote: " a very fresh ground with highlights of matron's apron soaked with the bitter tears of a 3rd former who has fallen on the cross country run". I concur wholeheartedly, for his is the sort of erudite chap this fume suits perfectly.

Sit down light a toke and enjoy the trip as you go through a yummy and groovy journey with COZE! this non conventional scent opens with pure and uncut Cannabis that adds to the inebriation of the mind dries with crushed patchouli evokes the earthiness of dancing barefoot in wet mud under a summer's rain, then dryness of paprika with sundried nuances and grounded pepper make this a fiery exotica of the southwest a world of azure blue skies and terracotta red earth finishes the top level,Tobacco opens our second journey with it's wisp of smoke caressing your senses with it's dry bitterness Dark Chocolate adds to the sexiness and animalistic properties Oud brings the dark and esoteric mysteries of the mind Sandalwood with golden hues ends this journey with dry fiery nuances. This scent is daring and doesn't follow conventional rules of perfumery this is a unique piece.