Roasted Chestnut

I was initially somewhat reluctant to try Rirana "Roasted Chestnut" because I know zero about Rirana Perfumes and zero about Malaysian perfume production... Roasted Chestnut is a pleasant surprise! The opening of Roasted Chestnut smells exactly like slightly roasted, charcoal roasted chestnuts. Not "charred" chestnuts but "perfectly roasted" chestnuts. Think Maison Margiela "By The Fireplace" but with the overpowering, acrid, smoky, campfire note in BTF dialed waaaaaaaay back. For context, I DETEST the acrid, smoky note in By The Fireplace. That note made me feel nauseous when I tried the fragrance for the first time, which was quite some time ago. And I clearly recall scrubbing forever to remove BTF from my skin. Roasted Chestnut is obviously about chestnut. However, the addition of honey and vanilla sweeten the perfume up quite a bit, making it a much more wearable fragrance than By The Fireplace. Also, the addition of cloves and cinnamon add dimension and depth, some additional interest to the fragrance. The honey and vanilla balance out the intense chestnut and smoky notes that are quite evident as the fragrance develops on the skin. The dry down is really lovely. The strong, photo-realistic, roasted chestnut opening slightly yields to the honey-cinnamon-vanilla notes. And there is a gentle, ashy-incense quality in the fragrance's dry-down that is quite cozy. I find the ashy-incense makes the fragrance lean unisex. But make no mistake; Roasted Chestnut is undoubtedly a chestnut-centered fragrance. Longevity is modest at 3-4 hours. Silage is minimal. If you like By The Fireplace, you will LOVE Roasted Chestnut.