Blackberry Brandy

Super gorgeous and leans feminine. Sweet juicy boozy blackberry with a bit of a natural sourness to it, deep resinous syrupy heart with a balsamic woody base. The red berries and black cherry create a wine impression but the brandy makes it a deeper boozy scent than basic wine. There's something ambery dry, woody and nostalgic in it like a wine cellar smell, not dusty or rancid, and it's coming from the brandy note which captures that oak barrel scent where brandy is matured. This is like a woody sugared liqueur fruity sangria if that could ever be a thing. I agree with the reviewer that mentions the paper note. At the drydown there's a bright warm woody aroma that competes with the blackberry liqueur scent but blends with it seamlessly eventually and it smells quite like the Paperback fragrance by Demeter. (I sprayed the Paperback perfume on my left arm to compare). It must stem from the cedar and labdanum. The labdanum adds the ambery balsamic warmth but doesn't come off leathery on me. I bought it 2 yrs ago so it has macerated by now. I hate how The Dua receives so much hate. I own about 200 and they're my most complimented perfumes even though I don't use that as a in indicator of a good perfume.

I love DUA and was SOOOO excited for this one to show up. Unfortunately, with this one I was terribly disappointed. Im letting macerate and i'll revisit it in the Fall to see if it has matured into something that works a bit better for me. DUA typically crushes it so I was a bit saddened by this fragrance. I will update if the laceration makes a measurable difference.

A new favorite. In the bottle, it smells like the perfumer’s alcohol. On skin first off, it smells like rich lovely woody vanilla with resins and berries. Drying it gets more fake berry notes, like artificially flavored syrup. That passes, and the most prominent smell is of a woody resinous vanilla. That is what sillage projects. There's a lovely papery note like the leather in Cuir de Orient that I adore SO much. This, is along with the resins and a spiced vanilla custard is so wonderful and the berry is there but only as a hint. I really am loving this one. It was a blind buy in the travel size but it's worth a full bottle for sure.