Plum Japonais

Tom Ford Plum Japonais opens with a moderate and very pleasant combination of mostly oud and plum notes. The opening is very sweet, it contains floral, resinous, earthy, spicy and gourmand notes and all of them contribute to the fragrance. The oud found in the fragrance has a very strong wood accord however, it isn’t pungent or animalic, it comes as a fresh and vibrant wood tone. The plum, and plum blossom mix with the vanilla and cinnamon creating an exquisite gourmand tone that is prominent. The saffron, immortelle, and camellia, add their aromatic floral tones but they are not as prominent as the plum or oud. The liquor adds its boozy accord which combines well with the sweet and fruity tones. The benzoin and amber contribute with their sweet and aromatic accords. Once Tom Ford Plum Japonais reached its full dry-down, it can be summarized as a very aromatic, moderate projecting, resinous, sweet, fresh oud, and plum fragrance with floral, spicy, boozy and fruity accords. The fragrance feels delectable, elegant, exotic, expensive, exquisite, formal, high-quality, inviting, masculine, mature, modern, nicely-blended, refined, rich, sophisticated, sweet, unique, versatile, warm, woody, and very pleasant. BATCH REVIEWED: 2020. WOW RATING: 10/10. The combination of notes in this fragrance is fantastic. DISLIKE RATING: 1/10. The oud could be offensive to some people although it feels more like fresh aromatic wood. The boozy accord is very mild and it is unlikely to be offensive. UNIQUENESS: 10/10. Tom Ford Plum Japonais is a unique recognizable fragrance. MASS APPEAL: 9/10. The sweet, gourmand, fruity, and floral tones score a high mass-appeal. PROJECTION: 4/10. Moderate, about 4 feet around the wearer. SILLAGE: 4/10. Moderate, about 4 feet behind the wearer. APPLICATION: Four atomizations will suffice. It is unlikely that additional atomizations will make the fragrance offensive but just improve performance. LONGEVITY: 4/10. About 2 hours with 2 of good projection. SEASONS: Winter, fall, winter. Any mild or colder days and climate-controlled environment. OCCASIONS: Formal events, outdoor gatherings, office, business, casual, holidays, romantic, dating, clubbing. This is an office-friendly fragrance. VERSATILITY: 8/10. This is a highly versatile fragrance. GENDER: Masculine, the oud, and boozy accords lean it to the masculine side. AGES: 30 and above. RECOMMENDATION: Tom Ford Plum Japonais is a fragrance difficult to find discounted, and with a price tag of $240 for just 50ml, it goes to the nice-to-have list. BLIND-BUY: Yes, but only if you are familiar with its main notes. SIMILAR: Dua Fragrances offers Plumlicious, a great clone of Tom Ford Plum Japonais. SUMMARY: A very aromatic, moderate projecting, resinous, sweet, fresh oud and plum fragrance with floral, spicy, boozy and fruity accords that feels delectable, elegant, exotic, expensive, exquisite, formal, high-quality, inviting, masculine, mature, modern, nicely-blended, refined, rich, sophisticated, sweet, unique, versatile, warm, woody, and very pleasant.

I previously published a review on this fragrance, but I felt compelled to rewrite it now that I’ve had some more time with it. In my review, I mentioned how I didn’t feel that Plum Japonais (henceforth referred to as PJ) was worth the inflated asking prices you find these days. In the months since, after thoroughly wearing my decant out, I find myself eating my words as I forked out for a 50ml. Look. I’ve tried the clones. But they don’t fill the void. Take Forbidden Plum by Alexandria, for example. Many people prefer it since it uses a sweeter, juicier plum and amps up the projection and longevity. I own it and can attest to both of these being true. But PJ has something that no clone of it could possibly hope to have. It’s a Tom Ford. And I’m not referring to brand cache, each Tom Ford fragrance has a certain something... I affectionately call it the Tom Ford ‘thing’. It’s the dark, heavy, sensual quality that comes out very prominently in many of their scents. It immediately grounds PJ and turns it from fruity and playful to dark and mysterious. Whereas some of the clones of this fragrance could lean unisex, PJ is undoubtedly masculine. Normally, I’d break down the notes and provide my (admittedly, reasonably amateurish) thoughts on how they all work together and compliment each other. But I refuse. Not for this one. This is a fragrance that, to me, cannot possibly be broken down to its components. To quote the movie Amadeus; “Displace one note and there would be diminishment. Displace one phrase and the structure would fall.” - Plum Japonais is a masterpiece of a fragrance. It is one of the few fragrances that will stop me in my tracks when I smell it radiating off of myself. Every time. If there was ever any doubt that perfumery was an art form, here’s the proof. And it’s proof that this wonderful art doesn’t have to be inaccessible.* This isn’t a fecal oud fragrance that will get you sanctioned for violating the Geneva Conventions. It’s not going to knock absolutely everybody’s socks off, but you’d be hard pressed to find a single person who was repulsed by it. * = Let’s talk about accessibility now, shall we? These days, this is a $400-500 fragrance. For a 50ml, it winds up approaching the near mythical $10/ml mark. So - is PJ worth that kind of scratch? It was to me. But as I mentioned, this one floored me from the first moment I smelled it. And every single time I wore the decant, I found myself checking out the ebay listings. When you are really, truly struck by a fragrance like this... you feel it. I recommend trying this one before you buy it. Decants of the stuff aren’t exactly cheap these days, but for 2x the retail price as the standard going rate... I don’t know that I’d consider it particularly blind buy safe.

How can I possibly write about this scent and do it justice?... This discontinued beauty has been on my list of all-time favorite fall/winter fragrances since the moment I first sniffed it. This is, quite possibly, due to the fact that the mid-phase smells *exactly* like the inside of my grandma's house when she was burning incense in the middle of winter. (I let my mom get a whiff of this, and she made the same, immediate connection without being prompted, so I know it's not just me. For us, it's a fragrant -- and stunningly accurate -- trip down memory lane.) Since the rest of the world didn't hang out at my grandma's house, I'll do my best to explain what I experience when I wear PJ. The opening notes are rich and spicy -- I get a blend of cinnamon and plums (which have been cooking slowly on the stove all morning, marinating in the spice... it is the aroma of fruit being simmered on low heat... something which requires patience to prepare). Overall, it's a very "warm" and comforting scent. Soon after, PJ evolves; the plum and a hint of cinnamon remain, but a smoky incense note joins in. It's a fir-based incense -- just like my grandma's favorite incense cones of long ago. (It's not the smell of a so-called "hippie" shop, and it's not church incense... not that there's anything wrong with either of those things, because I enjoy both of them, but this incense is in a class of its own.) Eventually, the translucent veil of incense fades away, and the drydown settles into a cozy base of dry vanilla, amber, and what must be the benzoin, with a lingering hint of plum and fir. I don't really get any oud, but I don't feel that the perfume lacks anything simply because I don't *happen* to experience that particular note... for me, it's fine just the way it is. It's never "too much" of anything -- never too fruity, never too sweet, never too spicy, never too smoky. It's deep and dark, but not "midnight" dark. It's blended to perfection. It also has reasonable longevity and projection. Chances are good that people will be able to smell this from arms' length. Had I known that this was going to be discontinued, I would have bought every bottle I could lay my hands on. (As it is, I've resorted to rationing what I have left and saving it for special occasions, and I consider myself fortunate to own what remains of my bottle.) This is truly a masterpiece, in my opinion... and I wish TF would bring it back (in its original, unaltered form, of course).

Tom Ford Plum Japonais is becoming a unicorn, a legendary creature that commands mythical prices. I managed to get my hands on this, and I'm really glad that I did. It's such a complex and beautiful fragrance. Dark, rich, and undoubtedly a Tom Ford. I've been exploring several niche brands recently, and invariably I come back to Tom Ford. There is something about the house's DNA that just works for me. Granted, there are some (especially their newer Private Blends) that are quite lackluster in my opinion, and it is a real shame because many discontinued PBs had some real character. Case in point: Plum Japonais. This really reminds me somehow of another discontinued TF which is Tom Ford Extreme, or Tom Ford for Men Extreme. It has that same dark incense note that is so smoky and spicy, and very well blended. However PJ goes off in a fruitier and plum direction, whereas TF Extreme goes into patchouli and truffle. Both in my opinion are absolute masterpieces. PJ is unisex but it really does lean masculine, however I can totally see a woman rocking this proudly. On my skin the incense and smokiness of the formulation really come out, and it is quite dry and projecting. I imagine on a woman the fruitier and plummier notes might be more forward. Longevity and projection are really good here, above average for a TF. One spray on my forearm lasted for 6+ hours and the smell really radiated out to arms length and filled the car / permeated the room. Identifying notes here is quite hard in this case, which is a good sign of the perfumer. Everything hangs together very well, to me it smells like a very rare and precious incense that is being burned in a golden brazier. Then, someone deftly adds some dried plum to the burning substance and poof! This is not blind buy safe, but if you like very intense and incense-like, dark and smoky fragrances, this might work out for you. It's a shame this is discontinued really.

Oh my, oh my...how very, very beautiful this is! This is so lovely that it's emotionally touching. I've spent time in my late teens wandering the Asian district of Seattle, and have truly been enriched by tasting the culture there. I wish I could travel and afford to experience more, but Japanese flavors are so rich and exquisite and this embodies that. I don't expect everyone to feel the same, this is quite a subjective response and emotional reaction; and I admit (and am cool) with that. It shoots me into memories of packaged dried fruits and spicy bags of ingredients in the market in the incense-heavy air. The plum is so, so dry along with the warm ambery tones and the cinnamon that it's comforting and exotic all at once. I love juicy plum, but I feel as if I love this more (if you had asked me yesterday I would've claimed it to be impossible) I recommend wearing it as it is today in the PNW; damp and chilly. This sings in the gloom! I adore the quality of the notes here, including immortelle (usually known as "helichrysum"), which is unusual but i actually happen to own the essential oil as well, this includes and utilizes that weird note beautifully. Immortelle also tends to smell very dry. You can detect some saffron too, but it's not too "expensive", it' remains very "streetmarket". This is strange, dark, striking and arid. Not much vanilla in the drydown, it's an oud-y broody experience that leaves one with the burning desire to wear dark clothing in either maroon or deep eggplant. It's understandable that this is being contested for not being labeled "unisex", and I agree that it should absolutely be. These notes are all just gorgeous on humanity of all kinds. Gender specificity cheapens it in my opinion. Overall, I am beyond thrilled with this (I consider 5 ml or over "having" a fragrance) and I'm seeking to acquire another substantial decant. It's stunning.