Hedonist Absolute

This smells like old money, east coast. A house on the rocky coast of somewhere like Rhode Island - the kind with large bay windows and wood siding. The husband smokes a tobacco pipe and drinks the finest imported Caribbean rum and the scent of both has landed on his wife's expensive cashmere sweater and mixed with her more feminine, white floral perfume. They're probably going to an art gala that evening. I am nearly certain this is exactly what some 1940s femme fatale would wear - it screams Lauren Bacall to me. This is for a dark, sophisticated woman. Neither of which I am, but I love wearing fragrances that are all about who I want to be and, some days, I want to be the kind of woman who would have married Humphrey Bogart. There is a definite vintage quality that I love so so much. It opens for me with a sweet tobacco note that never fades. It's a bit woody and on the dry-down it's all white wood, dried fruits (somehow the rum note ends up this way), and sweet tobacco. This to me is incredibly well-balanced and well blended. My skin tends to amplify sweets and this is absolutely the case here, but in the best way possible. It definitely makes it lean feminine where, sometimes, these notes might lean masculine. It is a bittersweet type fragrance on my skin - enough bitter notes to not make this in anyway gourmand and to add a spicy quality that originates from the rum and white wood (birch as listed, but for me I can't distinguish which white wood). There is no musk, no powder. Because of that I can just absolutely bathe in it without headache or itchy nose. A fragrance for people, like me, who absolutely detest powdery and powdery floral fragrances and alarmed by how common they are now. I love vanillas, but this does not dry down vanilla for me at all (and I am glad for that - I have enough vanillas and not enough boozy tobaccos). I think this would be perfect for a night time date, an opera...evenings in the winter, especially, but also the fall. Sillage isn't great, so probably needs some extra sprays to be effective (I am a one spray girl most of the time). Definitely a 10/10 for me - this is my wheelhouse and the kind of scent my skin and nose love.

Okay i'll be honest this fragrance seemed a bit weird to me at first but it's growing on me. A floral sweetness mixed with earthy tobacco and rum. It's a tug of war between the saccharine floral scents and the boozy tobacco scents. The weird thing about this fragrance is it opens with strong floral notes, distrinctly feminine but with an undertone of rum and sweet tobacco. As it dries down, the floral notes all but vanish and the rum and tobacco take over, giving it an almost leathery scent. It boldly flips its gender, starting out feminine but transitioning into something more unisex, maybe even a smidge masculine. This is definitely a perfume for a bold and daring woman that doesn't mind a perfume that dips its toes into the savory end of the spectrum as it dries down. Sillage is pretty moderate, roughly arm's length at its peak i'd say but i guess you can always double up if you want better performance. The sillage is interesting in that it's present but just enough to give you a small glimpse of the scent, kind of teases your nose and makes you wonder where the smell is coming from. Lifespan is pretty great. I woke up the next morning and sniffed my arm and still got a noseful of that sweet leathery tobacco skin scent. This one is perfect to spray on skin if you're getting intimate, this drydown is heavenly and the residual skin scent is to die for. I couldn't stop smelling my arm. This fragrance is definitely worth trying out, a very unique and unforgettable one. Just sample it before you take the plunge, i'm sure it's not for everyone. For me this is a signature date night scent.

This is a delicious fragrance. A strong opening of boozy tobacco leaf, a molasses rum further sweetened by the vanilla. The tobacco is not at all ashy, more like a freshly opened pack of cigarettes or pipe tobacco, which brings just the right amount of dryness to balance the sweetness. I don't personally smell the floral notes separately, but I believe they are rounding and softening the overall experience. As it dries down it almost turns leathery. Reading the note list, one would think this is a masculine fragrance, and it could be, but to me it actually leans more feminine. It is dark and seductive, and sweet without being cloying or gourmand. It has a languorous glamour, like a panther in a diamond collar, powerful, sleek, velvety, a little bit aloof but aware that it could eat you alive if it chose to.

I love it so much, I can't decide if I love it more or the same as the original Hedonist. It's much more dry, the tobacco is the show stopper here and omg is it a wonderfully luxurious and sensual tobacco. I mean it just smells like old money to me. This is the kind of fragrance I dream of, it's everything I love in perfume and everything I want to smell like. It's just the right amount of softness and sweetness to not make it feel like a boys club, but it comes pretty close to stepping over that ledge. It's delectable. Absolutely stunning. I wish the bottle was as cute as the original and then I wouldn't hesitate to buy it instantly. 9/10

This is such a beautiful fragrance, the longevity is so good it last at least 8 hours. And the best part is you will make an entire room smell good. I get tons of compliments wearing this. I flirted with buying this fragrance for about 4 years and I am glad I bought this fragrance and also her baby sister. I mean there is nothing out there now that smells like this! I keep thinking maybe something I smelled in the 90"s IDK! But I will say this here is just a beautiful sexy fragrance for year round.

Gorgeous perfume. A boozy liqueured, fruit soaked Rum with a chewy like Tobacco. The Vanilla gives a powdered sweetness to it in the base. Not like all the other sweet tobacco fragrances, it’s got it’s own identity. It’s decent performer, the bubble is fairly close but lasts a good while. My only problem is the fake tan biscuit smell I get. I can’t get that association out of my head. That’s the only thing preventing me owning a full bottle. If that wasn’t an issue, it would be getting top marks.

Absolutely wonderful, sexy and sultry. I got it as a birthday present for myself and I couldn’t be happier!! This is the amped up version of the original Hedonist and let me tell you, I’ll be rocking it this Fall/Winter like there’s no tomorrow 😆😆🖤🖤 Boozy, creamy, woods-y but gourmand and deliciously decadent all in one spritz!! Plus that bottle is gorgeous! Not a safe blind buy, I had purchased a sample prior to getting the full bottle.

This fragrance is one of the best smelling perfumes I've ever come across. The absolutes by Viktoria Minya are way more long lasting than her non-absolute perfumes. This is a stronger, longer lasting version of Hedonist. I love everything about this perfume at every moment. I bought the three travel size bottles of the absolute line (Hedonist, Iris, and Rose); I will definitely be buying it again.

I am head over heels for this one. It is the smell of the wealthy, and it is nostalgic to me, reminiscent of my happy, carefree childhood when my mom and her friends put on perfumes before taking us to the movie theater.

Opens boozy and quickly mellows into woody, malty sweetness with some peachy/dried fruit tones. Delightfully novel in the sense that it strongly reminds me of the smell of hot cereal with fruit and syrup. At the same time I've never really had the urge to hit the town smelling like cream of wheat. Far dry down has some leanings toward Goutal Sables. I'd file this under "definitely sample before buying" because I suspect chemistry will play a heavy part with this one.

It does have a fake tan smell and once smelt can never be unsmelt, but this is a richer darker version of the original Hedonist. The opening was a bold and overpowering boozy onslaught of smoky liquor. It was almost like a chocolate liqueur but with a peachy syrup. It quickly calms to resemble the original Hedonist but with an extra raisiny sweetness.

Oddly smells similar to Oscar Bella Rosa on my skin. The comparison to Donna Noir kills me, this doesn't remind me of that beauty at all.

I preferred this to the regular Hedonist, but not enough to take it any further. The tobacco is amped up, there is also a woodsy-resinous element there, too, but it still lacks something, maybe a wow factor. This would be better if there was some plum or dates thrown in, maybe even something sweet-sour. I don't know. It just needs something else to really make it pop. I like it, nonetheless...

It is a totally different Hedonist. I remember the original being honey-boozy, fruity–hay. The new absolute is rougher. There is no helichrysum, but I smell a lot of it. The fragrance beautiful, now it is quite unisex, even more masculine. Cocoa and dry hay/immortelle, no iris, no leather. Amazing!

very different, dark and smoky, a little boozy; this is sexy with a twist, not as sweet as the original. I keep sniffing my wrist for some sultry vanilla and some fleeting jasmine.I am considering a full bottle for sure.No clue if I can source it locally, but thank God for friends in Budapest :)

Tried today in a lovely perfumery in Budapest. The rum note is very prominent, rendering the whole scent darker. I personally prefer the lightness of the original, I recommend the Absolute to those who prefer the edgier, stronger perfumes. Best for colder weather.

Lovely and boozey, but smells like a fall scented candle or something you would scent your home with. No way I could actually wear this. Definitely worth a try however!

Another booze-tobacco unisex snell from and for the Instagram generation. Keep on walking, nothing to see here...