Black Tobacco

Lovely stuff--at least 9.8/10, where 10 is reserved for the one unattainable Platonic ideal of all fragrance and 9.9 may be reserved for fragrances that I inexplicably like even more than this one (and probably can wear more often) despite its being, to my nose, essentially faultless. The tobacco flower is strong up front and may be playing a part in the fact that I clearly smell something akin to patchouli in this, or at least something producing a similarly fresh or invigorating, but also slightly earthy or clay-like, effect. I suppose that some of that is probably down to the (earthy?) cacao pod and maybe the tolu balsam, although the balsam as it comes through is increasingly--well--balsamic, with fairly deep, dark, spicy facets and a kind of slightly coarse or spiky, semi-honking resonance that brings a little almost subliminal underlying edge to the fragrance in a way that works very well. Anyway the fragrance, very nicely blended, is dark, and round or full. It has a dark, rich tobacco scent comparable to a medium- or full-bodied Havana cigar with its brown colorado or maduro wrapper--not so much an aromatised pipe tobacco and certainly not the greener Aramis Havana type of tobacco. The fragrance is in no way forbiddingly dark or rich, though. Either way, I suppose that, yes, it is sweet, but that's not so much how I experience it either. It's sweet like good plain chocolate more than like any kind of gross-out sugary confection or whatever. Although the fragrance does pack a fair deal of ambery base (mostly from the balsam, presumably), "powdery" is not a word that I think would have particularly leapt to my mind here. Somehow this is too rounded or smooth for that or something. It has a kind of aura--go easy unless you want a migraine aura--but not a hugely powdery one. I concur--great autumn/winter evening fare, and easily up to formal occasions. The scent profile may not make it the ideal date fragrance but it is mysterious or ambient enough. P.S. Longevity certified eternal. I can still smell this through a thick fleece twelve hours in and, in the best way possible, the smell is essentially the same.

Upon first spray lots of fresh vanilla comes out of the bottle. There is also hint of floralness coming through, with the tobacco still lingering in the background. Then a smooth sweetness settles in which remains with a fair bit of vanilla still there and a bit of tobacco just barely making it to your nostrils. Overall, Black Tobacco is similar to Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille but smoother and rounder with a focus honey.