Babycat Raw Bourbon

Babycat Raw Bourbon goes below a lot of people's radar because of its more famous and illustrious forebear; the iconic Babycat by YSL we all know and adore. BRB is one of those super rich, very sweet and sexy fragrances that epitomises the concept of a sexy and mysterious date night fragrance. The rich vanilla is dark and raw and is moved to a higher plain by the spices and resinous amber in this. There is a slight booziness to it as well which reminds me a bit - playfully - of the way bourbon whiskey tastes in sweet cocktails or poured over vanilla ice cream. The original Babycat is rightly acclaimed as one of the greatest vanilla fragrances ever and its flanker is a darker, more hedonistic imagining of the same DNA. It is interesting that the two have basically the same notes but feel quite different. You can wear the OG Babycat to the office and in the daytime. BRB is not office safe in any way. You'd have a meeting booked with HR by 9:15am if you tried. Not because of the scent or the sillage but because wearing this makes it likely your workmates will start removing their clothes and flirting uncontrollably with you. BRB evokes for me the flavours and richness of bourbon whiskey, dark bourbon vanilla, minerally pepper, brown sugar and of buttery, impossibly rich Segai Rhutab dates. The slightly minerally top comes from pink pepper and some beautifully-judged saffron. Together it is symphonic. I always find the pink and black pepper top notes here to be a nice surprise every time I wear it as you always forget that they are there, so dominant is the vanilla. I am always surprised at how powerful the pepper is in this, not in a bitter or smoky way but working with the smooth sweetness of the vanilla and the richness of the same suede accord we see in Animalique by Byredo (which is another one of my all timers and an equally unbelievable date night scent choice). The effect is mesmerising. Don't get this twisted. There is an awful lot more going on here than dark vanilla, that is for sure. The drydown is, for want of a better word, spectacular. I know I can be over-effuse at times but please believe me that I cannot think of a better adjective to use here. The dark vanilla starts to recede after an hour or so but never truly leaves and it brings in the other accords one by one in a really clever way. The peppers start in the opening and stay in for the duration but get more easily discernable as the vanilla calms down. The saffron moves against the mineral textures of the peppers whilst the suede warms up and grows. It is not linear in any way. It almost smells like a different fragrance after six hours when you are left with suede and saffron with some amber and pink pepper and very little vanilla. Babycat Raw Bourbon is quite literally an echo of a great date night. It starts off soft and easy, super sweet and smiley. Then it heats up, gets spicier and more serious as it goes on and ends as one of the sexiest most eye-closingly erotic skin scents ever. It stays as a memory on the skin for the lonely taxi home with the tender dawn tainting the horizon, with the booze still thudding in your temples and the breathlessly addictive taste of the other person on your lips, imprinted on your mind. You get home and you make yourself a cup of tea, sit silently on the sofa and decide not to go for a shower just yet because you want that memory to linger a bit longer as you stare at your phone and wonder if the other person is going to message you, or whether you should message them. You sniff your wrists as the memories flash into your consciousness. Lights. Darkness. Music. Smoke. Her lips. Her eyes locked onto yours. Her hair. The way her skin smells. The softness of her touch. Lying in the half light listening to Massive Attack, sheened with sweat with her taste on your lips. BRB is all of this, in fragrance form. Well. It is to me. My opinion is that BRB is one of those dark, seductive fragrances you absolutely should have in your collection. It is a must-have. I don't care who you are. Man, woman, none of the above, any age, any size, any race, any sexuality, whatever. I used to think it had limited utility as I don't wear it as often as I'd like but I realise now that this is a "me problem" as I don't go out as often as I used to and there are simply less opportunities to give it a run out now that I'm 47 and I'm doing 60+ hour weeks most weeks at work. Good fragrances, as I've said before, remind you of what it is like to be the best version of yourself and that version of me wears BRB a lot more than I do. But the real life version of me will always have Babycat Raw Bourbon in my collection. Three Word Summary: Date Night Bottled Scent - 9/10 Sillage - 8/10 Drydown - 9/10 Bottle/packaging - 8/10 Performance - 8/10 42/50

This morphs into a beautiful vanilla after a vanilla/suede opening that hangs around for about an hour or two. It can be a linear scent when you reach the mid and dry down stages, but the vanilla here is executed to perfection. I decanted some of this for a buddy after a couple of wearings when I was getting used to the suede opening. I wasn't really sure how I felt about it yet. As I made my way to the post office, I was getting the most wonderful wafts of this beautiful vanilla that was making my mouth water. I realized I got some of this on my hands and shirt/pants. I realized how amazing this smells in the air and fell in love. The supporting notes are there, and you can smell them here are there, but it's 90% (Bourbon) Vanilla. Although they do keep this from getting boring, and add a touch of something to make the blend interesting. Overall, I think it's a great vanilla scent that's unisex and would shine in the fall, cool to cold-ish weather. I have been getting about 6 hours on skin, 8 on clothing, and moderate projection and great sillage. The sillage on this one is amazing. I think this is very overpriced at retail, but at discounters, it is fairly priced once in stock. I'd rate it an 8-8.5/10. If you're a vanilla lover and want something good for the fall, check this one out. This stuff is almost edible. I've tried stinky ouds, smoky leathers, sweaty cumin, and a bunch of in-between. On a challenging scale from 1/10, I'd give this a 2/10. The suede was a little odd for the first wear or so, but once I caught a huge waft of this in the air, it was over. If I could recommend anything, I would say let this one come to you, meaning don't go too crazy with sprays close to the front your face. Edit: wife hates it. Guess its going up for sale. Damn shame this nose broken syndrome.

Such a shame it took so long for me to experience this fragrance due to my closest YSL boutique not having it in stock forever, but it certainly did not dissappoint and was well worth the wait. Right off the bat it's easily one the best Vanilla's I've ever smelt in a fragrance, and it's complimented beautifully by a soft non offensive leather/suede note with a little spiciness and resins in the back, with all this mind I'd say its a rather well blended scent, in the sense that I feel it's perfectly balanced in all its other facets below the vanilla to accentuate it. It's a very addicting fragrance and the testing paper it was sprayed on made my room smell absolutely divine for the next 2 weeks, it really does have a richness and darkness that many vanilla fragrances I've tried in the past simply don't come close to, or even in the same realm in that regard, projection is top notch too as on my skin it projected in a strong scent bubble for a solid 10 or so hours. In terms of what occasions it's best in, undoubtedly its a date night/dress up fragrance, tho I could see a usecase as a daily driver, it's richness and boldness really do accentuate and compliment the idea of it being a formal oriented scent really well. Perfectly unisex and addicting to both guys and gal's from my experience, with it being a big compliment getter as well. Goes without saying that it's most definitely a colder weather scent, I can see you getting away with it on a colder day in spring, but please dont wear this in summer 😅. In conclusion I'd say its a solid and beautifully crafted vanilla centric fragrance that every self respecting fragrance lover should try atleast once is it overpriced in my humble opinion? Yes, but is it a near perfect vanilla scent that'll turn heads?, most certainly. 9/10

Althair my S! This is a much more beautiful vanilla to my taste. It could be the maturation of the original Babycat samples/bottles I've tried in the past, compared to the new bottle of Raw Bourbon I got, but I sincerely pick up slight differences between the two when side by side. Main one being in the opening + 20+/- minutes from initial spray, and it could even be my mind tricking me because of the name, but something lightly boozy and LIGHTLY fruity comes up, again, faintly in the beginning of wearing experience. Lightly smoky vanilla and a "brown" attire kinda vibe all the way. I can picture this going so well accompanied by an actual brown or even beige suede jacket in a fall evening, and through colder seasons (early spring even). Doesn't smell AT ALL like shorts and a polo, or whatever, this is a 3rd layer of clothes accessory. Good longevity, projection, presence in general, and with this unisex kind of a appeal that I, honestly, do not find attractive for women but I do feel rather confident when I smell it on myself. Gives it a familiar, thus still appealing enough, comfort without any aggressive edges that pull one direction or another. Actually, this could be Orom's younger brother haha Unlike Rosendo #5 thankfully and even the original Babycat, I do not pick up on this rubbery feel from the suede+vanilla (in the Rosendo, the floral) tone. This is smooth and comfortable. Good investment, especially for someone who isn't super into sweet fragrances that bring out a sugary vanilla, this is quite the opposite of something like Althair even - which is not a fragrance I hate but very different takes on vanilla. An upgrade to Babycat, in my recommendation and for a more mature smell without straining challenges, would be Bvlgari Orom.

Previously I stated on my Capeline review that Babycat has limited uses which I still stand by that point. However, it’s such a luxurious and refined vanilla scent that I couldn’t help but keep thinking back on smelling it at the airport. Girlfriend saw how much I wanted it but I didn’t really want to fork out $530 (SGD) right now and decided to gift it to me because she liked how it smelled on me. Scent: Very HIGH quality vanilla smell as many people have said. Definitely one of the best. It’s not linear as well as it’s quite a multi layered scent with the peppery spicy opening, along with a very strong leathery yet sweet dry down with that high quality vanilla present the entire time. Simply delicious. Performance: I don’t know what’s beast mode but it’s definitely QUITE the performer. Strong projection, longevity and great scent trail. Girlfriend could smell the boozy spicy vanilla before I entered the room and after I left. Definitely very good performance, as close to beast mode without being suffocating as a vanilla scent as I could imagine. Versatility: I’m a firm believer on any scent could be worn at any time of the year. However Babycat definitely benefits from colder weather and more special occasions. I live in a tropical country and mostly use it for the night but I’ve rocked it in the day just with lesser sprays and the heat really brought out the spicy vanilla notes so it’s definitely usable just MODERATE THE SPRAYS. Scent: 10/10 Performance: 9.5/10 Versatility: 6/10 Personal Score: 9.5/10 Nothing much I’d really change about it other than maybe lower the price a little (still worth it in my opinion, if you can afford to splurge a little). Only thing that stops it from 10/10 is it’s versatility or lack thereof objectively.