At the moment - Top 3 favourites

Picture: From a walk earlier this autumn,
before the leaves started to fall.
Photo: Parfumista (c)

As a Parfumista my longing for a certain fragrance or fragrancestyle are highly volatile, what I crave for is changing very fast. Top 3 by now:

Lankaran Forest (Maria Candida Gentile): Fresh, piny green, the undergrowth in a cold, autumnal forest. Nothing sweet or cloying, meditative to wear.
Rose Privèe (L'Artisan Parfumeur): When I first tested this three years ago it was not a favourite, even if intriguing, I thought it was to harsh and herbal. But now, I completely changed my mind, this is the smell of an English garden a chilly day. This is how the new Burberry Her should have smelled.

Cuir Cuba Intense (Parfums de Nicolaï): Sundried tobaccoleaves, in a light leathery context. Elements of hay, light, dry spices and dry patchoulileaves. Not a thick and dense but an airy and transparent tobacco.

Franck Boclet - Patchouli

Picture: Empress Josephine in a
patchouliscented kashmere shawldress
Painting by painting by Antoine-Jean Gros (1809)
Picture from pintertest, referred to 1000fragrances.bolgspot.com 

Patchouli is a fragrance from the perfumline of the fashionhouse Franck Boclet. Patchouli is created by perfumer Melaine Leroux.

Patchouli starts with an old book musty patchuli but the old book note is not as strong or sharp as in Les Nereides Patchouli Antique. Soon the old book impression lightens up and a dark chocolate and spices are added, with the moisty impression prevails. After a while the chocolate and spices transforms to a beautiful, clean not by any means muddled tobbacco note. Tobbacco is not mentioned among the notes but somehow the fresh tobbacco smell is present. This clean almost sparkling and natural smelling tobbacco is the leading part for quite a while, the tobbacco reminds me of the beautiful Parfums de Nicolaï Cuir Cuba Intense. Then the patch, this time cleaner and earthier, once again takes the centerplace. The pathouli is now paired with a very pleasant, smooth, moisty, creamy, slight musky note, which rounds the edges off. As Patchouli dries further down, the spicy accord appears again as also the tobbacco glimpses now and then. The basenotes are woody with ambery, vanillic touches, the patchouli still present but appears lighter and cleaner almost as it now has transformed for a mission where it has to offset the other sweeter and heavier basenotes.

Picture: Franck Boclet Patchouli
Photo: PR Franck Boclet (c)

Having a soft spot for patchoulifragrances, Franck Boclet Patchouli IMO is a very good and multifaceted representant of the genre. As much is going on, with contrasting elements interacting in different ways during the different phases of the dry down, Patchouli is particulary intriguing when taken in consideration that it's presented as a solinote perfume (which it of course is not).

Patchouli is a warm, comforting and relaxing patchouli, perfect for autumn and winter. It's projects close to medium depending on dosage. It's unisex in character and could be worn for work or casual. Very good longevity, it lasts unfragmented for more than a day.

Those who likes patchouli fragrances as Chanel Coromandel, Oriza L. Legrand Horizon and Ramon Monegal Mon Patchouly will probably like Franck Boclet Patchouli too.

Rating: 5

Notes: Patchouli, cedar- and sandalwood, amber, benzoin, tonka been, vanilla, musk

Thanks to Fragrance and Art for the sample to test

Parfums de Nicolaï - Cuir Cuba Intense

Picture: Native American Tobaccoo flower and buds
Photo: William Rafti of the William Rafti Institute (c)
Wikimedia commons, some rights reserved

 Cuir Cuba Intense is a recent creation from one of the perfumer I appreciate the most, Patricia de Nicolaï. OK, she's a Guerlain offspring so she has perfume in her blood so to say, but the heritage in it self doesn't form a talented perfumer. Patricia is not just talented (there are many talented) she also has the education, training and long experience that in the long run discerns a master parfumer form the good perfumers and the up coming stars. Patricia creates very wearable perfumes which are distinctive and intriguing but in the same time  commercially viable. Cuir Cuba Intense is another example of such a fragrance from the house of de Nicolaï.

Cuir Cuba Intense starts fresh sparkling with  warm citrus and fresh tobacco leaves balanced with some smooth, darker almost gourmand notes of licorice and anise. I can imagine just harvested tobaccoleaves that dries in the sun. Soon a bright and intensive, magnolia note appears and gives tha fragrance a warm, flowery, uplifitng expression. The magnolia is not the shrill and almost disruptive magnolia of  Frederic Malle Eau de Magnolia, the magnolia in Cuir Cuba Intense is sort of domesticated and it's better balanced with other notes. Cuir Cuba Intense is sunny, warm and a happy perfume. After a while smooth spicy elements are showing up, a bit peppery and deepening the warmth and pleasing nature of the fragrance. The cumin is skillfully handled, it doesn't stand out as a separate note, I suppose it just adds some of the strength to the spicy mix. As Cuir Cuba Intense reaches the basenotes it becomes darker and a slight gourmand, spicy cake, aspect of the fragrance appears and is offsetted by a light, animalic touch which create an intriguing inteaction. The patchouli, which smells what I percieve as the smell of natural patchouli leaves are blended with the fresh tobbacco in a extraordinary beautiful way, the best balanced rendition of the combo I have sniffed so far. In the basenotes Cuir Cuba Intense reminds me of another enjoyable recent release, Huitième Art Liqueur Charnelle but without the booze of the latter. The leather in Cuir Cuba Intense is not obvious to me, but tobbacco fragrances are often also referred to as leather/tobbacco. The fragrance is also not the heavy mens club, club chair tobbacco as for example By Kilian Back to Black, which I also like much, Cuba Intense is playing in its own league with the brilliant idea combining the fresh tobbacco with the magnolia.

Picture: Cuir Cuba Intense in the 100 ml bottle
Photo: PR Parfums de Nicolaï (c)

Cuir Cuba Intense is just that, very intense with a strenght that makes four spritzes on the verge to too much. A small 30 ml bottle will last for ages. The longevity is very good, I can smell it  light but unfragmented on skin after 24h. It's the perfect perfume to brighten up in winter but as a work of such an experienced perfumer, I could imagine it will show other aspects when tested in summer. Cuir Cuba Intense is unisex, leaning a bit to the feminine side when it comes to my nose.

Rating: 5

Notes: Lemon, star anise, licorice, mint, lavender, geranium, ylang-ylang, magnolia, coriander, cumin, patchouli, cedar, tobacco, hay, liatris, civet