Caron Yatagan
I was looking for really dark, heavy notes, hash maybe, maybbe some sort of budding marijuana notes, nothing like that ever came through.
"You won't find the weed note in oud. You'll find it in weed."
duh! I was looking for that note in Black Afghano. Supposedly many people found it....
Audrey Blavot
by Imaginary Writers
orchid, honey, aldehydes, white musk, shimmering tree bark
I'm very excited to be able to sample some creations of a new line of fragrances that not only incorporates literary references but has made them all up as well - they are all imaginary. The creativity behind the storylines alone - fictitious, of course - are enough to get you excited about the line and a quick sniff of all of them shows that these were not whimsically designed. Audrey Blavot centers around the orchid as a "floral calling card" for a mysterious female writer living in Paris in the '50's. It comes across as a fairly linear floral aldehyde with strong, clean musk notes and a hint of sandalwood. I'm not sure what an orchid smells like, to be honest, but this opens with a moderately sweet almost citrusy smell like the scent of a white flower - not the sweet nectar smell but the drier smell of pollinated stigma or overloaded anthers. Combined with the musk and aldehydes this has a crisp and bright feel, a little too bright for my tastes, which I attribute to the white musk, an ingredient that is not one of my favorites - I prefer skankier musks. A little more honey might tone that down and give it a dirtier feel but also might compromise other notes. About four hours in, however, I picked up creamy sandalwood notes, just a whisper, but they were there and it's my supposition that "shimmering tree bark" is not as synthetic as it sounds but an accord comprised of sandalwood and something else. Late in the drydown herbal/medicinal notes are just barely more evident, possibly from the honey. All in all, a fine fragrance that is somewhat reminiscent of Eccelso and evokes images of lemon cooler cookies even though the main accord is a soft floral. Might not be my cup of tea but I've smelled something like this before from the likes of DSH and Soivohle so I know this would appeal to a variety of others.
I thought Black Afghano was supposed to smell like hash....