Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Fragrance Review: New Haarlem Revew (Bond No. 9)


 
 The only Bond No.9 worth paying full price for. There are other good ones like China Town and Brooklyn...but just good...not lavish.

Group: Sweet Oriental

Smells like: The pleasure one's mouth receives upon eating a sweet Turkish delight or Baklava, while immediately emulsifying the dessert with a coffee with light cream and sugar.

Rating: 9/10

This stuff is amazing. Forget about the deliciousness and the mouth watering aspect of this fragrance. There is so much complexity to this fragrance despite only having about 5 to 6 notes.

Only my man Maurice can do something like this. What Roucel has done here is take a simple note, Coffee, and turned it into a fragrance that evolves into the various stages of a wonderful time in New York City history: old school Harlem!

In the era the fragrance tries to depict...Harlem was a "New" Haarlem (that's how it was spelled back then with two a's)..and that's what the fragrance is portrays...the evolution of a wonderful part of Manhattan that was slowly becoming inspired by speakeasies that play Miles and Coltrane in the background...jazz clubs with a smokey airiness of coffee is it clashes with the sweet perfumes of the waitresses mingling with the woody colognes worn by cats in fedoras and suits and canes and tie bars...who, after a long night of snapping fingers and dancing and playing cards, would step out, woman in hand, letting all the aromas inside their beloved joint to succumb to what's left of the nature in Manhattan.

Coffee with Lavender is hard to picture...but throw in the sweet earthiness of Pathchouli and a light cedar base..and Roucel not only created the perfect combination of Coffee and florals, but so well blended that anyone who embarks on this trip is sure to be pleased.

New Haarlem is very sweet, but EXTREMELY tolerable...and ready?...waitt for it...YES..tolerable EVEN in the SUMMER (long as you go light on the trigger). Most will tell you that this is a cold weather scent...true, but I don't think it's exclusive to cooler moments. The reason is, New Haarlem is this phenomenal airiness to it..overtime the coffee mellows out, and the patchouli/lavendar/vanilla begins to rise - the gorgeous thing about this evolution is, in the cooler periods..one will say "Wow, this is perfect for the winter..what a cozy and warming scent but sweet enough to distract my senses."..During warmer moments, catching whiffs of this gorgeous scent one will think "wow...what a crisp, sweet, coffee'ish, airy scent."

Very versatile.

Longevity: 9+ hours (12+ on clothing)

Sillage: Mesmerizing scent trail. "I want to eat you alive.." type compliments to "what...is...that...fragrance...I can't stop sniffing you!" ...thank god I got all day ;-) I wore this in Miami once, yes, Miami...two sprays, one on each forearm, and catching whiffs of this was such a delight while walking along Ocean Drive, letting the breeze from the Atlantic carry this composition around me.

Projection: Not a MONSTER in the sense of Godzilla...but let's call it Bigfoot...will get the job done should one stumble upon it.

9/10

Will always be a part of my collection. Always.

2 comments:

  1. This blog is great!!! I love perfumes (male/female) and pretty much every single other thing that could possibly be fragranced, please keep the reviews coming.-Susan

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment Susan! Appreciate it. Will definitely keep the reviews coming and if there are any particular fragrance suggestion...run them by me!

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