Colognoisseur Holiday Perfume Buyer’s Guide 2017 Part 1- At The Mall

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The Holiday shopping season is about to begin in earnest. In the US it is signaled by the day after Thanksgiving dubbed Black Friday. Every mall in North America will be filled with shoppers. I thought I’d help those who are out shopping with a checklist of the new mass-market perfumes which have come out this year. This all comes with the caveat that I think buying perfume for someone else is a very difficult task. My "How to Give Perfume as a Gift" can be found in this link. If you want to buy a bottle for someone here are thirteen you will probably find at the mall this weekend and throughout the Holiday shopping season. All are linked to the original review earlier this year.

In the Department Stores

At the fragrance counters of the bigger stores you will find these four:

Bottega Veneta Eau de Velours– A fruity floral leather ideal for the colder temperatures

Jason Wu– A transparent jasmine for someone who doesn’t want something “too perfume-y”.

Jo Malone Green Almond & Redcurrant– A fragrance equivalent of fruit cake; in a very good way.

Tiffany & Co.- An iris soliflore as brilliant as an amethyst solitaire.

The New Ones from the Big Names

2017 saw three mainstream releases from three of the biggest brands in perfume all of them seem to be aiming for the younger demographic. These should also be available widely at anyplace which generally carries these brands.

Twilly D’Hermes– A simple ginger, tuberose, and sandalwood fragrance meant to be someone’s first perfume.

Chanel Gabrielle– A slightly more complex white flower accord sandwiched between citrus and sandalwood.

Thierry Mugler Aura– Here the white flowers are found in a humid green jungle brimming with vanilla.

The Flankers

There have been some good flankers released this year here are three to consider:

Tom Ford Noir Anthracite– This is a very different version of Noir than the previous releases. More spicy and much darker.

Prada Candy Gloss– The cherry, orange blossom, and vanilla perfume is one of the most fun releases and one of the best of 2017.

Valentino Uomo Noir Absolu– A perfume for scarves and sweaters with spices, incense, iris, and sandalwood.

Bang for the Buck

These three are excellent choices at the lower end of the price spectrum

Elizabeth and James Nirvana Amethyst– A gorgeous tobacco fragrance. Honestly the entire Elizabeth and James brand is a best buy.

Commodity Bergamot– A shaft of summer sunlight in a bottle glowing with citrus.

Ellis Brooklyn Rives– A fougere framed with petitgrain, neroli, cashmeran, and leather.

If you must buy perfume as a gift these are all good choices. In Part 2 tomorrow I’ll highlight the brands you might find in the small independent perfume sellers for Small Business Saturday.

Disclosure: All perfumes mentioned had samples sent to me from the brand except for Chanel Gabrielle which I purchased.

–Mark Behnke

New Perfume Review Jo Malone Green Almond & Redcurrant- Nuts and Berries

Posted on by in Mark Behnke, New Perfume Reviews and tagged , , , .

I’m beginning the process of looking back over the year as I start to consider my end-of-year lists. Part of the fun of this is as I look back at specific brands some of them sneak up on me with the quality of their releases for the year. One of those that I’ve realized has had an awesome 2017 is Jo Malone. One of the reasons is creative director Celine Roux has taken the brand in some new directions this year. It started on an auspicious note with one of my favorite perfumes of 2017 Myrrh & Tonka by perfumer Mathilde Bijaoui. In a nicely symmetrical way the Holiday release for 2017, Green Almond & Redcurrant, is also by the same team.

Celine Roux

Jo Malone is known for their floral perfumes. This year Mme Roux has spent more time exploring new ingredients which are at the darker end of the perfumer’s palette. Oak, whisky, hazelnut, and tobacco have all been keynotes in releases this year. There has also been a trend towards gourmand-y styles within this year’s collection. Green Almond & Redcurrant removes the modifying “y” and goes full gourmand for this seasonal release.  

Mathilde Bijaoui

Green almond is another of these accords of something that cannot be extracted. It gives the opportunity for a perfumer to fine tune the effect they are going for. In Green Almond & Redcurant, Mme Bijaoui accentuates the contrasting textures of tart and milky so that the green is supplied by an accompanying note.

Before we get there Mme Bijaoui takes the other note in the name and sandwiches it between mandarin and petitgrain to form a very rounded fruity accord. It can seem slight but it is worth focusing on the first few moments. These kinds of fruity accords are seemingly commonplace but this one meshes seamlessly. Which then sets up the green almond accord as the tarter quality of the accord resonates with the petitgrain. The mandarin slides into the milky aspect. Then blackcurrant buds provide a more primitive version of the redcurrant. Which is a nice connection but it is those buds which provide the real green in the green almond heart. The buds have a slight acerbic quality to them, here they provide the rawness that the green in green almond refers to. It all comes together beautifully. Tonka comes to give this the rounded toasted vanilla nature to make it feel like some exotic Holiday confection from a far-away place. The base is straightforward cedar and amberwood.

Green Almond & Redcurrant has 8-10 hour longevity and average sillage.

In my press materials it is mentioned that Green Almond & Redcurrant should be layered over Myrrh & Tonka. This is not something I am fond of but in this case with the same perfumer behind both it seems to create an even more festive fragrance. Green Almond & Redcurrant brings 2017 to a close with the same quality with which Jo Malone opened it. A combination of nuts and berries seems appropriate.

Disclosure: this review was based on a sample from Jo Malone.

–Mark Behnke