New Haarlem Bond No. 9 (2003)

Bottle Design: Susan Wacker

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7.5 / 10 163 Ratings

New Haarlem is a popular perfume by Bond No. 9 for women and men and was released in 2003. The scent is gourmand-spicy. The longevity is above-average. It is still in production.

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Perfumer

Maurice Roucel

Fragrance Notes

Lavender, Bergamot, Green leaves, Coffee, Cedarwood, Amber, Vanilla, Tonka bean, Patchouli

Ratings

Scent

7.5 (163 Ratings)

Longevity

8.6 (121 Ratings)

Sillage

7.8 (110 Ratings)

Bottle

7.3 (115 Ratings)

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 01.11.2018

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Reviews

04/08/2018

8.0 7.0 7.0 7.0/10

Smora

Very helpful Review 4

Sleepy Winter Morning

Scentrack: Gazebo - I Like Chopin

At first I was not a fan of New Haarlem, considered it to be unbalanced and impossible to wear. But then a complete overturn has happened in the form of fresh autumn air. Everything hidden under several layers was finally revealed. As usually in life, thin is the line between love and hate. Obviously only the intensity of emotions are important and like in chemistry the charges are quickly exchanged.
New Haarlem is a scent of beautiful lavender and coffee on the warm base. Bergamot only introduces the main players and leaves. Classic Roucel's fougere lavender and espresso coffee are perfectly complementary and forms new olfactive entity. The base of patchouli, tonka and vanilla is to die for. It is hard to resist such heavenly gourmand combo.
To me New Haarlem is olfactive description of a sleepy winter morning. The coffee wakes me up, but warm sweetness puts me to sleep again. A perpetual morning battle.

Rating: 7/10

02/25/2018

RhythmnHues

Helpful Review 3

#Rehashed exclusivity

When Jean-Francois Laporte founded L'artisan Parfumeur, in the late 70s (and Maître Parfumeur et Gantier, in the 80s) I'm very sure his vision for what we now call 'Niche' was nowhere close to what it has become now. Quite antithetical actually, according to me. Laporte's idea was to break free of the constraints of mainstream nonsense of following silly fashion trends and keeping it safe (and boring). He wanted to give his perfumers a free hand at developing new radical ideas without any restrictions or concerns of the mass market. The perfumer called the shots, so to speak, not the audience or some designer. Their audience was intended to be small, not to indicate any kind of elitist-snobbish-exclusivity - but it was mainly for serious frag-heads of sorts. The kind of people who obsessively dug deep into perfumes, like art, and were curious to see if there were more creative possibilities in this field. And since the end product usually included high quality raw materials and creative concepts they were priced a little higher than mainstream designer perfumes, but not as obnoxiously high as exclusive houses, like say Creed. Fast-forward to the 90s and the Niche folk are now exclusive and (rather shamelessly) following trends of the mainstream. Bond No. 9 was practically leading that pack. Releasing dozens of fashionable rehashed ideas right down to Cool Water-clones and what-not, with the stupidly exorbitant exclusive range price-tags to boot.

I think it sort of (almost directly) speaks of our society. We prefer exclusivity over creativity? We want to be able to brag more than experience something new or different. Which certainly explains the success of brands like Creed, Tom Ford, Roja Dove, Clive Christian etc. These brands have almost exclusively been rehashing classics with minor tweaks, sometimes with much richer raw materials (Roja Dove). But there is nothing 'niche' or 'creative' about their works. They're just selling exclusivity. Elitist-snobbery value.

Take the case at hand. New Haarlem. Bond No. 9. - Maurice Roucel had already executed this concept, quite stunningly, for Rochas in 1999. And Rochas Man, to me, is superlative in all aspects when compared to this. A perfumer re-visiting an old concept is not new but to do so for a 'niche' house and not make any significantly creative changes to it is kinda meh. I should mention I'm a fan of Maurice Roucel and a huge admirer of so many great works he has created over the years - so this is not to put down Roucel in any way. But it does feel like a letdown. This feels like they took Rochas Man, sent him to the gym and introduced him to steroids. Very thick. loud, and characterless. Very D'uh! Now if that happened to be a Rochas flanker or by some house in the Middle East that "customizes clones for discerning customers" it'd not have been an issue as such. In fact Rochas did offer an Intense flanker of Rochas Man and that too was really good. But to pay this kind of money for a shallow variation on an old theme is just plain wrong. As a community of individuals who spend so much of their money on fragrances I think we need to be questioning ourselves & the industry very seriously. Especially if we even share a part of the passion & vision that Jean-Francois Laporte had for perfumery.

5/10

P.s: Apologies since this seems more like a rant than a review.

1 Replies

02/24/2018

10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0/10

Lockon

Pancakes!

This is such a sexy mature syrupy scent...With no syrup or maple sap note in it. But I still smell it. Syrup you put on pancakes type of ascent.
Tasty, in fact, it made me go & order pancakes at my local diner before work. God this thing smells delicious.
Must buy, if you love gourmand fragrances.

I was on the Lirr, heading to work after finishing my meal at the diner. And someone said out loud what the fuck smells so sweet? At first, I thought it was"shit did I spray too much on", and then it was followed by... now I want pancakes or a cinnamon roll. I started laughing at that comment.
She & her friends sat across from me and said "it's a lot stronger now"...they're looking around and finally asked do I smell anything. I said you're smelling me... we spoke about the fragrance and random stuff afterward till we hit Penn Station.

Not bad bond no.9, not bad at all.
With all honesty, this fragrance makes an excellent wingman...This frag will be in my favorites(top ten) from now on.

BTW: If you don't wanna shell out the cash for this, you can just get Rochas Man By Rochas... It's 80% the same, but Rochas Man doesn't last as long, so carry a travel atomizer.
I used six sprays...both wrist, back & front of my neck, chest, and front of my shirt.

Will I buy this again?...YES!(If I can get it at 90 again or lower).

Does this fragrance enter BEAST MODE, good, just okay or weak sauce at best? Beast mode in Sillage & projection!

What's the strength of this? EDP.

Am I willing to trade this fragrance? No.

Should You Skipped It, Sample It First or Blind Buy It? Blind Buy worthy, if you love gourmands and like syrup like scents, this is a must for you! For everyone else, sample first.

Can you use it as a unisex scent? Yes.

Is it the old, new formulation? Current.

What's its availability; in production, limited edition or discontinued? In production.

SKU Number: 888874000896
Batch Number: 2855 (Production Date: Unknown)

Age: 25+
From: Let It Go (Someone didn't want it and bought it from them)
Size: 100 ML
Scent: 5/5 (Amazing).
Value: 3.5/5 (Cost $90.00).
Sillage: 5/5 (Six feet easy).
Longevity: 5/5 (Ten hours).
Creativity: 5/5 (Tonka bean, amber, coffee & vanilla smell like maple syrup).
Projection: 5/5 (Three hours plus maybe four hours, then a skin scent afterward).
Versatility: 5/5 (Fall, Winter & early springtime, any time of the day).
Compliments: 5/5 (I was told I smelled like hotcakes).

Until next time, I'll catch you on the flipside.

03/06/2015

7.5 10.0 10.0 9.0/10

Briarthorn

Helpful Review 6

I take my coffeee with cream

I don't get syrupy waffles at all.

This is the only scent I get complimented on every single time I wear it.

It opens with a strong creamy coffee. The creaminess in the coffee I believe comes from the Vanilla and amber. Tonka Bean and Lavender give it a nice earthy facet and I think the tonka also add a bit to the creaminess. The coffee and cream is strongest in the opening.

The heart has a vetiver feel to it. It's not vetiver, but it's vetiver -like. I think it's just the perfect blending of the bergamot and patchouli that give it the citrusy and earthy vetiver feel. The coffee and cream are still there but tempered by the lavender and vetiver-feeling notes. The heart is heavy with bergamot and patchouli.

The drydown is very woody with the mix of patchouli and cedar. There is also more Lavender in the drydown, as well. There is a real creaminess in the drydown too, from the Vanilla and amber.

This scent has really big projection so use a light hand. I have caught snatches of this scent up to 24 hours after applying it, though it's mostly gone after about 16 hours.

May
20
2014

11/26/2014

JSpines

Helpful Review 6

Bond No. 9 New Haarlem

Why on earth did I wait so long to try this one? I had bought a tester of this fragrance a year and a half ago but never had occasion to wear it - until now! Being late Autumn and given the fact that the weather has been like winter here, I wanted something that I knew would stand out in the cold temperatures. This did not disappoint! Like all Bond's, it's staying power is fantastic, yet I don't find it overpowering. It's just right and I only needed one spray. Mmmm.........totally reminds me of a big stack of warm pancakes dripping with sweet maple syrup along with a cup of black coffee. I love it!!!! It seems odd that I'd want to smell like breakfast but I just can't help myself! The scent is addictive and actually gives me a craving for real pancakes with syrup! I would love to have a full bottle of this but most likely will not shell out the high cost for one so I will enjoy every last drop of my sample until it's completely gone. Now that I've discovered how much I like this, my little sample won't be lasting very long! It does have a unisex vibe but I feel like this one's a little more on the masculine side, even with it's "perfume-y" undertone. Easily my favourite Bond so far.

11/22/2013

ForrealMe2

Helpful Review 8

New Haarlem Bond No.9 2003

This fragrance is one of my tops of my all time favorites. So with any other that i love i will probably be very partial to this fragrance but still try to list the pro's and con's.Here we go.
Pro's:This is a beast of a fragrance. Even though it is a gourmand it leans more on the masculine side but i adore the fragrance so much i wear it. I love lavender and i love maple syrup what is not to love about smelling like breakfast! Ok ok maybe you don't want to smell like breakfast at some occasions but you know what this smells so good i don't really care! But when you first spray this off the bat you smell the fresh coffee and i mean like coffee beans coffee but it is not a strong smell of coffee its just right and then the lavender is the second biggest note you smell before the maple syrup. Because it has this strong note of lavender it really comes off as something you smell on a man easily but for those looking for a breakfast scent how can you not want to try this unisex fragrance. The sillage is wonderful and the longevity is amazing. It is very comforting and the bottle is gorgeous. This is part of Bond's original series so the bottles come in the plain glass but i think in my opinion it should of remained there because they really come off more classy in the original bottles..kinda the way you feel when you see a Chanel.The box is also very lovely and well made with the history detail inside in that sense you do get what you paid for.
Con's: I think the Bond line is way to over priced for their fragrances but that is just me...although this fragrance is worth every penny because it at least does give you everything you are looking for..with that though since it is a beast of a fragrance it may put you off for the first week you smell it and then you will adapt but this fragrance will be so new to your senses you will have to adapt to it and this happens at times and once that boat is over you totally love it so give it some time but if you don't get over it that is still $200 bucks lost out of some peoples pockets if they can't return it for any reason. Ya so you better test this out before you buy it to know its worth the purchase.
Overall, I think New Haarlem is worth the purchase personally because i love it..i do wish the prices were lower but hey that is the way it is but you can go to other online sources and get it cheaper like i did so not all is lost but its still gonna cost you a pretty penny..but if your a gourmand lover this baby is a keeper for life!

09/03/2013

10.0 7.5 10.0 10.0/10

SuperSniffer

Helpful Review 7

Breakfast for Dinner Anyone?

Love this stuff. Makes me feel like I'm sitting down at a semi fancy restaurant and they serve breakfast for dinner.

At the center of the table there is an arrangement of lavender.

Then the waitress asks me what I would like to drink. I ask for coffee naturally. Normally I drink mine black, but today I feel the sudden urge to add a little vanilla creamer. Not enough to ruin my drink just enough to notice its there.

Then my waitress asks me what I'll be eating. I order a HUGE plate of French toast. As I am brought my plate of French toast I ask for some all natural maple syrup and proceed to make a swimming pool out of my plate.

That's my vision when I wear this. In reality if you want to pick this scent apart which is very well blended you can smell all the notes above except for the bergamot and green leaves. This a FANTASTIC night out scent. My wife loves it, heck even my uncle who is a mans man rub some dirt on it kinda guy loves it. I personally wear it everyday minus the super hot days. I will however wear it on summer nights.

I get a good 10 to 12 hours out of this and I am a guy with super dry skin. Projection is actually above average for me, but I am a human furnace so I naturally push out a lot of weaker fragrances. Sillage is fair to average. It's fine this is for those up close moments anyway ;)

06/03/2013

7.5 7.5 10.0 10.0/10

PBullFriend

Helpful Review 6

lovely breakfast in a wood-lined cafe

I've been in love with this scent for many years now. In the past, I haven't worn it that much because it has been a matter of "saving it for a special occasion." Recently, I've vowed not to save perfume like that - it doesn't improve with time, and shouldn't every day be a special occasion?

If I stop and sniff and think, I get coffee and cedar and lavender here. But the general impression it gives me is of a sunny morning in an attractive wood-lined cafe, drinking coffee and eating pancakes with maple syrup. There's no maple syrup in here, nor immortelle (which often has a maple aspect to it). But the sweetness of vanilla and tonka bean, possibly combined with the lavender, makes me think of it.

Two light sprays to the wrist and I get to enjoy this cozy yet sophisticated scent for a good 10 hours.

03/11/2013

7.5 5.0 7.5 7.5/10

Miaw2

Helpful Review 2

Coffee!!!

I smell only coffee... coffee and more cofee, a little harsh in the opening.

Then joins vanilla and lavender that turns it into a very sweet scent - syrup type.

Good lasting power and also good sillage and projection. Actually did not work for me, i could not find anything that would justify it's price.

Updated January 2014

03/21/2012

ArkangeL

Very helpful Review 5

Haarlem Nights

New Haarlem instantly took me to a familiar place, and it was not Rochas Man. This scent is far more sophisticated. It brought me back to Jo Malone Black Vetyver Cafe, only drenched in maple and brown sugar. I now understand the "syrupy" quality. Not sweet and sticky, such as pancake syrup... but a natural syrup that borderlines being resinous, however the coffee and vanilla keeps it in check so that it stays on gourmand grounds. Bergamot and lavender? Yeah, for the opening of the show... then they quickly go into hiding. New Haarlem gets better with time and actually becomes less sweet. Coffee is most assuredly the dominant note, and the ingredient that is initially responsible for this fragrance being unisex. The reason it reminds me so much of Black Vetyver Cafe is because the coffee is raw. You're not going to get an A*Men Pure Coffee feel, so remain open-minded throughout the duration of your New Haarlem experience. The projection and longevity is a solid 10 and then some. So if this should not be your cup of tea, you'll find the quality undeniably incredible.

01/01/2012

10.0 10.0/10

Cooper20

Very helpful Review 7

A Perfect Coffee Dessert

New Haarlem is in my opinion one of the best fragrances released by Bond No.9. Its a fantastic interpretation of Coffee and Dessert. Whilst I was expecting something that smelt like walking into a Starbucks, instead I got something very sexy and very grown up which makes the fragrance all the more appealing for people who want to smell edible but not like a teenager.

New Haarlem offers something very creamy, very sexy and leans towards a more masculine sensibility. The Lavender is a nice touch and ties in with the Patchouli and Bergamot, offering the fragrance a hint of freshness and lightness whilst in the presence of its heavy vanilla and coffee scent which has a very syrupy sort of composition on my Skin. It avoids being sickly but also isn't ashamed to be sweet and loud. Which are credits to the fragrance and only seem to contribute to its fantastic staying power.

I honestly can't find any fault with this fragrance, I know it definetly won't be everyone's cup of tea. However though i think its beautiful and a fantastic addition to the market and a wonderful variation on gourmand and masculinity.

2 Replies