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Greysolon
Very helpful Review
6
Hoping to find balance
I’ve worn Tam Dao a number of times over the past year and have been unsure how I felt about it. Finally, after wearing it again today, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a very fine, well composed fragrance and deserves its generally recognized status as such. However, similar to Drseid's assessment, I don’t love it. It just doesn’t speak to me or seem to suit my personality. But my absence of passion for Tam Dao doesn’t mean it lacks quality. I truly believe Tam Dao is a great example of an elegant woody oriental. Sandalwood is the key player and all the other notes homogenize with it in a way to highlight its facets: from woody to sweet to spicy to resinous. All those elements whirl and swirl together to create, what is considered to be, one of the finest sandalwood fragrances available.
For all those accolades, Tam Dao still isn’t my favorite fragrance. It simply doesn't suit my tastes.
Reconciling the dichotomy of our intuitive, emotional reaction versus our intellectual analysis is difficult when speaking of perfume. In critiquing other arts, we can point to, for instance, how the character development in a novel coincides so well with the plot structure that we love the characters, yet we still don't enjoy the story. Or how the metrical stress of a poem matches the syllabic structure of the words so perfectly that the rhythmic impact of the verse drives each stanza forward. Yet, for all the poet's invention, the words are dead on the page. As I said, this kind of objective analysis is difficult to do with a fragrance.
That being the case, all I can do is believe in the structural quality of Daniel Moliere's work and hope the ineffable qualities that imbue it with a magic others see, but can't be readily explained, will someday touch me.
That’s why I keep coming back to Tam Dao. Perhaps one day my pallete of experiences will have expanded so I can appreciate the full beauty of this fragrance in a more personal and emotional way. For now, I simply know Tam Dao is an excellent creation.