12/18/2021
NuiWhakakore
62 Reviews
NuiWhakakore
2
Shawn's Orange Grove
It's a sunny day. Just like any other day. Shawn knows that as he walks into his orange grove. There's no great art in predicting that in Southern California. The air is still pleasant this early in the morning. Not cool, exactly, but still pleasant. The smell of the not quite ripe fruit fills the air. Still a bit green and slightly bitter, somewhat damp, but already hinting at the sweetness that the sunshine will bring.
The flowers under the trees bloom shyly and timidly. Instead, the plump currant buds fill the air with their fresh green scent. Shawn touches one and it instantly bursts open, spraying herbaceous chamomile sparks. It may sound unusual, but that's exactly the kind of day it is.
The sun rises higher and pierces everything. The world turns to fruit. Fresh and spicy, it makes you forget the heat of the day. Those are always the best hours for Shawn. Evening will bring the wind from the east, following the mountain flanks downward, charged with the smell of the dry cedars and their spicy resin and a hint of smoke, the first harbingers of the summer fires.
And again a day comes to an end, like the previous ones and also like the following ones and yet never quite the same and one day the fruits will be ripe and it will be another good harvest.
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Shawn Maher himself writes about Sun Soaked that he wanted to create a fragrance so saturated with the sun that it overflows with sunshine. He certainly succeeded in doing that. Further, he writes that he focused on neroli in the fragrance. I feel a little differently about that, but in order.
Sun Soaked starts first of all with a tart lemon. Very fresh and also relatively bitter. It is probably the combination of bitter orange and neroli that plays a trick on me here. At the same time, there is also a dark green, herbaceous note. After 5 minutes, the bitter tones are mostly gone and slightly floral notes become apparent. Now neroli also pushes forward in a moderately harsh, slightly green form in the perception, but does not dominate the fragrance at all. It also becomes increasingly fruity, perhaps due to the currant bud, though I don't detect any currants. I couldn't tell what that fruit is now either. A pleasant citrus mix. The heart then stays that way for now, fresh fruity with green spicy notes.
After about 1.5 hours, the base makes itself felt. Dry wood, where I do not recognize the cedar, and resinous amber. Fruity notes are first still recognizable, but fade visibly. In the further course (so after 3 hours), the amber becomes stronger, the fragrance thus warmer, but not noticeably sweeter. Smoke is only minimally perceptible at first, but becomes more and more distinct as time goes on, until a pleasant mix of dry wood, sweetish resin and a bit of smoke remains at the end. The Southern California day lasts 7 to 8 hours, with moderate silage.
I don't usually like overly fruity scents. Here, though, I think the blend of fresh and fruity with the slightly tart green notes is very well done. The florals at the beginning do not play a big role and the dry-woody and unsweet-resinous, slightly smoky base is a dream.
The flowers under the trees bloom shyly and timidly. Instead, the plump currant buds fill the air with their fresh green scent. Shawn touches one and it instantly bursts open, spraying herbaceous chamomile sparks. It may sound unusual, but that's exactly the kind of day it is.
The sun rises higher and pierces everything. The world turns to fruit. Fresh and spicy, it makes you forget the heat of the day. Those are always the best hours for Shawn. Evening will bring the wind from the east, following the mountain flanks downward, charged with the smell of the dry cedars and their spicy resin and a hint of smoke, the first harbingers of the summer fires.
And again a day comes to an end, like the previous ones and also like the following ones and yet never quite the same and one day the fruits will be ripe and it will be another good harvest.
-----------------
Shawn Maher himself writes about Sun Soaked that he wanted to create a fragrance so saturated with the sun that it overflows with sunshine. He certainly succeeded in doing that. Further, he writes that he focused on neroli in the fragrance. I feel a little differently about that, but in order.
Sun Soaked starts first of all with a tart lemon. Very fresh and also relatively bitter. It is probably the combination of bitter orange and neroli that plays a trick on me here. At the same time, there is also a dark green, herbaceous note. After 5 minutes, the bitter tones are mostly gone and slightly floral notes become apparent. Now neroli also pushes forward in a moderately harsh, slightly green form in the perception, but does not dominate the fragrance at all. It also becomes increasingly fruity, perhaps due to the currant bud, though I don't detect any currants. I couldn't tell what that fruit is now either. A pleasant citrus mix. The heart then stays that way for now, fresh fruity with green spicy notes.
After about 1.5 hours, the base makes itself felt. Dry wood, where I do not recognize the cedar, and resinous amber. Fruity notes are first still recognizable, but fade visibly. In the further course (so after 3 hours), the amber becomes stronger, the fragrance thus warmer, but not noticeably sweeter. Smoke is only minimally perceptible at first, but becomes more and more distinct as time goes on, until a pleasant mix of dry wood, sweetish resin and a bit of smoke remains at the end. The Southern California day lasts 7 to 8 hours, with moderate silage.
I don't usually like overly fruity scents. Here, though, I think the blend of fresh and fruity with the slightly tart green notes is very well done. The florals at the beginning do not play a big role and the dry-woody and unsweet-resinous, slightly smoky base is a dream.
