Landshark321

First wearing of the latest Zaharoff release, Signature Bloom, the house’s first explicitly floral-named fragrance that’s not rose-specific. It’s a lovely floral blend, bright, sweet, fresh, creamy, solidly white-floral-leaning bouquet of jasmine, orange blossom, and gardenia, almost citric, with some noticeable Zaharoff Signature DNA—namely, a bit of a sweet resinous aspect, particularly in the dry down. As with almost every release in the house, the care taken to make Signature Bloom both easygoing and quite interesting, is palpable. Even as someone who’s usually floral-skeptical, I’m not at all surprised that George made this work so well, and while it’s perhaps stereotypically feminine-leaning, it’s well-rounded and smooth to the point that anyone that wants fresh comfort would likely find it in this fragrance.

Signature Bloom is EDP concentration and is priced at $155 for 60ml, in line with most of the house’s pricing, and very reasonable for a high-quality product in the current market.


8 out of 10

Bleu de Dua is Dua’s inspired expression of vintage Bleu de Chanel EDT, which is my favorite version of the fragrance, as it has more of the blend of freshness and depth than the subsequent EDP and Parfum versions which lean both sweeter and darker and lose a bit of the EDT’s freshness. Bleu de Dua too is a touch less fresh than its inspiration but still very rich and quite close, overall. And as part of the Dua Designer Line, its pricing is especially reasonable, at $33 for 30ml with additional discounts sometimes available. Overall, like the original, it’s a classy, modern, blue, fresh blend, and subtly masculine.

7 out of 10

Creamy Coffee Abode is an original creation the Dua Designer Line, a very easygoing coffee-centric but not coffee-dominant gourmand, with hints of caramel, tonka, and vanilla making for a creamy, sweet-but-not-too-sweet experience. Caramel is, for me, the most prominent note after coffee, but the blend also has a vaguely dry, cocoa powder-ish quality to it, also, something accomplished by Choco Milk Treat (also in the DDL), as well, if I remember correctly, even though cocoa is not a listed note in Creamy Coffee Abode.

It’s less daring and bold than other coffee Dua originals, but for something in the more modestly-priced designer line (regularly priced at $33 for 30ml, with further discounts often available), it’s an affordable and especially appropriate option for someone who wants a more modest expression of coffee and sweets. It’s nice to have in the catalogue.

7 out of 10

Bois Precieux et Epices is the Dua inspired expression of Creed Spice and Wood, and good performance and a robust likeness to the original classy, woody, spicy, fresh blend that unfortunately just comes up with a very high price tag. Dua’s is really the only clone I’ve tried that does a serious job of approximating the original, and I’ve enjoyed it for years as one of the longstanding Dua inspired expressions that’s stood the test of time, with high quality and all of the good features—ease of wear, versatility, sharp classiness—of the original. I’d certainly recommend that others check this out if they’ve not yet.

8 out of 10

Sampling Bon Parfumeur 902 Armagnac Blonde Tobacco Cinnamon, a fittingly boozy, spicy tobacco scent, very pleasantly sweet also, accessible and not too sharp or heavy, with the Armagnac (a type of French brandy) being the center of the experience, flavored by cinnamon and tobacco, but not too much of either, with supporting notes of clove, geranium, plum, patchouli, labdanum, and vanilla. Really a nicely blended boozy blend with a lot of layers and nuance to it, and with very good performance, among the best of the brand that I’ve tried so far.

It shares the brand’s consistent retail pricing of $107/53/34 for 100/30/15ml, sold at boutiques like Ministry of Scent, from which I bought the sample. Overall, I quite like it, though it does not stand out as better than other sweet and spicy tobacco/boozy scents, despite very reasonable pricing in today’s market.

7 out of 10