Medianus76

The Brandy
Done. Willy Tonka sank into his fluffy wing chair. It was just before Christmas. That was why he was shopping, and had acquired a bag full of Christmas treats and culinary delights. Among them was his much-loved brandy. The wine distillate smells mild and nutty, slightly sweet as well as appropriately woody. Very rich and soft due to the long maturation time in the old oak barrels.
Willy Tonka was an oddball and cranky aristocrat. He had short, frizzy hair, nickel glasses sitting on his nose, and more wrinkles on his face than a shriveled apple. His aristocratic background had given him a handsome estate, as well as a lot of money and wealth. But at the same time, a lot of loneliness and social isolation. Because he was such a strange contemporary, no one really wanted to have much to do with him.
He tipped another brandy into the nosing glass, enjoyed the distillate to the full, and repeated the whole thing a few more times. Although the alcohol was already going to his head, he filled up the flask in his pocket as a precaution! "You never know" he thought to himself, and sank deep into his armchair...

The soap
Some time later he remembered the cigar he had picked up from his shopping. His shopping bag was right next to his armchair, so all he had to do was reach out and rummage for the cigar. Unfortunately, by this time, his seven senses were so befuddled by the brandy that he didn't even notice to rummage his shaving soap out of his pocket instead of the cigar...
It was a luxurious soap. It smelled soft and mild, and had an incredibly creamy aroma. You could literally guess what a subtle and elegant lavender note the lather of the soap gave off. Fresh and spicy at the same time...just appropriate for an aristocrat!
So he put the fake cigar between his lips. Still chewing on the end piece with relish, as if to get a grip on it, before the alkaline soapy lye taste hit his brain.
"Ugh Deifel...in a high arc he spat and spat the soap into the air. He wiped his mouth and face frantically, and jumped out of the chair in a high leap in horror! Unfortunately, this was his undoing. For, how could it be otherwise, he landed squarely on the soap, which hit the floor exactly a fraction of a second before he did...
It pulled his feet off with a caracho, his legs flew through the air, and he slammed relentlessly and mercilessly onto his old and frail back! Ouch!
The impact was so violent that the stag's head antlers above his chair broke free from their moorings. It crashed onto the Christmas tree below, bringing it down. The tree fell on Willy Tonka, and the antlers fixed the fir tree on Willy. The tips of the ten-ten namely bored deep into the wooden floor. With that, Willy was stapled to the parquet floor, wood and all. There was no escape...

The tonka bean
Full of desperation, Willy tried to free himself. He tugged and yanked, tore and pushed at the tree like a man possessed. But no chance. The deer head was deep in the ground!
After countless attempts to free it, an idea came to him. Much of his tree was adorned with tonka beans. He loves tonka - not least because of its name. Do they smell but highly aromatic and sweet, elegant and light vanilla as well as fine woodruff. He picked many of the fragrant beans from the tree, and packed them all in a jute bag with the remaining bars of soap. Thus he had a perfect projectile. He intended to use it, bold as he was, to set off the fire alarm. If it should sound the alarm, then surely help would quickly rush in. But how to set off a fire alarm without a fire? Apart from the fact that this was a pretty inane action.
That's right - his flask. He fumbled the flask out of his pocket, and carefully tipped the high-proof brandy over the jute bag.
How that smelled now! A beautiful creamy melange. Slightly woody-tart, fresh spice, sweetly punctuated with that elegant lavender woodruff note. Delightful!
He lit the fragrance bomb with his Zippo and hurled the fireball towards the fire alarm. Of course, he missed said detector, and caught another living "target"! His poor cat Lucky was sitting bored on the window ledge when the fragrant inferno hit him with full force...
"Miiiiiaaauuuuu" escaped the horrified cat, who immediately jumped off the ledge in a high arc and with singed fur. Completely distraught and unable to control the jump, the cat landed in the open aquarium. The water sloshed out on all sides, the cat raged in the tank, the fish spat around, and the chaos was perfect.
Suddenly there was another mighty bang! Sparks flew, appliances hissed, and in one fell swoop the whole house went dark...very dark!
All the water from the aquarium unfortunately caused an enormous short circuit on a multi-outlet. Pretty much the entire house electrical system of Willy Tonka's living room was plugged into that outlet!
Willy, still pinned under the tree, turned his head to the side. Feeling exhausted, completely deflated, resigned and devastated, he looked down into the village through a window. He saw the lights go out there too, caused by his colossal short circuit.
Everything was now dark!
But a little later, the longed-for help in the form of the fire department finally arrived at his place. Hallelujah...what a Christmas!!

This story and scent description is a collaborative project between my kids and me! Thanks so much for the energetic advice...

Wishing all readers a reflective 4th Advent and a Merry Christmas 2020!
In this very turbulent year Parfumo, and the wonderful people which I was allowed to meet here, a real enrichment and recreational oasis for me. Thank you for this and we look full of confidence in the future...

Silence. There is an extraordinary atmosphere in the air. It's crackling! Like a black band of tar, the shadow path slowly moves into our field of vision, while the moon successively covers the sun more and more.
The birds fall silent, the flowers close their goblets and the light refracts magically and mysteriously on the horizon. A surreal world opens up, strange and fascinating at the same time...

What a monumental event! There is probably nothing comparable and no event that triggers "a cold shiver runs down my spine" more than the cosmic natural spectacle of a total solar eclipse. Graceful and majestic! Who was allowed to or could follow the total eclipse at the end of the last millennium, can surely follow my thoughts.
It's the 11.8.1999, and I'm in Hungary at the Solipse Festival. The festival area is located exactly on the narrow strip of the complete solar eclipse, and we have a cloudless sky - clear view to the upcoming spectacle...

Black Tar is now one of those impressive olfactory creations that can be compared to the power and sustainability of a Full Solar Eclipse.
The deep black, smoky-tarry structure can be seen from the very first moment when the olfactory receptors are wetted with the molecules. Unconditionally and unstoppably, the direction of travel is explained. An intensely spicy, but also dry sandy aura darkens the horizon, just as the moon is constantly moving in front of the sun during the eclipse.
The whole thing is accompanied by a medically antiseptic undertone. A slightly bitter facet flanks the perception, similar to the smell in e.g. an old pharmacy. The reference to ointments already mentioned here also fits very well. Combined with juniper, this combination results in an extremely successful prelude. Fantastic!

When the scent has spread like a cloak in the further course of time, this beautiful, slightly sweet projection is added. Beguilingly floral and honey-like, latent and completely hidden, the tuberose joins the spectacle. The moment of complete darkness arises...
But a small corona of light remains - the corona. It fits to the current events, but in this case it stands for sweetish and woody warmth, respectively olfactorically

Black Tar actually feels like an eclipse to me...

Mysterious and magical
dark and gloomy
bright and radiant

I think the portability is excellent. BT is never intrusive or annoying, and although its ingredients are powerful, it always generates a pleasant aura and sillage. I find the durability remarkable, and even hours later the scent is still quite passably perceptible.
For me Black Tar is another milestone on my olfactory journey of discovery. I can only recommend this fragrance to anyone who has access to such scents.
Last but not least, the bottle is also a feast for the eyes, which in my opinion would look very well with the symbol of a Solar Eclipse...

I look behind the center,
In the shadows of your past,
So I recognize light, glistening light,
Which vanquishes the darkness...

I dedicate these lines and this commentary to my oldest son. He is 14 years old today!
Congratulations, my great one, and may the sun always shine for you...

Thank you for reading it and I'll be glad to read it

No... Absolutely not! With great certainty every perfume or perfuma reading here is now inclined to think of a relevant film title. But unfortunately this is not going to happen, or should I better say thank god? That lies, as so often, in the eye of the beholder
I chose this apt title because in my eyes Anthracite presents exactly these very diverse shades of grey. For quite a while now I have been accompanied by this intense and very expressive Tom Ford, so I would like to dedicate a few more lines to him, here with this comment
Noir Anthracite starts off by taking distance and going on distance. Many of these grey facets and gloomy sprinklers show up in the opening phase. The precise and skilful use of Szechuan pepper and tuberose creates impressions of a cool matted veil, which lays on the skin with a certain acidity, sharpness and bitterness. As if he were to say: Here I am, and I won't go so fast anymore! Now they to how you get along with me ...
I actually mean this "getting by" thing. In my opinion Noir Anthracite has a very strong emotional cascading component. Because of this latent melancholic start I have had days where I almost regretted applying it. Because if your own emotional state is not equal to "the sun is shining out of the...", the fragrance can even support this state in a negative way.
For a long time I did not know myself whether I should call this phenomenon good or bad. But now I see it more clearly. Because the concept of the fragrance has been implemented with great consistency. This is praiseworthy and impeccable in every respect. I as the wearer must decide whether I am in the appropriate mode
However, the fragrance fits perfectly to the current season, autumn. Noir Anthracite is simply predestined to be worn now, in autumn. As soon as a, let's say, certain groove with the veil of scent is established, Noir works just great. The fragrance gets its magnificence from its inherent ambivalence - its contradictoriness! Paradoxically, after a certain time, pretty much exactly when the dark precious woods take over, the whole fragrance spectrum is turned upside down. Suddenly there is a lot of warmth and security. Soft and gentle nuances take away the cold and sharp edges from the initially hard construction, which made the fragrance almost unlovable at the beginning.
Classic, elegant and perfectly staged scented woods transform the cool veil into a warming coat. The result is a cuddly companion for almost the entire day. Because it is also characterised by a certain indestructibility. Several hours of durability are no problem. Therefore, the dosage should be chosen with care, so as not to let the sillage and projection get out of hand.
In its entirety Noir Anthracite is exactly what it wants to be or should be. Surely not for everyone suitable, in his way special, but for me absolutely authentic and convincing, unapproachably cool and cuddly warm, rejectingly strange and attractively familiar...

happiness is not in doing what I want, it's in wanting to do what I do!

Thank you for reading...

Note: I don't know the movie at all... :-))

1999 - Central India. I am in Hampi, more precisely in Vijayanagar. This was the last Hindu kingdom, and today it is an ancient ruined city with a huge number of temples. The landscape around Hampi immediately fascinates everyone. Out of a whim of nature a hilly area was created, which is covered with a myriad of granite boulders piled up on top of each other. There are many myths and stories about the origin of this bizarre landscape. One says that the monkey god Hanuman let the stones rain down to demonstrate his power...
Anyway, Hampi and its old kingdom is an absolutely magical place where there is a lot to discover. If one wanders through the old temple complexes, one can perceive the smell of incense everywhere. It is almost as if these aromas are coming out of the old masonry of millennia-old temples to tell stories of times long past. Outside the temples, all sorts of traders offer their goods and delicacies for sale. Again and again one catches exotic scent clouds, and in the scorching sun of India one likes to sit down in a shady place to relax with a glass of Chai...

South West Coast, Goa, Vagator Beach. It is the 31.12.1999. The last day of the old millennium is approaching dusk. Goa resembled a witch's cauldron at this time. People from all over the world had come to celebrate the turn of the millennium in a place that was quite unique at that time. The air was electrified, and the great Millennium Bash was to take place in Disco Valley. A party location directly at the sea under a huge number of palm trees. It was a very unique experience at a very unique time. Bright fluorescent colours on the palm trees, illuminated with black light, created the necessary visual space. The smell of dusty sand and the steaming chillums of the party crowd was in the air. Pressureful, wafting basses of the whipping trance music pushed through the masses, and you had to be careful not to get lost in the turmoil...

Northwest coast, Bombay. A big-city juggernaut who is certainly without equal. Never before have I experienced a place that has such poverty and misery, as well as incredible wealth and prosperity, directly
revealed side by side. For me, Bombay had rather little appeal. But my stay there was not too long, so I surely missed many pleasant moments. But what I did not miss were the most different and manifold smells and scents that can be perceived. In the positive as well as in the negative. No matter if spices from street vendors or the air impregnated with exhaust fumes. Bombay has so much to offer...

When I now smell the wonderful fragrance Meo Fusciuni - Varanasi, I immediately have at least one of the three experiences described before my eyes. It's like pressing a rewind button, which catapults me a good 20 years into the past. One could also say that Varanasi is preserved India in its purest form.

But what does Varanasi smell like?
The fragrance pyramid has a lot to offer, but in my opinion it makes little sense to filter out individual aromas in isolation.
Varanasi is smoky, woody, also has certain slightly musty musty chords. These in turn give the fragrance the necessary character. Floral, slightly sweetish tendencies round off the fragrance. Resinous-balsamic facets enhance...a little bit of everything.
The fragrance must be perceived in its entirety!
Plattly expressed one could also say he smells like incense, a very good one, mind you. But elegantly expressed, the label has succeeded in capturing, preserving, extracting and filtering the scent of a subcontinent. To create a true niche fragrance. From my current scent horizon, I have never smelled anything comparable.

The intensity and sillage seems to me sufficient to appropriate, and also the durability can be rated as good. However, this is certainly not an everyday scent. Varanasi is quite special, and even if I can associate many memories with it, I don't want to smell it all the time.

Coming back to the west coast again, I would like to close my story with a few words, which I could perceive again and again in the smallest state of India:

Goa is not a place - Goa is a state of mind!

Thank you for reading...

The first sunrays of the approaching spring day break through the thin cloud cover and make their way through the treetops of the coniferous forest. The light of the sun illuminates the green mossy ground of the forest, on whose morning dew the light rays glitter like little diamonds. The forest itself, idyllically situated in a rugged mountain valley, is still surrounded by billowing wafts of mist in the early morning. Surrounded and enclosed by rugged mountain peaks and untouched nature, the icy cold mountain stream ripples down into the valley.
Silence and calm dominate the idyll. Only the rushing of the water, the singing of the birds and the knocking of a woodpecker can be heard. Far away from the hectic pace of everyday life. No people, no cities, no voices, no noise - nothing! The fresh and pure air of the forest fills the lungs. The soft forest floor grounds our innermost self, and we find space and time to return to our source - Return to the Source!
I love to visit such landscapes. To be connected with the forces of nature, to be reminded a bit where our roots are. Puristic, spirit clarifying elements in their pure form...
Since I live in the south of Germany, with the Alps and forests practically on my doorstep, I can visit suitable scenarios and landscapes relatively easily.

Eau Sauvage is now just such an ethereal pacemaker to perfectly support such natural experiences. When I close my eyes and smell the fragrance, I can think of such a place in the sense of an olfactory pause moment.
First and foremost, the eau revitalises with its fresh, slightly citrusy effervescence. Just like the situation of standing next to a mountain stream whose rippling water gently moistens the skin. The moss on the forest floor and at the roots of the trees, still slightly glittering from the morning dew, evokes a mild herbaceous note. Both together make a wonderful prelude.
A green-harsh chord can be perceived rising from the forest floor. Fragrant and steaming under the fog of the trees. Very mild and wonderfully embedded in the early morning hours of the still so young day. The surrounding majestic trees, with their balsamic and resinous presence, determine the whole picture of this landscape, giving the fragrance the necessary depth and intensity. The rugged and angular surrounding mountain landscape makes the fragrance appear sufficiently wild and daring.
So that the incident sunrays again convey warmth to draw the entire impressions soft and filigree, they even create a subtle sweetness.

For me, this is an image that can be manifested when I absorb Eau Sauvage intensively and process it internally. Even the greenish colour of the fragrance fits perfectly to this idea. On the one hand the fragrance conveys an enormously rough and wild side, but on the other hand it also appears very harmonious and balanced. Due to the high balsamic-resinous part in a certain way even calming.
The liquid in the bottle appears relatively oily. In this respect, I assume an appropriate proportion of fragrances. This again is confirmed in the shelf life as well as in the silage. Eau Sauvage lasts a good 6 - 7 hours on my skin with a good perceptibility.
In conclusion, Dior's creation in the 2012 version is for me a successful interpretation of untamed wilderness and gentle nature...

At the wild river...
Let's go back to the source...
The origin of life...
To the rhythm of nature...

...I'm still as weighed out as ever, and I thank you for reading..