Coccobello by Heeley

*****
Year: 2013

Notes: sea salt, palm leaf, gardenia, coconut, Bourbon vanilla, benzoin, Virginian cedar, sandalwood
Coccobello is a woody-floral, which attempts to encapsulate the raw aroma of a freshly opened coconut, within the context of a verdant tropical olfactory setting.

It opens with a sharp and salty palm leaf accord, alongside some gritty cedar. The coconut only plays a minute role and remains watery in its stature. At the same time, it's not milky, sweet or in custody of the suntan lotion connotations that plague such offerings. However, although the palm leaf provides a good contrast, the cedar is annoyingly overbearing.

Midway through its development, the gardenia gradually surfaces but never overwhelms the woody properties of the composition. Combined with the vanilla and benzoin, a creamy floral aura melds with the dry cedar note, as a faint green coconut nuance is ever-present. Unfortunately, the further it develops, the more synthetic it smells – not even the sandalwood helps to turn things around.

While its performance is largely mellow, both sillage and longevity are just as lacking as most of the fragrances from this house. While the concept is admirable, its execution could have been a lot better.


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