Year: 2013
Notes: coffee, ink, two types of vetiver
Going by the listed notes, one was expecting Caffe delle Vergini (allegedly the name of the first Italian bar that women could enter) to be something special. Unfortunately, this woody-aromatic is very much a let down.
Opening with a dry and (disappointingly) fleeting coffee accord, the ink acts as a faint segue between the two main components (an olfactory idea already explored by Lalique's Encre Noire). However, one is hard-pressed to detect the two types of vetiver, let alone their complex woody properties, and instead senses that the vetiver used is possibly a highly rectified vetiveryl acetate.
With a mild aqueous leaning, as opposed to an earthy one, it continues to evolve in a way that confounds one's original expectations, while exuding a sweet floral cleanness. It's only when the composition approaches the drydown that one can't help discerning certain olfactory parallels between Caffe delle Vergini and Gendarme's Gendarme.
As it stands, Caffe delle Vergini fails to fully exploit its touted vetiver premise and, instead, comes off as some coffee-infused Gendarme flanker. Based on the fact that one anticipated a lot more, especially with regards to the vetiver aspect, it simply fails to deliver.
Longevity and projection are both respectable.
Opening with a dry and (disappointingly) fleeting coffee accord, the ink acts as a faint segue between the two main components (an olfactory idea already explored by Lalique's Encre Noire). However, one is hard-pressed to detect the two types of vetiver, let alone their complex woody properties, and instead senses that the vetiver used is possibly a highly rectified vetiveryl acetate.
With a mild aqueous leaning, as opposed to an earthy one, it continues to evolve in a way that confounds one's original expectations, while exuding a sweet floral cleanness. It's only when the composition approaches the drydown that one can't help discerning certain olfactory parallels between Caffe delle Vergini and Gendarme's Gendarme.
As it stands, Caffe delle Vergini fails to fully exploit its touted vetiver premise and, instead, comes off as some coffee-infused Gendarme flanker. Based on the fact that one anticipated a lot more, especially with regards to the vetiver aspect, it simply fails to deliver.
Longevity and projection are both respectable.
