Black Walnut Banana Republic 2006

I was aware of the poor reviews for this scent (thanks Digindirt for the sample!) before I obtained it, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to smell walnuts in fragrance form. To cut to the chase, I'm still looking for that experience, because there are no walnuts in this scent! For the long version, read on.

Black Walnut goes on with an earthy vetiver, which is then surrounded by a fresh, clean, creamy sort of scent. Though feminine-leaning, it is crisp and sharp. This reminds me faintly me of CK "Euphoria" or Juicy Coutere's "Dirty English", although with better longevity than the latter; however, both of those scents have more presence and simple oomph than BW.

By four hours it has whispered down to a faint sweetness. Then some aromatic herbs take over for little while. This is the best phase of this scent, but even it doesn't last. By eight hours, there's nothing left to smell.

With that said, BW is not a bad scent. It's not offensive, but neither is it compelling or even interesting. If you're looking for something to wear and you find this cheap, it will work for you. Everyone else, don't slow down as you pass this one by.

I thought it was going to be a a sharp
daring scent but i'v got is a tame
scent of cloying vanilla
i don't smell any evdidence of rose or
spices and i can detect cherries like
cherry cough syrup it does smell like
cherry cough syrup. i ponder that should
i swap it or not because it's hard to find but i'm not crazy about it's scent
i don't hate it but i'ts nothing to go
ooooooooh ahhhhhhhh about i have to think this over.

I think a lot of people are looking for a literal olfactive translation of a black walnut.
And I can see why they feel disappointed.
But, first of all, we are talking about Banana Republic, which for what it is, I think is a great quality/price deal.
The perfume is very attractive, masculine, woody and dark-boozy.
The packaging is way more than what I was expecting.

So again, I would be mad if this was an Amouage and I’ve spent $400. But this is a BR fragrance.
Let’s keep it real. For the price, quality and attractiveness of the perfume, I think this is well worth it.

One of the most beautiful roads I have ever driven on is the Overseas Highway - deep in the south of Florida. In Homestead, just below Miami, it leaves the mainland and then stretches for about two hundred kilometers over forty islands into the sparkling blue Gulf of Mexico. Since most of these islands, known as the 'Florida Keys', are not large, the route almost continuously crosses low bridges that slice through the flat, turquoise water like a surreal, seemingly endless dock. As is the case everywhere in the USA, you are not allowed to drive very fast - and when the windows are open, you can hear the sound of the waves, the rustling of the palms, and the cries of seabirds - and with a bit of luck, you might even see a marlin jump.

At the end of the Overseas Highway (which is the southernmost section of U.S. Highway 1, running along the American East Coast to the Canadian border), you finally reach Key West, the last of these islands, famous for Ernest Hemingway, the most prominent of its former residents, and unexpectedly urban after the drive over the bridges and the azure sea. And here - in a Banana Republic store of urban dimensions - I met Banana Republic's Black Walnut. Its name - Black Walnut - sounds promising, and its top note - initially only fleetingly sprayed on paper - is not bad - and bam, there we were. And since I was just a passenger, I was able to try it out for a long, wonderful drive back to Miami and a delightful tropical sunset.

It doesn't smell bad, not at all. The walnut is clearly present at the beginning - dark, bitter, a bit leathery, and a little smoky. The tobacco then joins in, along with woods reminiscent of old rum barrels, very nice in essence. And then it’s over - quite suddenly - already over, when I least expected it. Black Walnut runs out of steam after one round, maybe two. And no story follows - little develops, little confuses, and little unravels again - almost just a still image, sepia-brown and shapeless, although initially very beautiful. Its idea and DNA - walnut, tobacco, wood (wonderful, now that I write it) - could (and should) offer so much more. More depth, weight, sweetness, more bitterness - more of everything. Because what it has is not bad.

Conclusion: unambitious mediocrity of an unambitious mediocre mid-price clothing brand. For me, however, it is the scent of a wonderful and fondly remembered drive in the far south of Florida, of Key Lime Pie, Conch Fritters, and rum - and all the other wonderful things we did back then in Key West.

Okay! The black walnuts are perfect with a Bleu d’Auvergne - but we don't want to talk about cheese here - or do we? Now there are many (mostly incredibly elaborate) ways to produce this black delicacy. Vanilla is an ingredient that must not be missing in almost all recipes, and so it is in Black Walnut by Banana Republic. Embedded in what Americans probably understand as the aromas of aged oak barrels (not from the Bois Communs!) and with a hefty pinch of Southern tobacco, the black nut comes across as seemingly serious. If it weren't for the vanilla.

In the opening quite good - in the execution very "American" - just like Starbucks coffee.

There is a tobacco from Danske Club that smells and tastes exactly like Black Walnut. For lovers of the inhalation culture, the better alternative.