04/30/2023
BrianBuchanan
355 Reviews
BrianBuchanan
3
Modern Naturalism
Where perfumery's ambitions were once limited to re-presenting the smell of flowers, often one at a time, with Berlin im Winter perfume has returned to the simple aim of portraiture. Not with flowers or even a garden walk, now the reference is drawn from the interior world that most of us inhabit. So, possibly this is more of an interior landscape - because there's no principle actor here, just a background array to give atmosphere (to the wearer - one assumes).
It's like a café - or bar - where boozy and sweet notes predominate (even to the point of feeling a bit sickly at first) and this is backed up with bitter notes : woody, coffee and smokey (how retro! - smoking indoors). And perhaps there's cake too...
The odours effectively transport you to this undefined place of congeniality, but why Berlin?
Being a snug and enclosed space there's no sense of winter in this sweet and convivial scent, but then - as if someone opened a door and let in a draught - it develops a cool myrrh-like note; clever perfumery this - going from warm to cool, and sweet to dry...
But, as somebady just mentioned to me, it smells "bizarre", with a note that's a bit like a stuffy cellar; varnish and the yeasty smell of barrels (the early showing of lenticus & myrrh perhaps?)
The note of myrrh extends into the drydown to finish with more than a hint of Bertrand Duchaufour's Timbuktu (2004). Which illustrates the point that this leans on the romantic overtones of its name for context. Without that pointer you could interpret this in completely different ways; a café bar in Berlin or a mythic location in central Africa.
In the same way, if you saw a 16th century oil painting of a man in a moustache, goatee beard and ruff collar, without reading label you couldn't be sure if it were Sir Walter Raleigh or an unknown Venetian you were looking at.
You may have noticed I'm referring to this as a 'scent' and not a perfume. For the early part of its development it feels like a 'parfum d'ambience' that's gone from illustrating a background to taking over the show with full intent. Which - to my mind - makes it close to unwearable; the sort of thing that would try to Wear You and keep you hidden behind its heavy facade.
Berlin im Winter is interesting in that it tries something different from the norm, and - on it's own terms - it's not unsuccessful.
But there’s more than one thing about it that's borderline unpleasant, and so, if it really were the scent of - lets say - a cellar bar in West Berlin, it would soon have me heading for the exit in seach of some other place that's a bit more salubrious.
It's like a café - or bar - where boozy and sweet notes predominate (even to the point of feeling a bit sickly at first) and this is backed up with bitter notes : woody, coffee and smokey (how retro! - smoking indoors). And perhaps there's cake too...
The odours effectively transport you to this undefined place of congeniality, but why Berlin?
Being a snug and enclosed space there's no sense of winter in this sweet and convivial scent, but then - as if someone opened a door and let in a draught - it develops a cool myrrh-like note; clever perfumery this - going from warm to cool, and sweet to dry...
But, as somebady just mentioned to me, it smells "bizarre", with a note that's a bit like a stuffy cellar; varnish and the yeasty smell of barrels (the early showing of lenticus & myrrh perhaps?)
The note of myrrh extends into the drydown to finish with more than a hint of Bertrand Duchaufour's Timbuktu (2004). Which illustrates the point that this leans on the romantic overtones of its name for context. Without that pointer you could interpret this in completely different ways; a café bar in Berlin or a mythic location in central Africa.
In the same way, if you saw a 16th century oil painting of a man in a moustache, goatee beard and ruff collar, without reading label you couldn't be sure if it were Sir Walter Raleigh or an unknown Venetian you were looking at.
You may have noticed I'm referring to this as a 'scent' and not a perfume. For the early part of its development it feels like a 'parfum d'ambience' that's gone from illustrating a background to taking over the show with full intent. Which - to my mind - makes it close to unwearable; the sort of thing that would try to Wear You and keep you hidden behind its heavy facade.
Berlin im Winter is interesting in that it tries something different from the norm, and - on it's own terms - it's not unsuccessful.
But there’s more than one thing about it that's borderline unpleasant, and so, if it really were the scent of - lets say - a cellar bar in West Berlin, it would soon have me heading for the exit in seach of some other place that's a bit more salubrious.
