N° - Midnight Degree Boadicea the Victorious 2017

I don't know how long I've had this fragrance on my list. Too long. Yes, it was a blind buy. Yes, I shouldn't do that anymore. Yes, it was exactly the right thing to do!

Like many renowned niche brands, Boadicea also supplies shopping centers with exclusive scents, luxury hotels with special editions, or offers bespoke creations that are created, for example, for the Nth Degree. While the Burj Al Arab edition of Blue Sapphire is "only" a pretty collector's bottle, Midnight hits the mark on all levels.

Just the matte black bottle, with its raw and almost untreated-looking platinum emblem featuring the signature of one of the most exclusive private dining clubs, is already a true experience. How do you capture the theme correctly? After all, we are talking about a club that offers its members events at the highest level. Not just very upscale dining in a closed society. A roadmap through the upper echelons of the business world. From horse racing to golf trips to the most exotic and carefully selected locations worldwide. This is not about a bus tour with the company. This is about perfect experiences at the edge (and with a very good meal), where company history is written, multi-million deals are discussed, and above all, privacy and exclusivity do not exclude each other.

How do you give such a club an identity in fragrance? How do you capture the essence of all these unimaginable moments and ideas?

By keeping it simple!

The spirit of the modern business world finds itself in old values, in a new understanding of values. So Midnight combines classic accords in a very exciting way and creates a unique fragrance for me. With signature potential.

Midnight opens with a very fresh and incredibly present rose. This freshness is enhanced by the blackcurrants, which contribute more of a citrus note. And so everything feels very ethereal and light. At the same time, the fragrance is incredibly powerful and creates an aura around me immediately after spraying. However, this top note remains unchanged and solitary for the next two hours. Beautiful.

The fragrance manages to stop time for itself. It completely captivates me as the wearer. The light spiciness of the cloves is so subtle that only with very careful sniffing do the components reveal themselves and show themselves with as much imagination. The blackcurrants (even though they are not listed) provide their freshness, slight acidity, and body, but not their sweetness. And they open up the rose, which is the central theme of our introduction. I experience the rose not as an overwhelming monolith that crushes everything else, but as present, beautiful, with thorns, and yet fragile.

Over time, this rose becomes slightly smoky and minimally creamy. The sandalwood and the (non-sacred) frankincense bring another "classic" combination. However, this never stands alone but creates a soft, warm-smoky spiciness that carries and expands the top note. Midnight remains incredibly wearable and does not overwhelm in the slightest. The underlying, moist earthiness gives the rose its origin, its root - and embodies for me an image from the business world, reflecting on the values that are and were at the beginning. The bloom fades, the stock endures for years. If it is cared for.

After several hours, the rose recedes more and more, leaving more and more space for the dream team of amber and musk. In a few moments of this millennial dry down, Midnight even draws a little from Star Musk and Amber Aoud in its aura (in my nose), although it never seeks to reach their sweetness. Which I appreciate very much. Thus, the heart note increasingly merges completely with the base and concludes its journey through the (mid)night after more than 9 hours on my skin.

Midnight is a fascinating and, above all, very successful fragrance. It possesses power and class and is definitely unisex. I would describe it as woody-citrus, although for me it is actually a kaleidoscope of accords and will not fit into such a narrow pattern or drawer.

It is Midnight! Period.