Bleecker Street Bond No. 9 2005

On festive days, I like to wear fancier perfumes. Do you too? Bond No.9 Bleecker Street is one of my newer acquisitions in my perfume collection and my third fragrance from the New York house. Bleecker Street is a staple in almost every Top 10 "Spring Fragrances" list on YouTube, consistently praised by fragrance YouTubers. So it’s clear that there’s a certain hype around it, and people are drawn to such a scent, which certainly leads to more sales.

Bleecker Street in New York is located in the Greenwich Village District of Manhattan and runs in an east-west direction. If you wander through Google Street View, you first discover a bunch of restaurants and cafes lining the street, and eventually, after crossing Broadway, you mainly find apartments along the road. Additionally, the nightlife scene there is said to be quite good, making it an area that invites going out in the evening. However, the fragrance pyramid of Bond No.9 Bleecker Street suggests that this is not an evening scent for going out, and indeed, it is not.

Unfortunately, I had to search for a long time for a perfumery that carries Bond fragrances. By chance, I finally stumbled upon Bond fragrances in Leipzig about 3 years ago and tried a few. First up: Bleecker Street. I absolutely had to test this one, as I only knew the fragrance pyramid and corresponding reviews. During my first testing, I was completely overwhelmed, especially by the juicy-sour blackcurrant in the top note, which lingered on the skin for quite a while. The longevity was also really impressive for a fresh scent. It was one of the first times I ever experienced niche perfumes. A few hours later, my thought was: This Bond could one day be the first Bond I buy - after all, the prices aren't exactly low.

However, last Easter Sunday, the Easter Bunny brought me different gifts, including a rum from Panama. What does that have to do with Bleecker Street? Nothing. Because I was already in possession of the scent and no longer depended on the Easter Bunny. A few weeks ago, Bleecker Street actually arrived in the mail for me. However, I didn’t touch the fragrance at first. I still remembered quite well what I had smelled, and I was looking forward to Easter, as Bleecker Street was supposed to be my SOTD for the first time on Easter Sunday.

I sprayed it on my neck and then again on my wrist, then let my nose dive deep into the blackcurrant and then.... Huh? What? Where did it go? I just sprayed Bleecker Street on my hand?! Honestly, I smelled absolutely nothing on my skin for the first 10-15 seconds. Very strange, because three years ago, the blackcurrant hit me full force. It’s actually the case that the scent hides at first and then very slowly emerges from its cover. And the blackcurrant is so weak that I can’t compare it to what I experienced back then. Alarm bells labeled "Reformulation" are going off in my head :-( I don’t know if that’s true, if the scent has been reformulated, but this doesn’t have much to do with my memories of before. The fragrance remains green and fresh, occasionally you pass by a bush of blackcurrants, but they appear pale. The whole thing is combined with a mossy-sweet base with a hint of fruit, which sets it apart from the "just-freshies" scents.

Unfortunately, my Bleecker Street bottle does not evoke the spring associations in me that I had after the first testing. It feels harmless, generic, interchangeable. Yes, the DNA is good, but it seems diluted. I wish it smelled like my memories - as it is, the disappointment is unfortunately great. I could easily give the scent a 9.0 or more because I know what it can or could do... but I unfortunately have to deduct points. My recommendation: don’t buy blind, but get a tester! Really a shame, Bleecker Street. You’re probably not the same anymore.