Fève Tonka de Canaima Boucheron 2022

Fève Tonka de Canaima is my latest acquisition from the private collection of Boucheron. These perfumes are available in the US grey market at a significant discount, making these great value purchases. This private collection anchors its perfumes on a single ingredient, but well-embellished by other ancillary notes. The perfumer Alex Dadier is not a household name, but he has created some nice perfumes for Chloé Atelier des Fleures. This review is based on a full bottle, purchased from a US discounter website.

The notes listed for Fève Tonka de Canaima is identical on most website. The olfactory pyramid is almost non-existent because we can smell most of the notes in the beginning. The listed notes are bitter almond, violet, tonka bean, rose, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla and labdanum.
It opens with the bitter almond note, tempered with a hint of violet. But I can already smell vanilla, sandalwood and labdanum in the first few minutes. Soon after, we can detect traces of patchouli and rose. These official heart notes never become strong enough to influence the overall personality. Towards the bottom, Fève Tonka de Canaima becomes woodier as sandalwood and labdanum persist longer. Tonka bean and vanilla are still there, preserving the gourmand character. Violet and vanilla play a more prominent role in this perfume than similar almond-tonka fragrances.

The performance of Fève Tonka de Canaima is very good on my skin. It lasts 6-8 hours easily, but its projection and intensity are moderate. This is an advantage in my opinion. Unlike the ultra-strong gourmand perfumes like Guerlain Tobacco Honey or Kilian Angel Share, Fève Tonka de Canaima can still be worn at work if sprayed judiciously.

Fève Tonka de Canaima is a conventional almond-tonka-vanilla gourmand with few surprises. It is not a spicy aromatic gourmand like Velvet Tonka or Tobacco Honey. However, its softer projection and the woody-amber profile make it a good choice for those who dislike intense gourmands.

Though this perfume was launched only in 2022, it feels much older. The heavy cylindrical bottle and the odd white plastic cap offer no help to improve its sophistication. But I am very happy that I got a 125 ml bottle for $60 from Aura because it is great value for that money. The Boucheron La Collection line (which also includes Rose d'Isparta, Iris de Syracuse etc.) and the entire Boucheron brand of perfumes are under threat of extinction because of an uncertain contract situation with Inter Parfums. So, it is time to grab them up if you like them.

A perfume that smells simply of powdery almond, brought to life by almond itself and the richness of tonka bean.

Everything about it is delicious, like a perfectly crafted pastry. Yet, it remains refined and avoids the pitfall of sugary excess.

I truly admire this collection by Boucheron and deeply regret that it has been discontinued and is now so difficult to find.