![Landshark321]()
Landshark321
5
Very nice sweet and spicy mix, somewhat nutty and effervescent
This sampling of the house of House of Sillage, HOS N.001, a sweet and spicy mix that immediately strikes me as a sort of cherried tobacco, an exaggerated variation of Mugler A*Men Pure Havane, though it lacks both cherry and tobacco in the note breakdown. Rather, it’s a mix of sweets (vanilla, tonka), spices (cinnamon, ginger, clove), and resins/woods (cedar, mahogany, amber, oud), the overall effective of which is largely more sweet than spicy or woody.
I wouldn’t say it’s a sweetness overload, however, as it feels reasonably refined, and reminds me also of Acqua di Parma Mandorlo di Sicilia along the lines of smelling like effervescent root beer a bit. There’s something nutty, surely the tonka, in the way that that the almond features in the almond-named Mandorlo di Sicilia. The oud feels undetectable, however, as I do not get any of its animalic or medicinal twinges when wearing, and the spices are relatively tame—neither the cinnamon nor ginger nor clove stand out very much, though I could imagine each being part of the mix.
Overall, HOS N.001 is easy to wear for fans of sweet fragrances like me, I imagine, and is reasonably versatile to that effect in that it’s not so heavy to be overbearing on a summer evening but certainly strong enough for the winter cold. And while some might regard it as masculine, I could see it being unisex, particularly given many of its foody notes .
Sold at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s, and the house site, HOS N.001 retails for $285 for 75ml, though it’s currently on sale on the house site for $213.75, though I’ve recently seen it as low as $142.50 (50% off). At the lowest price (under $2/ml), it’s quite a good deal, albeit a bit more of a stretch at retail.
For me, personally, it’s a bit more of a “like” than a “love” and I feel it’s well-executed overall but a couple notches below Mugler Pure Havane, which it initially reminded me of, albeit comparable to Acqua di Parma Mandorlo di Sicilia, which might be a better analogy for what it does best, the sort of unrelenting, nutty, almost candied sweetness.
7 out of 10