Memoirs of a Trespasser Imaginary Authors 2012

Memoirs… goes on as a lit cigar plunged into vanilla ice cream, which works better than it sounds. The vanilla ice cream hangs around in the background as the cigar qualities fade into to a sweet tobacco. It's heavier, sweeter, and smokier than your usual tobacco / vanilla scent. And the projection is generous but not floor-invading. Ok, you've got my attention!

In the first hour, the smokiness of the tobacco makes out with the benzoin, which then borrows the clothes of vanilla. The scent is no longer as smoky nor as sweet as it once was; the benzoin takes it in a different direction. Benzoin imparts a feeling of high class, like you're in a high-class fridge or a fridge in a high-class house. Wait. No, you're definitely in a ballroom with a chandelier refracting light in many different ways. There's definitely an impression of elegance, riches, and formality at this point. (As an aside, this is the best benzoin that I've experienced. It's sweet and has a little bit of a citrus tang to it. Usually benzoin makes me nauseous, but not here.)

In the later stages, the benzoin turns sweeter from the vanilla, but the acridness of the smoke or tobacco keeps it from being foody, and the projection slowly decreases until it reaches the foot range. After that, a tinge of musky spice infects the vanilla. What remains is a foody vanilla with occasional whiffs of the past, be it smoke, tobacco, spice, or musk.

Now that I've reached the end of this olfactory journey, I'm not sure that the scent exactly fits the name. I don't feel that I was a trespasser. I feel like a rough-around-the-edges gentleman who somehow gets invited to upscale parties. Now both are out of place, but trespassing suggests more secrecy, danger, and criminal intent. The Memoirs part of the name works better; the scent imparts a sense of progression through time, as though you were living another life in stages. The beginning captures a man in his 20's, and the middle part, his 40's-50's, and the end, an elderly man recollecting prior times.

Memoirs.. wields benzoin and vanilla (both notes I dislike) so that even I can enjoy them, especially around the 2-4 hour mark. Whether that's quality components, or skillful perfumery, or both, quality results. The 13+ hour longevity is nothing to sneeze at, either. If you enjoy vanilla, or if you're looking for something gentlemanly but a little off the beaten path, try this.