Jasmine
Ambergris
Italian herbs
Leather
Milk
Myrrh
Rose
Sea breeze05/20/2025
ClaireV
969 Reviews
ClaireV
2
Sepia-tinted ambergris-tobacco jasmine
One of my favorites from La Via del Profumo, Venezia Giardini Segreti frames a voluptuous jasmine against the rough-textured tobacco of ambergris, which creates a backdrop of black tea leaves and ash in the manner of Jasmin et Cigarette (État Libre d’Orange). It is this balance between the damp, fetid lushness of the white flowers and the dryness of the leather, tea, or tobacco that makes Venezia Giardini Segreti so special. Interestingly, there is also the burnt coffee grounds aroma of real oakmoss. This accord smells a bit like the oakmoss you get in older, vintage chypres like Givenchy III, meaning rather than fresh and bitter, it feels pre-degraded by time and exposure to the air, like green plant stems rotting slowly in murky vase water. This dusty ‘brown’ moss note ages the base of Venezia Giardini Segreti, turning the sultry flowers into the cracked-at-the-elbows leather jacket of Cabochard (Grès), Miss Balmain (Balmain), or and Le Smoking (DSH Perfumes).
Tempered in this way by the grey-green ink of oakmoss, the jasmine feels like one of those dried and salted mystery items you pick up at the Asian store to snack on. It is fantastically sexy, and I far prefer it to La Via del Profumo’s most famous jasmine creation, Tawaf. It is the perfect jasmine perfume for a Bohemian spirit.
Tempered in this way by the grey-green ink of oakmoss, the jasmine feels like one of those dried and salted mystery items you pick up at the Asian store to snack on. It is fantastically sexy, and I far prefer it to La Via del Profumo’s most famous jasmine creation, Tawaf. It is the perfect jasmine perfume for a Bohemian spirit.
