Varanasi Meo Fusciuni 2020
25
Top Review
A Trip to India...
1999 - Central India. I find myself in Hampi, more precisely in Vijayanagar. This was the last Hindu kingdom, and today it is an ancient city of ruins filled with countless temples. The landscape around Hampi captivates everyone immediately. A whim of nature has created a hilly area, strewn with a multitude of stacked granite boulders. Many myths and stories surround the formation of this quirky landscape. One says that the monkey god Hanuman demonstrated his power by making the stones rain down...
Whatever the case, Hampi and its ancient kingdom is an absolutely magical place with much to discover. As you wander through the old temple complexes, you can smell the scent of incense sticks everywhere. Almost as if the aromas are emanating from the ancient masonry of millennia-old temples, telling stories of long-gone times. Outside the temples, all sorts of vendors offer their goods and delicacies. Exotic scent clouds waft through the air, and in the scorching sun of India, one gladly settles down in a shady spot to let the soul dangle with a glass of chai...
Southern West Coast, Goa, Vagator Beach. It is December 31, 1999. The last day of the old millennium is approaching dusk. Goa resembled a cauldron during this time. People from all over the world had come to celebrate the turn of the millennium in a place that was truly unique at the time. The air was electrified, and the grand Millennium Bash was to take place in Disco Valley. A party location right by the sea under a multitude of palm trees. It was a truly unique experience at a truly unique time. Colorful fluorescent colors on the palms, illuminated with black light, created the necessary visual space. The smell of dusty sand and the steaming chillums of the partying crowd filled the air. Powerful, pulsating basses of the thumping trance music pushed through the masses, and one really had to be careful not to get lost in the crowd...
Northern West Coast, Bombay. A metropolis that surely has no equal. I have never experienced a place that reveals such poverty and misery alongside incredible wealth and prosperity, right next to each other. For me, Bombay had little appeal. But my stay there was not very long, so I surely missed many pleasant moments. What I did not miss, however, were the various and manifold smells and scents that can be perceived. Both positive and negative. Whether it was spices from street vendors or the air laden with exhaust fumes. Bombay has quite a lot to offer...
When I now smell the beautiful fragrance Meo Fusciuni - Varanasi, I instantly have at least one of the three described experiences in mind. It is like pressing a rewind button that catapults me back about 20 years. One could also say Varanasi is preserved India in its purest form.
But how does Varanasi smell?
The fragrance pyramid has a lot to offer, but I believe it makes little sense to filter out individual aromas in isolation.
Varanasi is smoky, woody, and has certain slightly musty, moldy accords. These, in turn, give the fragrance the necessary character. Floral, slightly sweet tendencies round it off. Resinous-balsamic facets elevate it... a bit of everything, really.
The fragrance must be perceived in its entirety!
To put it bluntly, one could also say it smells like an incense stick, a very good one, mind you. Elegantly put, the label has succeeded in capturing, preserving, extracting, and filtering the scent of a subcontinent. To create a true niche fragrance. Based on my current fragrance horizon, I have not smelled anything comparable so far.
The intensity and sillage seem sufficient to me, and the longevity is also rated well. However, this is certainly not an everyday fragrance. Varanasi is quite special, and even though I can associate many memories with it, I do not want to smell it all the time.
Returning once again to the West Coast, I would like to close my narrative with a few words that I could always perceive in the smallest state of India:
Goa is not a place - Goa is a state of mind!
Thank you for reading...
A big thank you for the sample to Bloodxclat!!
Whatever the case, Hampi and its ancient kingdom is an absolutely magical place with much to discover. As you wander through the old temple complexes, you can smell the scent of incense sticks everywhere. Almost as if the aromas are emanating from the ancient masonry of millennia-old temples, telling stories of long-gone times. Outside the temples, all sorts of vendors offer their goods and delicacies. Exotic scent clouds waft through the air, and in the scorching sun of India, one gladly settles down in a shady spot to let the soul dangle with a glass of chai...
Southern West Coast, Goa, Vagator Beach. It is December 31, 1999. The last day of the old millennium is approaching dusk. Goa resembled a cauldron during this time. People from all over the world had come to celebrate the turn of the millennium in a place that was truly unique at the time. The air was electrified, and the grand Millennium Bash was to take place in Disco Valley. A party location right by the sea under a multitude of palm trees. It was a truly unique experience at a truly unique time. Colorful fluorescent colors on the palms, illuminated with black light, created the necessary visual space. The smell of dusty sand and the steaming chillums of the partying crowd filled the air. Powerful, pulsating basses of the thumping trance music pushed through the masses, and one really had to be careful not to get lost in the crowd...
Northern West Coast, Bombay. A metropolis that surely has no equal. I have never experienced a place that reveals such poverty and misery alongside incredible wealth and prosperity, right next to each other. For me, Bombay had little appeal. But my stay there was not very long, so I surely missed many pleasant moments. What I did not miss, however, were the various and manifold smells and scents that can be perceived. Both positive and negative. Whether it was spices from street vendors or the air laden with exhaust fumes. Bombay has quite a lot to offer...
When I now smell the beautiful fragrance Meo Fusciuni - Varanasi, I instantly have at least one of the three described experiences in mind. It is like pressing a rewind button that catapults me back about 20 years. One could also say Varanasi is preserved India in its purest form.
But how does Varanasi smell?
The fragrance pyramid has a lot to offer, but I believe it makes little sense to filter out individual aromas in isolation.
Varanasi is smoky, woody, and has certain slightly musty, moldy accords. These, in turn, give the fragrance the necessary character. Floral, slightly sweet tendencies round it off. Resinous-balsamic facets elevate it... a bit of everything, really.
The fragrance must be perceived in its entirety!
To put it bluntly, one could also say it smells like an incense stick, a very good one, mind you. Elegantly put, the label has succeeded in capturing, preserving, extracting, and filtering the scent of a subcontinent. To create a true niche fragrance. Based on my current fragrance horizon, I have not smelled anything comparable so far.
The intensity and sillage seem sufficient to me, and the longevity is also rated well. However, this is certainly not an everyday fragrance. Varanasi is quite special, and even though I can associate many memories with it, I do not want to smell it all the time.
Returning once again to the West Coast, I would like to close my narrative with a few words that I could always perceive in the smallest state of India:
Goa is not a place - Goa is a state of mind!
Thank you for reading...
A big thank you for the sample to Bloodxclat!!
Translated · Show original
14 Comments
It's great that you were there in person and could describe it so vividly.
Dil-Se-Pokal