Absinth Nasomatto 2007 Extrait de Parfum

Bittersweet mosses, green woodsmoke, and sinister woods. It’s a bit of a nose-jarring scent at first sniff, as if the punk-poet green fairy quit bohemian Paris to live amongst the ancient dryads and they didn’t get on well but eventually formed an uneasy friendship and made softly surreal, slightly subversive memories together.

As a fragrance I’ve had for a good while now, and as one of the first fragrances that I fell in love with in the niche fragrance realm, I felt an in depth review for it was long overdue. So, one night, I decided to put it on and give it a gander.

In the immediate opening, you get a hearty helping of earthy greens that lean more towards the green side of things. Coming in with, and also right behind those earthy greens, is a slightly bittersweet flavor that quickly turns cold and crisp. Rest assured, however, that the initial taste of the opening has not been overshadowed by the newcomer accord, as it is still prevalent in the opening.

In the middle of the drydown lies a very similar story that you’re introduced to in the opening. As time progressed as the fragrance slowly receded into a skin scent, it became a bit warmer and darker in tone. Though, still, the differences between this Absinth and the Absinth you get in the first few minutes are very minimal.

The fragrance closes similarly to how it started, though now the crisp edge it had is now but a faint memory, and the earthiness has also quieted down a bit. The bittersweet greens that were present in the opening, however, remained and saw us out to the very end. To some, the linear development may be a turnoff, but I feel that it’d be far better off this way. For a scent that has such an intoxicating opening, I wouldn’t want it to disappear as quickly as it came. If anything, I’d say it speaks to the accuracy of its name and the notes that reside within it. Absinthe in liquor form won’t have a wild development as it sits; like this fragrance, you’ll only get some kind of twist if you layer it with something. I have layered this fragrance with others in a similar field, and I’ve enjoyed each as like a breath of fresh air.

If there’s one thing you can take away from this fragrance, if it isn’t how accurate it is to the liquor itself, it’s the fact that it is just as addictive. I could not get my nose off of this after smelling it for the first time, and even now, I still feel its addictive earthy green nature beckoning me in for more. While it may not have been the fragrance to kickstart my love for greens in fragrance, it certainly was responsible for forever cementing it.

Alessandro Gualtieri's Absinth for Nasomatto is more than just a fragrance; it's an experience. While the creator suggests it aims to evoke "irresponsible behavior," this scent paints a far more pastoral picture on the skin. Imagine sprawling, grassy landscapes, the comforting aroma of hay, and the grounding scent of moss, all interwoven with a subtle sweetness of ripe red apple.
Absinth feels like a soothing balm for the soul, opening up to boundless horizons. It's a wild yet captivating blend of earthy browns reminiscent of rain-soaked soil, the bitterness of dried herbs, and delicate floral hints, all enveloped in lush, green, almost lymphatic notes. This is a jewel of a fragrance, capturing the magic of nature awakening after a long slumber. Unique and passionate, Absinth is another compelling masterpiece from a true olfactory artist.

I blind bought this bottle quite a while ago and hated the scent at first. It has a sharp dull grass note, with Absinth lasting for the first half of the wear. It has smoky note to it, kind of like burning dry autumn leaves and timber.

Even though I hated Absinth Extrait de Parfum because it reminded me of a cows pasture, I wore it to bed basically every night? It smelt kind of like home. The scent grew on me and I noticed there is a sweet musk note, allll the way at the end of wear life (which is quite a while) that is left on my sheets and skin, like a fresh mowed lawn and some wood. Then it fades away.

Overall I enjoy it now and I would recommend buying this if you're into more daring niche fragrances.

I encountered the Nasomatto line way back in 2008, the time that I opened the Pandora's Box of "niche perfume" whilst strolling through Barney's New York. I was struck by their bottles, with their wooden caps and minimal presentation (this was a time when it wasn't necessarily ubiquitous). I found most of what I sampled to be a bit too surly or turgid for my tastes, including the beloved Black Afgano. However, I noticed one named Absinth and since absinthe had become legal in the US for the first time in nearly a hundred years the year prior, I had developed a yen for it.

Absinth (and absinthe) propelled me into a full-fledged love for wormwood, lusting after the essential oil, wanting to dose it to the allowable limit in one day composing the most wormwood-y of wormwood fragrances. I wore Absinth during what seemed to be simpler times (they always seem to be in hindsight), spraying some on before hitting indie rock shows by bands like Smog or Low and visiting friends' gallery openings. It's sharp, bitter green slowly smooths out to a woody, sweet, fuzzy dry down—reminding me of warm, dry pine needles and dusty old roots. A soft vetiver rounds out the experience, while the sensation of wormwood, while more subtle than I would like, supported by a fennel/anise, carries through all the way to its traces on my skin. There are lots of memories associated with this one.