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04/15/2021
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Colonial Goods XXI - Honey Bay Invasion
Santa Maria Novella is a brand with colognes in what feels like 2 million scents, very beautiful bottles and just as many fans on this forum. I have so far tested and reviewed the Russian and the Sicilian Cologne, both have pleased me, but did not sweep me off my feet (8 points each).
Now then Cuba. To this island, many have an extremely intimate relationship, buena-vista-musical, snorkel-touristy, che-guevara-revolutionary, erotic (there everyone must think himself an addition), havana-cigar, cubalibre-alcoholic, or maybe here are also old-timer friends or covertly operating Santería priests in exile with (close your eyes, Pollita!) bloody chickens on the road, who knows.
None of this applies to me, for me Cuba as a place of longing has the same status as Haiti or the Dominican Republic, namely none at all. Therefore, this fragrance must score with me 100% micht real intrinsic fragrance qualities, and he succeeds quite neatly.
With a cologne, this fragrance has rather marginally to do. I would say it is primarily the name and secondly a kind of cologne quote, namely a touch of bright yellow kitchen lemon with a fine strong green-kitchen herbaceous overtone (probably the clary sage from the base note, which peeks cheekily up). There is, funnily enough, not at the very beginning, but after a few minutes noticeable, like a shot of my beloved 'yellow' Alvarez Gomez in it.
Otherwise rather no cologne: a very considerable durability (over six hours all times), a decent projection and very little summer freshness.
Instead, a lot of honey. Very much honey. Perhaps the cologne with the most honey in the whole world. Now I didn't know what honey had to do with Cuba until yesterday either. I geecosiat the combination of the two search terms times and came across that Cuba is becoming a major honey exporter. Because the country is so poor that it has no money for pesticides, so that many bees still live on the island, which have otherwiseo fallen victim to the great species extinction. So there is also a lot of honey, quasi in organic quality, and that brings foreign currency. Whether the makers had in mind when naming this Colognes, I do not know of course.
This honey is also not a tart dark forest honey, but some tropical honey, in which the floral heaviness of its original raw materials has congenially lifted. Quite sweet and quite lush, almost voluptuous, or is that written with two l, never mind, voluptuous actually sounds more voluptuous.
Otherwise, there's also men's soap and leathery-spicy tobacco, claro, but here images of neither smoked tobacco nor dry leaves suggest themselves to me (though I'm no cigar expert), but, because of the sweetness and soft warmth, rather of freshly harvested leaves of a mild variety, and of tobacco blossoms perhaps.
Besides the aforementioned "shot" of Alvarez Gomez, another scent similarity that pops into my head is Rappelle-Toi by L'Artisan Parfumeur, because of the honey-flower combo (no tobacco there though).
Conclusion: Clear buy recommendation for all honey mouths, Cuba- (not Kaba!) Fanatics and people who want to have a cologne in their collection, but hate Colognes.
Now then Cuba. To this island, many have an extremely intimate relationship, buena-vista-musical, snorkel-touristy, che-guevara-revolutionary, erotic (there everyone must think himself an addition), havana-cigar, cubalibre-alcoholic, or maybe here are also old-timer friends or covertly operating Santería priests in exile with (close your eyes, Pollita!) bloody chickens on the road, who knows.
None of this applies to me, for me Cuba as a place of longing has the same status as Haiti or the Dominican Republic, namely none at all. Therefore, this fragrance must score with me 100% micht real intrinsic fragrance qualities, and he succeeds quite neatly.
With a cologne, this fragrance has rather marginally to do. I would say it is primarily the name and secondly a kind of cologne quote, namely a touch of bright yellow kitchen lemon with a fine strong green-kitchen herbaceous overtone (probably the clary sage from the base note, which peeks cheekily up). There is, funnily enough, not at the very beginning, but after a few minutes noticeable, like a shot of my beloved 'yellow' Alvarez Gomez in it.
Otherwise rather no cologne: a very considerable durability (over six hours all times), a decent projection and very little summer freshness.
Instead, a lot of honey. Very much honey. Perhaps the cologne with the most honey in the whole world. Now I didn't know what honey had to do with Cuba until yesterday either. I geecosiat the combination of the two search terms times and came across that Cuba is becoming a major honey exporter. Because the country is so poor that it has no money for pesticides, so that many bees still live on the island, which have otherwiseo fallen victim to the great species extinction. So there is also a lot of honey, quasi in organic quality, and that brings foreign currency. Whether the makers had in mind when naming this Colognes, I do not know of course.
This honey is also not a tart dark forest honey, but some tropical honey, in which the floral heaviness of its original raw materials has congenially lifted. Quite sweet and quite lush, almost voluptuous, or is that written with two l, never mind, voluptuous actually sounds more voluptuous.
Otherwise, there's also men's soap and leathery-spicy tobacco, claro, but here images of neither smoked tobacco nor dry leaves suggest themselves to me (though I'm no cigar expert), but, because of the sweetness and soft warmth, rather of freshly harvested leaves of a mild variety, and of tobacco blossoms perhaps.
Besides the aforementioned "shot" of Alvarez Gomez, another scent similarity that pops into my head is Rappelle-Toi by L'Artisan Parfumeur, because of the honey-flower combo (no tobacco there though).
Conclusion: Clear buy recommendation for all honey mouths, Cuba- (not Kaba!) Fanatics and people who want to have a cologne in their collection, but hate Colognes.
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