Series Four - Nappa Noir Six Scents 2012
Leather and violet nuanced with sweets, well done!
Second wearing of the brand new 2021 Six Scents release, Nappa Noir, first conceived of some nine years ago and finally available to the public. The name conjures dark leather, and “floriental leather” descriptor seems very apropos. For me, the leather and violet factor prominently into the opening in particular, yielding a sort of “black leather jacket with tar violet” vibe that’s fairly sharp but becomes more balanced over time, giving way to some of the sweetness (resins, vanilla, cookie) emerging as part of the mix over time. As it dries down, the blend feels less sharp and the leather somewhat smoother. Violet is still a part of the mix, but it feels more like a mélange of leather, violet, resins, vanilla, and ever so slightly, patchouli.
Overall, though, it never ends up feeling predominantly like a gourmand; it feels like a leather-with-violet tempered by gourmand and resinous notes, a juxtaposition that works effectively, taking some more acerbic notes and counterbalancing them with something sweeter and more familiarly comforting.
Fans of violet should adore the opening and fans of leather should enjoy the fragrance as a whole. I’m definitely not a fan of violet (but enjoy it as fragrant note sometimes, as in Green Irish Tweed) and though I have many I love, I still consider myself to be relatively picky about leather in fragrance, but as a leather fragrance with a prominent violet note, Nappa Noir is very well-executed and provides an option for cold weather that I find very useful, a powerful wake-up call in the morning that is nonetheless sophisticated (and unisex) for the evening.
Like the other recent Six Scents releases, Nappa Noir is available in a 30ml size at EDP concentration and is very reasonably priced, at $78, comparable to the pricing of Ascent, Urban Tropicalia, and #087 (at EDT), and is sold through the house website. And it performs the best of the lot, very impressively loud during its opening hour and then with robust longevity thereafter.
7 out of 10
Overall, though, it never ends up feeling predominantly like a gourmand; it feels like a leather-with-violet tempered by gourmand and resinous notes, a juxtaposition that works effectively, taking some more acerbic notes and counterbalancing them with something sweeter and more familiarly comforting.
Fans of violet should adore the opening and fans of leather should enjoy the fragrance as a whole. I’m definitely not a fan of violet (but enjoy it as fragrant note sometimes, as in Green Irish Tweed) and though I have many I love, I still consider myself to be relatively picky about leather in fragrance, but as a leather fragrance with a prominent violet note, Nappa Noir is very well-executed and provides an option for cold weather that I find very useful, a powerful wake-up call in the morning that is nonetheless sophisticated (and unisex) for the evening.
Like the other recent Six Scents releases, Nappa Noir is available in a 30ml size at EDP concentration and is very reasonably priced, at $78, comparable to the pricing of Ascent, Urban Tropicalia, and #087 (at EDT), and is sold through the house website. And it performs the best of the lot, very impressively loud during its opening hour and then with robust longevity thereafter.
7 out of 10
Landshark321
