Tobacco 01 Swiss Arabian 2024

Someone lied to us! We were expecting the aromatic ambience of a private club, with rich, old-ass white guys swirling brandy balloons and self-congratulating themselves on shorting the most recent tanking stock thanks to some inside info. (We hate those people.) lnstead, Swiss Arabian’s Tobacco 01 opens with an apple accord, bordering on–actually, openly flaunting–gourmand adjacentness. In fact, if the name was something like, “Grandma’s Apple Pie”, it would make total sense. But this is not some uber sweet honey crisp, or pink lady. Nay, nay. The pink pepper and licorice conspire to conjure something unexpected: not a honeyed, yielding apple, but a granny smith — tart, bright, a little defiant. The kind of apple that makes good pies precisely because it doesn’t surrender its edge. And yet, warm all the same. For now, the tobacco and incense play supporting roles, warming the the apple to something that conjures images of a pie resting on a sill, curtains gently disturbed by a warm summer breeze. Better not let Jim Levenstein know.nnIn the heart, something tropical stirs — quietly, privately. Asian tropical, not Caribbean. No boozy drinks, fragrant oils and suntan lotion; no loud colors and crowded shores. We sit apart from the crowd, alone, with only our thoughts and our senses. Unhurried, watching the last light leave the sky. There is warmth here, but the warmth of what remains rather than what burns. A fire has been, but no more. Coals smolder, patient, occasionally exhaling, softly. Labdanum, amber and ylang-ylang soften Tobacco 01’s patchouli to a warm sunset, rather than a cool sunrise: the remains of the day, not the promise of a new.nnThe tobacco finally arrives in the drydown, not as itself but as its ghost. This is black Cavendish rather than raw leaf — sweet, soft, already processed by time and habit. This is the tobacco we take from the shop , not the tobacco burning in the pipe. It does not announce. It lingers the way presence lingers after its occupant has gone — tobacco-soaked curtains and carpets, plush upholstery, the scent of absence rather than the act of smoking. Pappy is gone and he’s not coming back. What remains is the vanilla and honey of his memory, the cashmere softness of his favorite chair, and a subtle spice lingering in his pipe. Not a smoke room. A sanctuary. Not the fire. The warmth it left behind

To me, Tobacco 01 opens with some dried plum and a surprisingly moist and fresh tobacco note that works in harmony with the cumin and peppery notes. It is sweeter than it sounds but there is a lot less of the fruity textures in this than you might expect from looking at the notes. They are dried fruits not juicy fresh. If you look for them, there are some nicely blended floral accords in Tobacco 01 but these freshen from the sidelines and are difficult to pick out as they are so enwoven into the greeny tobacco notes.

The middle is rich patchouli, resinous amber and some Iso E Super to smooth it over whilst the base is an almost creamy gourmand sort of vanilla and honey that cleverly never goes too sweet. It goes almost chocolatey (I think from the patchouli) in sillage. If you breeze past someone wearing this you get the cocoa patchouli hand in hand with pipe tobacco scent which isn't as heavy as it sounds. But if you get in close on the skin, you get the heavier tobacco and the cumin which is much stronger than I was expecting. It is a really accomplished bit of perfumery from Angeline Leporini.

The musk and cashmeran are, again, supporting actors rather than the headliners and do a really nice job in smoothing this over and making it much easier on the nose than it looks by note list. I cannot see Ambroxan in the notes but I am positive I can feel it in here, ironing out the creases and throwing a silk texture over the whole thing.

I would say it is much sexier than Incense 01, Patchouli 01, Rose 01 or Vanilla 01. I dated a girl from Sri Lanka many years ago and this smells exactly like her skin: Dark, spicy, sexy, warm and languid, impossibly-exotic-but-very-familiar, but not brooding or difficult. It is a nice memory of a long time ago and I love fragrances that can evoke things like that.

Layering suggestion: try a base layer of Killian - Intoxicated just to ramp up the spices and add a gorgeous coffee note. You could also look at a saffron or incense top layer, perhaps Encens Suave by Matiere Premier or Liquide by Les Liquides Imaginaires. This is a very versatile scent that lends itself well to layering I feel.

Three Word Summary: Non Smoky Tobacco

Scent - 7/10
Sillage - 8/10
Drydown - 8/10
Bottle/packaging - 9/10
Performance - 8/10

40/50

I was a bit worried about the blind buy, thinking it might be too smoky or masculine just because of the bottle and presentation, BUT I was very, very positively surprised. It is a very sweet, long-lasting, rather feminine scent. Tobacco does take a back seat, but I find this underlying note very interesting. For me, the plum is the most prominent, warm, sweet, but also not too synthetic or kitschy. My new favorite fragrance. I can wholeheartedly recommend it to any woman as a blind buy; I haven't regretted it for a second.

…Shirley May or Alta Moda? No? I hadn't either until just now. But more on that shortly.

Before I could call Tobacco 01 my own, I had a few small concerns. I had read too often about the comparison to Khamrah - and unfortunately, that one does not appeal to me at all.
So far, I have had little luck with the fragrances from Lattafa (always blind buys, of course). Ana Abiyedh Eau de Parfum gave me a headache, while Teriaq Intense /ترياق and Khamrah struck me as intrusive and clumsy.
It’s nice to get an interesting fragrance DNA for little money - but is that all?

I eventually took the plunge with Tobacco 01 - and was thrilled from the very first moment.

Like all (the ones I know) fragrances from this house, the craftsmanship in terms of sillage, balance, and longevity is outstanding.

Imagine a blend of "The One for Men (Eau de Parfum) | Dolce & Gabbana," "Side Effect | Initio," and Khamrah (just less intrusive) - and you have an idea of how the fragrance smells.
Dark, sweet, boozy, and heavy - but without coming across as blunt or one-dimensional.

The individual notes merge into a harmonious whole. Sometimes apple, plum, and pepper dominate, then again vanilla, tobacco, and honey.
In the drydown, Tobacco 01 becomes noticeably tamer - creamier, softer, almost soothing.
A fragrance for date nights, going out, for the dark times of the year and day.

The bottle also impresses: high-quality, elegant, presented in a premium box.

Now, to conclude, let's talk about the names mentioned above.
In hopes of uncovering the secret of how Swiss Arabian can market fragrances of this quality, in this presentation, at almost bargain prices, I did some research.
Swiss Arabian markets its fragrances independently under the "Swiss Arabian Perfume Group" (SAPG).
Perhaps, I thought, they still produce for large houses and the own brand is more of a byproduct - but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The SAPG includes the very brands I listed at the beginning. However, only half of them are represented on Parfumo. The brands represented seem to be rather unknown.

So it seems that indeed 10 to 15 euros make the difference between "clumsy and intrusive" and "balanced and refined."

Swiss Arabian, I am thrilled and look forward to the next fragrances I can test.

Tobacco 01 starts off alcoholically-synthetic and fresh-fruity-woody. In the top note, apple and plum break through, while caraway and pepper prevent it from becoming too fruity. Even here, tobacco can already be sensed. The slightly alcoholic freshness is still present.

Apparently, the fragrance still needs to find itself a bit, as it wanders around somewhat. But then a fruity-peppery-fresh tobacco note manifests itself. From the heart note onwards, the scent becomes sweeter and fuller, and in the base note, vanilla makes its appearance.

Thus, the fragrance eventually bids farewell with this popular cozy combination of tobacco and vanilla. Overall, this is a rather light tobacco scent, making it suitable for everyday wear year-round. I perceive the projection as generally good, and the longevity seems to be okay.