Sienne d'Orange The Different Company 2012

Besides the relevant experts from agriculture, nutritional science, gastronomy, etc., probably no one knows carrots better than parents do. The standard baby food is not available in too many preparation variations among the latter, but rather on various own and foreign body parts and for scraping or washing out from every conceivable corner or textile. One easily forgets what a wonderful thing the oh-so-ordinary carrot is culinarily. It can be quite fragrant-fresh, very sweet, but also rather bitter-spicy. A fragrance with carrot as an explicit component is therefore possibly particularly exciting.

And indeed, our SdO carrot is present from the very beginning. It fits surprisingly well with orange and initially provides a bit of sweetness to the occasionally rather fleeting hesperidia, giving it stability and depth, even a kind of distinct spiciness. For the cardamom, however, I need a bit of imagination.

Then comes a proper surprise. A changed carrot aroma mixes excellently with the iris. In retrospect, I am surprised by my astonishment, as the two aromas actually have a similar character, provided - as in this case - the rather bitter and olfactorily airy-cool aspect of the carrot is in play.

The unusual mélange is complemented by an unmistakable apricot scent. I did not know that apricot wood smells so much like apricot. Without warning, I might have guessed it was kernels, if not even Madame herself.

Unfortunately, there is not much time to enjoy the original composition, as the scent is incredibly fleeting. Cologne or not, the sillage does not reach from Cologne to Porz, and the longevity barely lasts from twelve to noon. Clearly under two hours, and practically the entire scent is on the skin; "on..." would be an exaggeration. Spraying on clothing extends it a little. I barely perceive a hint of white pepper towards the end; after the leather, the olfactory bulb is already reaching in vain. A plant sap note squeezes through the door at the very last moment. It is still quite perceptible for a few hours, but only with direct breathing on the skin.

Well, as beautiful as I find the scent, its performance is pathetic even for a cologne. There are deductions that are not only unavoidable in the B-note. Using it requires carrying a bag that the bottle fits comfortably into. Now it no longer surprises me that the scent is not available in two sizes as is usually customary for TDC. A 50ml bottle would simply serve no purpose!

By the way, I believe the TDC idea of giving their works the most diverse opening mechanisms is positioned somewhere between stimulating and frustrating (depending on the mood). Sometimes a heavy metal cap must be completely peeled off (Jasmin de Nuit), which has certainly claimed one or another bathroom tile; another variant is that only part of it needs to be removed (Sel de Vetiver). The cap of SdO, however, is conveniently made of faux wood, but has been given a left-hand thread; woe betide anyone who suspects a strong clamping of the cap....

A speculation about the reason for the unconventional closure here: Perhaps the openings of color spray guns are correspondingly left-wound. Then one could screw the bottle directly onto it. This would enormously facilitate the application of the amount of SdO required for minimal durability demands, and finger muscle soreness or even strains would be a thing of the past. One could perhaps even repurpose such a thing into a showerhead. That would be a crafting suggestion for my brother, who is an engineer with a penchant for quirky nonsense.