19°4'N 72°52'E - Mumbai Les Destinations 2023

I am currently venturing into the world of tea notes and must say, it is a journey full of surprises. Normally, I am not that into green or citrus fragrances, but one should try everything at least once, right? Upon the first sniff from the bottle, I was immediately blown away - Matcha and rice were clearly detectable. And there I stood, faced with the question: Can I actually get excited about greener scents?

The rice unfolded fluffy and brought with it a kind of lactonic warmth. Combined with the powdery Matcha, the first impression was already quite fascinating. But then, on the test strip, came the big disappointment. After just 5 minutes, the whole story took a turn. My personal nightmare became reality - from the initially promising scent, it suddenly transformed into a citrusy mess with a hint of powderiness. As if that weren't enough, it even became sweeter and more synthetic over time. As is often the case with today's fragrances, the base is creamy, but the bergamot stubbornly refuses to step back.

And then the question: Why on earth is this scent associated with Mumbai? Personally, I would not have made the connection with the Indian metropolis at all. Rice as a note fits very well, but the rest is totally incomprehensible as a concept ... The Matcha and rice notes were top-notch, but afterwards everything just became citrusy and ended in the familiar vanilla. Such a shame...