Plum in Cognac Scents of Wood 2020

Warm, resinous peru balsam mixed with freshly muddled plums, a splash of rum, and a healthy dusting of cinnamon. The osmanthus gives it a floral touch, the base a very dry, brushy woods. Thick and syrupy with a nice balance of sweetness, astringency, and spice. Sadly, the drydown is mostly just woods with a touch of remaining warm spice as the plums and rum fade away. Moderate projection for 2-3hr, longevity 8-10hr.

I get Herod's tobacco note quite strongly, so they smell nothing alike to me. The plum makes it dissimilar to Angels' Share beyond both being boozy cinnamon scents at their core. Yes, the juice is a very deep purple that stained the heck out of my shirt collar just rubbing on the back of my neck.

This is a joint review of Plum in Cognac and Plum in Cognac Vintage 24.

Plum in Cognac opens with a strong boozy scent that quickly diminishes and blends with a fruity accord which is presumably the plum and perhaps a touch of the osmanthus. It dries down into a somewhat generic fruity accord with little to no rum and a distinct synthetic accord which I did not find pleasant. Performance was average all around.

Plum in Cognac Vintage 24 opens less boozy and more fruity compared to Plum in Cognac. As it dries down, you get more of the creamy goodness with a touch of the vanilla and cinnamon and a slightly sharp, woody hint. Comparing the two, Vintage is the more balanced and overall better fragrance. Performance of Vintage is also significantly better than Plum in Cognac. I got a good 12 hours of longevity with quite strong projection for the first couple of hours.

Trying to think of a place for Vintage 24 in my collection, I'm dissuaded. If I were to categorize it, Vintage 24 is the sort of sweet, creamy scent that brings to mind Tony Iommi Monkey Special, Pasha Noir Absolu and even very slightly Boss Bottled Absolu. Monkey Special is superior to Vintage 24 IMO and since I already have it, there's really no room for Vintage 24.

The opening of this fragrance is a bit rough on my skin with a lot of discordant sharp edges until everything settles down but once it settles it's a stunning cinnamon plum with soaring osmanthus/vetiver and woody vanillic base. It really is so pretty.

On me, it wore somewhat close to the skin but I can tell it will have nearly eternal longevity, comparatively.

I don't think it couldn't be worn in the warmer months but I think it would really shine in the fall and winter. I disagree with the consensus and think that it leans femme, but do think it's easily unisex.

Sprayed from the tester at Ministry of Scent in SF on a 75F day. Worn about 10hrs at time of writing.

Scents of Wood Plum in Cognac is overwhelmingly the house’s highest-selling and best-known scent, an aptly-named boozy mix featuring plum. It’s plentifully sweet, spicy, boozy, dark, and deep, a fulfilling, rich experience for those like me that enjoy this class of gourmand-like fragrances featuring inspirations from liquor, liqueur, and wine. It does not fully feel like a fitting flagship fragrance for the line because it’s sweeter and boozier and less centered on wood notes, but it’s dazzling enough that it’s appeal is obvious, emblematic of the rise of the plum note in perfumery the past decade, and how lovely it fits in with fragrances inspired by alcoholic beverages. It’s slightly reminiscent of Rania J Ambre Loup, which has a similarly sweet and spicy cinnamon/resin note, but pivoted toward the feature plum note.

Like most of the line, Plum in Cognac is priced at $240/38 for 75/10ml, sold at great boutiques like Perfumology, and it performs very well, being anchored in resins and other long-lasting accords.

8 out of 10

On the test strip this smells incredible. Boozy plum with cinnamon and vanilla, like a delicious dessert. Spray it on my skin and it turns into high octane gasoline for two straight hours. After the egregious amounts of ethanol dissipate the dry down is almost a smoky cinnamon tar. Not bad at all, but not worth the two hours of rubbing alcohol suffocating my nose.

This is the first and only time I've had a perfume behave so differently on a test strip versus my skin. I would absolutely love it if it behaved the same. It seems I'm the only one with this difference but oh well, Test strip: 9.5/10, on my skin: 2/10.