BlackbirdHH

I haven't written any reviews for a long time now and have rather limited myself to statements, but the Ciao Bello Pistachio - Dubaï Chocolate simply has to get one! :-)
What can I say, you get what you expect from the name, a super nice chocolate-pistachio gourmand with a fine, not exuberant sweetness!
Starts with a lightly roasted pistachio and delicious pastry, I can't say whether it's yeast pastry of all things, but leeeeeeeckeeeeer! The chocolate resonates softly in the background, then pushes itself more and more to the front until there is a great balance between these notes. Honey joins in quietly, as does the almond paste, which comes to the fore quite strongly in the meantime, but is quickly pulled back into the line-up again by the other opponents!
The whole thing plays out over several hours, I can't smell the knafeh individually, but since it all has something to do with almond/pistachio, it's not bad for me either!
Towards the DD I can't recognize a big difference, whether it is pistachio cream or ice cream I can't distinguish, because a certain creaminess is present from the heart note at the latest!
Conclusion: A great, quite linear, not too sweet gourmand with a great drydown (9+hours for me) and an initially strong sillage, which adapts well over time! In the middle I had the feeling that I was only sniffing a little and then a movement caused a delicious gush of chocolate biscuits to fly into my nostrils! I kept sniffing my wrist and was in danger of biting into it! I really like the scent!
About the bottle: Beautiful, heavy bottle that fits very well in the hand and a great spray head that nebulizes really finely!

Welcome my dear "readers" to today's Taif battle!!! :-)

In the right corner (on the right wrist, "r"ight fitting for "R"oja) the champion, "Taif Aoud (Parfum)"
in the left corner the challenger, "Majestic Taif"

The two contenders have checked the ring's condition before the fight (both wrists freshly washed!!! ;-D) and the tension is slowly rising, everyone is waiting for the gong that will call for the first round...
The commentator and referee have taken their places... OK, OK, I have taken my place!!! ;-D
...it gets quiet in the hall, just a little moment longer and then it will begin...
...as an XYZ celebrity would now roar...

LÄÄÄÄÄT'S GÄÄÄÄÄT RÄÄÄÄÄDIIII TUUUUU RAAAAAMBOOOOOOOOOO!!! *Gong*

Round 1
the challenger storms in with a slightly synthetic, bitter bergamot-aldehyde face (did he just dope himself with a bite of artificial grapefruit???) towards the champion. The champion stands calmly in his corner, wondering how this attack could possibly be successful!? He had sprayed himself with a pleasant citrus-fresh scent before the fight and thinks to himself "let him come"!!!
The challenger charges at the champion like a bull and winds up for the first blow... easily blocked... for that he receives a first counter-punch to the short ribs because he neglected his defense and goes down to his knees!!! *ouch*
..."that's not how it's done, my boy" one thinks, "you'll have to offer a bit more than that"!!! ;-)
A few more small attacks follow, but the champion skillfully defends against them all and scores counter after counter with his fine, unsynthetic balance!!!
Lucky for the challenger, the gong sounds and the first round is over, he has lost some feathers against the champion!!!

Round 2
slowly it seems the challenger is realizing that he can't score points with his "head-through-the-wall" attacks, he tries to adapt his fighting style to that of the champion and comes in with a pleasant, slightly spicy-fruity Taif rose, the champion counters with his own slightly spicy-fruity May rose!!! Both dance around each other, the challenger's occasional attacks are calmly countered by the champion!!! But one can see that the challenger is increasingly adapting his style to that of the champion!!!
..."well, you see my boy, strength lies in calmness, all that quick stuff comes from the devil" one thinks!!! ;-D
The gong sounds... end of round two!!! Points still favor the champion!!!

Round 3
what has happened here??? The challenger comes out of his corner and has managed to adapt his fighting style to that of the champ!!! He is now surrounded by a slightly "mustier" oud note than the champion and a fight on equal footing is slowly developing!!! The champion now has to work quite hard to keep his opponent at bay and not give away too many points!!!
..."it's getting there, it's getting there" one thinks!!! ;-)
Gong... end of round 3... this round saw a certain balance between the two contenders!!!

Rounds 4-8
the fight is getting quieter, the exchanges of blows are being executed with less power!!! Both contenders score with oud punches, incense hooks, fruity rose strikes, and vanilla counters while standing patchouli-ed in the ring!!!
In this phase, one can occasionally see that the challenger is still a bit younger and probably a bit (synthetically) doped!!! (However, the test after the fight will have to prove this) ;-) ...the challenger's "strikes" are a bit stronger than the champ's counters!!!
..."have they now agreed on a peaceful coexistence and just want to finish the rounds in peace???" one wonders!!! :-)
The gong sounds... end of round 8... now a very balanced fight = draw!!!

Rounds 9-10
slowly we are nearing the end, both contenders are sneaking around each other in the ring, neither seems to have the strength to launch one last aggressive attack!!! It seems they are just counting down the time and waiting for the gong!!!
..."is that it??? ...there really wasn't much going on at the end!!!" one thinks!!! :-D
Gong... end of round 10... draw!!!

Round 11
the two contenders are just clinging to each other, neither is capable of making any significant move!!! They are waiting for the all-ending gong!!!
Gong... end of fight!!! This round was also very balanced!!! Although the challenger still looks just a tiny bit fresher than the champion, he probably wouldn't be able to last another round!!! ...and above all... we must consider the doping suspicion!!!
..."there was really no action towards the end!!! ...but it was still nice!!!" one is pleased!!! ;-)

After a brief discussion period, the referee (that would be me ;-D) has made his decision...

Winner by points... the champion!!!
AAAAABBÄÄÄÄÄR only because of the challenger's not-so-successful first rounds, otherwise it was a very balanced fight, almost on equal footing!!!

..."it was a nice fight, even if there was a bit of a lack of action at the end!!! But... why did the challenger's fans have to pay so much less for their tickets than the champion's fans!!!???" one wonders!!! :-DDDDD

In this sense... wishing you many "fragrant" fights in the future!!!

I bid you farewell until the next "fight"!!! Tschööööö ;-)

Hey man... who left all these squeezed and cut peels lying on the floor... ever heard of cleaning up and wiping?!!!??? :-{
I could really hurt myself... Oh Oh... I'm slipping... so slippery and slimy, juicy here... hmpf :-/
...OUUUUUAAAAAHHHHH... Hiiiiilfeeeee... I'm sliding towards that barrel up ahead... full of freshly cut Yuzus and grapefruits... OH... in between I can also spot a few mandarins... man man... this is going to be more of a belly flop... and then headfirst rrrrrinn into the barrel... I'm about to drown, gasping for air, juice everywhere and loads of pulp and peels...

...BUT HEEEEEYYYYY... I like this... getting better and better!!! ...it's totally chill here!!! :-)

Uhhhh... why is the barrel moving now??? ...where are you taking me with this??? Hallooooohooooo... I'm still stuck in heeeere... splash...
What was that??? Am I swimming??? Why am I swimming??? It's rocking so... I think I'm getting seasick... oh oh... what's splashing into the barrel with me??? Panic "in" my barrelTitanic is spreading... is that water??? Seawater??? I can't really smell it through all the citrus scents... but I think it's seawater... salty and a bit seaweedy, but very subtly seaweedy... not like brackish water in the harbor, but nice, like on the open sea!!!
Fortunately, not much is splashing into the barrel, so no danger of drowning... provided no iceberg gets in my way!!! ;-)
Let's see where I drift over the next 7-8 hours... I could probably hang out in here a bit longer... :-)

...but something's missing... what am I missing here??? hmmmm... so I have salt... and citrus... pondering...

Alright... which of you airheads forgot the tequila!!!??? ;-D

In this spirit, have a fun sea voyage and PROOOOOST ;-)

Rainforest??? For me, it’s more like a walk through a dense coniferous forest in a swamp area, near the local pharmaceutical factory that is currently producing a batch of penicillin!!!

Do you know the taste when you have to take penicillin, and you can't swallow the giant tablet properly, and it starts to dissolve a bit??? That nasty, bitter taste that spreads in your mouth and almost makes you want to... ahem... vomit!!!??? That’s exactly the note that resonates throughout Rainforest for me!!! *ugh* :-P

Otherwise, it’s actually a very "interesting" scent, even though I don’t like to smell like that!!! But that one nasty note... no no... it’s not really for mother’s little boy!!! :-D

...a black bird steps out of its shower, still half-asleep the warm shower lover reaches for the towel, dries off, and slowly shuffles into the kitchen... coffee time...
...
"Hello... Hello... Hallooooohooooo... I said CAAAAFFEEEEEEEEEEEEE TIME!!!
Bring on the brew..." :-P
...
"...yawn..." Damn, it’s not working properly...
...must have built up a caffeine resistance!!!???
...
...something "stronger" is needed...
...
...shuffling back to the bathroom...
...
Grabbed Eau des Minimes...
...and
...BANG!!! ...wide awake...

Such a gei... ahem... brilliant start to the morning is rare... first, a pink grapefruit smacks you with its slightly bitter THUMP, closely followed by a really zesty-sour lemon (Sour makes you funny!!!), which soon becomes a bit gentler through its liaison with the blood orange!!!
Still... for softies, it can be quite overwhelming and wakes you up like nothing else!!! ...absolutely!!! ;-D
The scent then settles into a super fresh "All-time wake-up call" within about 30 minutes, becoming a bit gentler thanks to the neroli, but remains totally zesty!!!
For the next 3-4 hours, not much changes, I can't really sniff out the spices and flowers, they’re probably just there for support!!!???

After about 3 hours, it's time for a re-spray, after 4 hours it "should" be done... if only for the "Sour makes you funny"!!! ;-D
...but honestly, at a price of 13,- for 100ml (Correction, not 250ml!!!)... *SFW* ...I’m happy to frolic around every hour... ;-D

In temperatures like we have right now, the scent refreshes throughout the day and helps keep the spirits awake!!! ;-)