Tabac Blond (1919)
by Caron

Ohh but I love Ernest Daltroff perfumes, here was a man who knew how a woman should smell , not of fruit and synthetic flowers but of , dare I even say it ,no, I dare not so I will substitute the word I should use for this : a scent of stolen moments, stolen kisses and stolen hearts.
Tabac Blonde stole my heart years ago but it's not a scent to wear in the height of summer ,it's too dark, too leathery , just too much for everyday use.
Excellent sillage on my skin which despises most aldehydes to the point where they do not linger for more than a few moments.
I don't expect young women to like this but the animalaic quality certainly turns the heads of young men caught in the waft of it's trail.
Daltroff had a signature, so evident in Tabac, En Avion , Can Can and Nuit de Noel that I can wear any of these wonderful concoctions and feel quite illicit and singular - everyone else is welcome to smell the same if they want to, I need Daltroff to feed my inner Goddess.

19th December, 2011.

I am once again on a quest, this time to find an EDT, parfum or cologne that will not break the bank if worn every day! Creed's Jasmin Imperatrice Eugenie and Malle's Musc Ravageur will always be beloved. However, at nearly $250/75ml and $240/100 ml respectively, I must find more affordable alternatives if I wish to wear a fragrance every day...and I DO!!!

I recently bought several fragrance samples and among them was Tabac Blond. I purchased the fragrance after reading so many positive reviews about it here on Basenotes and I’m glad I did!!

I feel a bit confused by this fragrance but overall, I think I like Tabac Blond a lot. However, in order for me to purchase a fragrance and wear it often, I have to know that I really really like it, almost love it. I really want to love Tabac Blond but for some reason, I feel ambivalent about the fragrance. Like it, definitely…like it a lot, yes…love it, uh…not sure.

For me, the opening is quite heady with lots of floral…carnation (of course), iris, ylang-ylang and other floral notes that I would NOT expect from an incense-leather-smoke fragrance. As others have stated, the opening is pure floral, like carnation floral…and lots of it, along with a wee-bit of smoke and leather. I didn’t find the opening to be overpowering or unpleasant…just surprising. Having said that, I wish the floral opening notes remained more prominent and not (as one writer stated) “just there to smooth out the rough edges of the other notes...there’s nothing floral about Tabac Blond.” So true, so true…

Be careful what you wish for (I, wishing for more incense, smoke ‘n leather, less Oriental floral) because after a half hour or so, Tabac Blond morphed into a relatively nice, albeit mild mild mild solofleur that was positively choking with leather & smoke, perhaps a wee-bit of amber and vanilla, too…but leather…and smoke. More leather, I would say than smoke At times, I found the dry down almost too leathery and smoky for my tastes, at one point even questioning if my eyes were burning & tearing, if my throat was becoming scratchy and if I was having some difficulty breathing due to the overabundance of leather & smoke.

So, I LIKE Tabac Blond…I really do. It is a welcome departure from the usual and ordinary citrus-floral-amber Oriental. Yes, NOTHING really floral about this fragrance. I’m going to try a few other incense-smoke-leather samples and perhaps pass on buying a full bottle of Tabac Blond…for now. I would like to give Tabac Blond a fair try, which I do not think is possible with a few drops from a 2 ml sample. I’ll try this fragrance again and hope to fall in love.

24th October, 2011.

I have a vintage bottle of Tabac blond I bought at the Avenue Montaigne Caron boutique in Paris, back in the early 80's. I still wear it occasionally in the winter. The spicy carnation and the rich vanilla are toned down just a bit by the dry leather note which makes for a truly original deliciously daring composition. They don't make fragrances like this nowadays, unfortunately.

5th September, 2011.

I tried this on in the Caron boutique in NYC (in phytouniverse), and within the first 2 minutes of wearing it, I got a compliment from another customers HUSBAND, and a total stranger. So there you go. Not bad for a fragrance from 1919. Edgy but wearable and classic.

2nd July, 2011. (Last Edited: 17th July, 2011.)

Okay, I give up totally on Caron. Going through a leather phase and thought I couldn't go wrong with this. So I got a large decant of the extrait, apparently the way to go? WRONG! (wrong, wrong, wrong). Amber treacle and nothing more. Ghastly, made my blood sugar spike it was so sweet and bland. Cuir de Russie you own my leather loving soul. Caron should get rid of that Fraysse? moron or pack it in.

23rd March, 2011.

A most beautiful oriental heady smoky leather scent for those days of the year when you crave for these notes...

Absolutely incredible and a true luxury to wear...

Great longevity and sillage.

Big thumbs up...!!!

22nd March, 2011.