Reviews of Tabac Blond (1919)
by Caron

Feels like entering a dusky shrine after all dark ritual is done. Incense smoke settled, some rough cut tobacco for hashish rests in a wooden chest, worn our dirty leather carpets... inspirations about the dark side of human... really impressive... But after half an hour all mystery of smoke incense tobacco and leather dissolves and comes the carnation amber musk of the old style. it is a kind of smell that any one with a moderate nose would tell you that it is old, and anyone over his forties can tell you that it is a kind of frag that around 1950 many men on the world, governors soldiers and the Persian merchants and Chinese barbershops used to smell... The one i have tried was the extrait and i wanna try other forms in the hope for a more acceptable base because the leather incense top note is really very charming. It is masculine and i would rarely find a place to wear but i would have it only to wear on wrists to enjoy myself, if only it is not followed by an old spice type chubby guy entering the shrine loudly...

I would love to have a vintage versions of Tabac Blond, Habanita and Bandit, but so far I've only experienced the Habanita EDT (I've had a 33 year love affair with this one ever since I discovered an ad for a sample in the back of a Vogue magazine at age 17) and the pure parfum sample of Tabac Blond that I recently aquired. Of the 3 scents previously mentioned, Bandit has the reputation of being the real badass, but I wouldn't know as I have yet to smell it (I have a sample on the way as I write this).

As with Habanita, I have fallen in love with Tabac Blond. Tabac Blond opens spicier (like lots of cloves) while Habanita moves quickly to a more dry, peachy, powdery place with the leather emerging much later. The tabacco in Tabac Blond is more evident from start to finish. Both scents are dark and mysterious, but of the two, Tabac Blond is smokier. Both are femme fatales, but while Tabac Blond lets you know right from the start that she's aiming to do you in, Habanita first seduces you with "innocent" powdery softness, drawing you closer, then she whips out her pistol.

I may edit this review once I receive my sample of Bandit.

Top- Leather -- Middle-Leather -- Base - Leather/smoke. Nothing really that softens -- amber will just intensify -- this is the edp version. I think you would need to walk through a mist of it to make it tolerable. I can appreciate the innovativeness, but is really much too potent for me and as stated, very linear.

Kaern

This review is under revision.

This is all about class, it is so chic that it stands out.
I feel I put on the courage of the flapper girls of the 20th when I wear it. It's comforting and audacious at the same time. Dark,unpresentable,overly and overlt chic.It is that tipe of fragrance that tells, well Baby I am who I am, like it or leave it, but if you like it, we could be...
nonchalance brought to excellence. Tabac Blond is perfection in balance but with that little touch of neglection that doesn't permit it to be overdone. It is like the french mentality. They do a marvellous coat with the most delicious hand-embroidery you have ever seen... and then let one button hang lose...
is is all about doing something extraordinary and then leave a touch of it hang lose ,just as if sth too precise would disturb the grandeur. if it all was perfect, it would not be chich any longer.
I adour this

I appreciate the history of this scent... but...it wore me, and wore me out. I felt smothered and choked by a leather-clad biker in a sleazy bar, tables and floors stained with decades of spilled booze...

Tabac Blond is not discontinued; it's just only available now in the EDP from the urns at the Caron boutiques:
http://www.parfumscaron.com/FR/les_parfums_et_poudres/les_parfums_fontaine/tabac_blond.html.

I would go further than saying this is unisex--it is of course very sensual on the right woman, but it is a classic gentleman's scent for autumn. Made for damp leaves and tweed (or black tie and Plymouth martinis), and just as sexy, if the responses I've received from women are any indication, on a man. I know several men of taste who wear it in season. It's too heavy for warm weather, which also brings out the sweetness too much, but in the right circumstances it is simply without peer. In very cold weather I shift to Bel Ami by Hermes, which in absolute terms can't challenge TB, but whose spice notes create a compelling feeling of warmth for wearer and intimate both.

**This review is of the EDT**

Notes:

Top: Leather, Linden, Carnation
Heart: Iris, Vetiver, Ylang Ylang
Base: Cedar, Patchouli, Vanilla, Amber, Musk

Said to be launched to celebrate the liberation of women in the 1920s a movement which allowed them to vote and mate without male consent, wear skimpy bikinies and take care of that ever growing bikini line, and ofcourse smoke in public. The name might be a misnomer, but there's not an iota of smoke in Tabac Blond's performance - this is a crystal clear display of excellent perfumery skills.

Tabac Blond opens with a fresh blast of a sweet citrus note conjoined witha bright floral spicyness of carnation tinged with the barest hint of leather. Its an inviting opening and only hints at whats to come next. And that hint only grows more and more obvious over the next few minutes. The castoreum-based leather heart of Tabac Blond grows in prominence and starts dominating...and what a leather note it is! It shares some similarities with the turpentine-like leather note in Knize Ten, but unlike that motor-oil mechanic juice note, is never harsh or overly chemically (probably due to the iris and ylang ylang, which smooth out any rough leathery tones). Its smooth and as well-balanced as a leather note can be, and although I don't smell much tobacco or smoke, there is a general underlying smoky feel enveloping the heart notes. The leather is impressive in its longevity - this sublime note lasts for a good 4 hours, before the fragrance transitions to a smooth resinous vanilla-amber base, which surprisingly smells cool (is it because of the enduring musk and cedar notes?) compared to the leather action in the heart notes.

Tabac Blond is Carons' flagship perfume, and even in its EDT form, is a fragrance which very few, if any, leather fragrances can claim to compare to. The movement between the three notes phases is dynamic, the leather note is substantial yet never overbearing, and the vanillic-amber-cedar-musk base finishes off the leather powerhouse display with a rich melange of temperate and sensual notes which provide a frore contrast to the leathery warmth. Tabac Blond was a fragrance way ahead of time; its time though has come. The time is now. This is a fragrance for bold women, women who find the fruity florals littering the malls insubstantial, inchoate and insulting to their driven motivated interior. Women who have had enough of the vanilla-amber-laden sweet bombs. Women now lead Fortune 1000 companies, are career driven, and play an equal hand in marriage. I can easily see such independent women do Tabac Blond justice. Its also a clearly unisex juice, although Mr. Moms might be better off with the generic aquatic. Tabac Blond is smokin'.

Mysterious and very "class"
anticonformist,modern,unique,
when you are bored sometimes
with too much flowery an sugar ferfumes

intellectual sexy YES I agree !!!

unisex and decadent masterpiece!!!
UNIQUE

There is something dark, uncanny, and almost diabolical about this fragrance. Imagine being in a 'new age' cafe, full of vegan homosexuals and pagan lesbians. It is a witch's poison potion, reeking freakiness and portending evil.

If you do not want dark thoughts and disturbing emotions to be conjured in your heart, steer clear of this one.

One of the finest leather scents out there, and absolutely unisex, as far as I'm concerned. Sadly, I can't wear it, as I seem to be truly allergic. Tabac Blond causes my eyes to sting, gets me sneezing, and gives me some nasty dermatitis wherever it touches me.

Tragic, if you ask me, but still gets a thumbs up for sheer quality.

1st try, Nice warm leather & incense, the smokiness is cool, not sure if fave yet. confidant sexy feel tho. 2nd try, Love it! Vol de Nuit was a bit soft & boring, this is soft and Wow! It opens sultry & smoky, warm & ambery, smoke softens and woods come thru along with a touch of sweetness. Interesting & confidant. Not too heavy, would be fine for casual wear (applied lightly). It's not blatantly sexy.. but the sexiness it hints at is va-va-rowr.

This is definitely class in a bottle. You can smell history. They do not create perfumes like this any longer. I can't stop smelling my hand...It does have a leather tinge to it (definitely not harsh) but as someone said, it is a natural smell. To me, the dominant smell is of pipe tobacco...deep, smoky, warm, sweet, but not sickly sweet. Used sparingly, it is plenty provocative. You won't "smell" yourself "coming and going," for sure. Not for the faint of heart or the conformist. This smell demands to be worn by someone knows who she is!

Oh glorious skank! The extrait is like Muscs Koublai Khan or L'air de rien with a metallic edge to it. Utterly decadent. A few months ago I'm sure I would have wrote it off as soapy and old lady-like but now I think modern perfumes, even the really good ones, are newly bathed babies in comparison.

Like some others here I get no leather from this fragrance—none at all. But it is full of dark smoke, as if one had walked into an underground jazz joint in 1920s Paris and been enveloped in layers of cigarette smoke drifting up from the fingers of predatory call-girls and their attentive, bookish, clientele. And somehow “bookish” defines this scent—because you cannot rid yourself of thoughts of Stein, Hemmingway, the Fitzgeralds, and other writers of the time, drinking themselves into a state where they can see eye to eye with the times. And this scent is the scent of those times. There is nothing opulent about this scent, but I can imagine it on a young Bette Davis or Barbara Stanwyck (pre-code) and it conjures up murder and burlesque and a world recovering from a great war. I wouldn’t say that the scent has a great beauty to it, but it has character — like layers of shadow. I suppose it could be said to be a film-noir scent, some twenty-five years before that genre properly emerged. But it were a painting it would have to be Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, painted 12 years earlier — or perhaps those sepia cubist paintings of Braque and Picasso.

Whatever Daltroff’s original intention, this scent can now be worn by both men and women. It is more masculine than many male scents that are on the market today. But it isn’t unisex in the way that has come to be interpreted by L’Artisan and others. Rather it somehow transcends gender. One could say it is for sexual intellectuals of either gender.

After the initial slap of leather, the animalic notes recede and a spicy aroma combines with the leather. (I smell a bit of clove, which must actually be carnation.) This fragrance is gently enveloped by sweetness until it succumbs completely to that lovely Caron base. Naughty enough to turn heads, the tobacco and leather notes are nevertheless courteous and approachable, and yes, even feminine. Much more of a "real" leather scent than most that are marketed today. Totally enjoyable. Lovely, a must-try.

oh I love this! It smells just like what I ordered

I just purchased a decant, and after using sparingly and waiting patiently for the drydown, all I can say is WOW!!! I agree with scentmad01, it is sublime, utterly sublime!!
Not your everyday sort of fragrance though, so I must make plans and find someplace special to wear it.

Oh, no no no no no. I should have told myself "no, no more Carons for you, Meg" before ordering the samples from a very wonderful seller on ebay. The experience of owning a 1ml sample of Tabac Blond is much like test driving a Lamborghini and then having to go back to the real world of your Toyota Paseo. Why did I do this to myself? I feel as if I have purchased a remarkably addictive (and EXPENSIVE) drug, and now crave it like I've never craved a scent before. ARGH! Will the gods of ebay *please* send me some wonderful seller who wants to rid themselves of Tabac Blond for a relatively sane price? Is there a decent dupe to be found? I'm a grad student, and can't for a moment justify spending upward of $65 for a tiny 10 ml bottle... (It hurts us, Precious!)

The leather (rubber?) or suede note is key here; other notes: blond/light tobacco, amber, insence/smoke, vanilla, carnation, linden, iris, vetiver, ylang ylang, cedar, patchouli, musk. Amazing opening and delightful drydown. Thumbs WAY up.

Tabac Blond is, what Cabochard and Bandit tried to be but didn't reach. I myself don't smell leather, but aldehydes and darkness and dark aldehydes. This really is a parfume of a dominatrix - hard and cool and dark for a pretty long time - and at the very end, you find a kissy, lovely vanilla.

Just sublime, worth every penny. I wore the smallest dab recently and was asked several times by several different people what it was that smelled so good..... a remarkable scent.

too much of the extrait and you end up smelling like creed's russian leather, its far too potent and takes on a completely different harsh character if over-applied HOWEVER I learned the next day with just a dab its a wonderfully sexy balanced sweet leather thats never too cloying or too sweet. I really don't understand all the "feels like im doing something wrong when I put this on" and "its oh so naughty" type rah-rah about it. People just jump on the hype-wagon I guess.

solid, well put together and unique leather fragrance, buy it / try it for that reason.

Oh Tabac Blond, how I love you--and how deathly allergic to you am I. One more attempt to wear this fragrance will result in my fatal asphyxiation. I don't exaggerate; my lungs actually shut down when I try Caron perfumes. I keep hoping this is caused by something, anything else in my environment. If that turns out to be the case, I vow to spend my paycheques on this divine house before I'm tempted to use the money for anything frivolous like rent and groceries.

87 years after it's birth, I am fortunate to have obtained a small decanted sample of this legendary icon! It is rich, leathery, smoky, dry, thick and creamy~spicy! Carnation is one of my all time favorite floral notes, happily noticed after the long drydown of this blend. I love a complex scent with depth and can wear quite a range of fragrances well...BUT...this Tabac Blond is just too big for me!!! I don't know how else to say it. After applying a few drops of this liquid gold, I felt like a child who had sneaked into her mother's room and stole a squirt of her 'grown ups only' perfume! Silly isn't it? Honestly though, I have been put in my place and will continue wearing my self appropriated girly girl scents! Thank goodness for Bellodgia, and my flowery Fleur de Rocaille! Caron is the VERY BEST, and Tabac Blond only confirms my opinion.

One of my favourite feminine scents (and the very best from Caron)! I wear it a lot - and always wonder what masculine pair fragrance it could has?
It`s pity that there`s no men`s leather-tobacco line in Caron range... I imagine it dark and not-so-sweet, less-flowers, more quinoline and birch tar, may be with agarwood and cade oil.
Just one sniff - and one realises that Ernest Daltroff is Genius!!!
Tabac Blonde is scent of Mefisto: sweet words and dark thoughts, smile and tail; it`s your weakness and his strength, playing with you...

Tabac Blond is probably the richest and most luxurious fragrance I’ve come across. It’s a thick, rich leather based fragrance. The leather mutes every other note in the fragrance. There is a glimmer of carnation that barely pokes its head out. Ironically enough, I don’t smell any Tobacco at all. The parfum of this lasts for days, and will never thin out on the skin. Considering its age, I find this one to smell rather modern and urban. It was definitely ahead of its time when it came out. This is a wonderful fragrance; in fact, for many on the board, it’s a holy grail.

I’ll be honest here. I’m not in love with the opening of Tabac Blond. It’s rather dark and oily smelling on my skin. The isobutyl quinoline which makes up the leather note isn’t terrible, just not my favorite. However, I know the classic Carons and Guerlains well enough to know that you have to give these juices time to do their thing with your individual chemistry. Give Tabac Blond about 2 hours, and after the leather steps aside a bit, well, it’s just va-va-va-VOOM. The clove-like carnation nudges its way forward and makes room for a little jasmine, cedar, and oakmoss. Exquisite, sensual, and voluptuously golden. Tabac Blond is indicative of Daltroff’s genius in the way it melds seamlessly from stage to stage. Dawn Spencer Hurwitz must be a fabulous perfumer in her own right; Tabac Blond reminds me of something she would do. TB’s heart is similar to the DSH accord which marks her frags. If you’ve read Luca Turin’s profile of the Tabac Blond wearer, and it doesn’t seem to fit you, it doesn’t mean you won’t like TB. I’m neither dikey nor do I drive fast or smoke cigars, and I love this one anyway. One thing’s for sure. Tabac Blond isn’t for the faint of heart. But you don’t have to be a cigar smoking, fast driving maniac to pull it off.

In my view this is the ultimate perfume.
Suitable for both women and men.It smells like a million dollars.Luxury pure.A timeless classic.
Eat your heart out no.5!

Luca Turin's comments regarding this admittedly bizarre women's fragrance (as relayed in The Emporer of Scent by Chandler Burr. If you haven't read it yet, do so) was what compelled me to first explore the world of classic women's perfumes. His description was so curious, (something about it being a favorite of urbane lesbians in the 1950's...the woman who wore this was not the girl you would bring home to mother...) I simply had to smell it for myself. I found my first full, sealed, 1940's vintage bottle in perfect condition (on eBay). Mesmerizing, potent and definitely singular. Absolutelyl unlike any other fragrance I have every encountered. Its sharp, nicotined-stained topnotes morph slowly down into a deep range of swarthy, dark mahagony basenotes with incredible staying power (for me, over 24 hours!)and like all Caron products, it is to my nose just a tinge nasty and dirty (but in an entirely good way). Hard to imagine this on any woman. Maybe that's why they discontinued it. They should have repackaged it as pour homme. For now, I treasure the stash I have collected. I sometimes dab Tabac Blond on my wrists before going to bed. It guarantees me some pretty torrid dreams.