Reviews of Habanita (1921)
by Molinard

Molinard Habanita

I have pretty much set foot in every country in the Western Hemisphere, but one, Cuba. What is funny is that for a country that I have never set foot in and only seen from the deck of a sailboat in passing I have a vivid picture of what it must be like. That mental picture comes from the Cuban ex-patriates that moved to Miami in the 60's. As a kid I would listen to the stories of Havana and the countryside of Cuba and soak it all in. While many people would focus on tobacco and rum as the scents they most associate with Cuba there is one other scent I also associate with Cuba, flowers. One of our neighbors, Sra. Menendez, grew a garden in her yard, full of tropical flowers. She would tell me the story of how, in her home in Havana, she had the most beautiful garden. She took the time to teach a young man about the different flowers in her garden and to identify them and they all had a distinct smell. I am reminded of Sra. Menendez's garden everytime I wear the scent created in 1921 for Molinard, Habanita. While there is tobacco present in this scent, this is more like a stroll in a tropical garden and what makes this a stand-out scent for me is that it is like a walk in a garden as each floral note seems to appear very distinctly only to be replaced by the next one. The top of Habanita starts off with a light breeze of bergamot and cedar and then I enter the olfactory garden and the first floral note I get is lavender. Thisi is a very powdery lavender and it might be too powdery for some but it doesn't last long before I get a hint of orange blossom then comes jasmine, rose, heliotrope, and ylang ylang all in succession. underneath all of this is an earthy accord which really brings to mind the garden milieu of cedar mulch and dirt underneath lush florals. As Habanita progresses into the base the florals fade to the background and amber, leather, vanilla, and tobacco come to the fore. These four notes combine to create a divine drydown in Habanita that smells great. Habanita is a long lasting scent with a lot of projection. If you are not a fan of florals this is not the scent for you. If you are a fan of florals this is a scent which allows everyone of them present to have their moment in the spotlight and shine. For me Habanita is like a walk in Sra. Menendez's garden all over again.

I think Habanita all comes down to the body chemistry. I do get the baby powder note, quite intensely for a rather long time, but when the drydown finally comes, Habanita turns into a complex little burner on me: smoky, tabacco-y, dark and sexy. The powdery note keeps this scent from becoming too dark, but this is one you have to be able to carry off, lest it carry you off.

Habanita is a woman with dark short hair, sitting alone at a mahogany bar, drinking a dry port, downwind from an elegant grey-haired man who's looking her over with while smoking a Cuban cigar. She notices him from her peripheral vision, but what she wants is not in sight...yet.

Habanita makes you wait for it, and you will be rewarded.

I’ve now tried both the EDT and perfume extrait concentrations, and I still can’t make my mind up about Habanita.

Granted, this is a very rich and opulent oriental (consisting of vanilla, amber, leather, tobacco, light florals, vetiver and oakmoss), with the EDT being as potent as any respectable EDP. Unfortunately, its leans too much towards smelling old-fashioned and tends to spoil my enjoyment of it. I really do think you have to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate its qualities but (for such situations) it’s usually difficult to determine this until it’s too late.

Unlike other reviewers, I don’t have an issue with its powdery nature or with the EDT’s harsh opening nature (which I think is due to the lavender top notes). However, while there are times when I can appreciate it for what it is, there are also moments when I simply can’t – it’s just one of those Jekyll and Hyde fragrances that demands an acquired taste.

Habanita is most certainly a sophisticated and sensual scent but it often fails to completely (and consistently) captivate me to an acceptable degree – so much that I’ve long lost count of the number of times I’ve considered purchasing a bottle, only to later change my mind. There are very few fragrances that have the ability to both allure and dissuade me, in equal measure, and I’m afraid this is one of them.

It’s definitely a classic creation but its age is far too evident and, as much as I have wrestled with unconditionally admiring it, I have finally conceded defeat. However, regardless of my disappointment, I think anyone with an interest in perfumery should give Habanita a try at least once.

Thank you, Basenote folks! If you had never blogged about Habanita, I might have missed out on one of the "greats". This scent is NOTHING like I expected. I expected a heavy on the kaboodles Oriental fragrance from the 80's (not my favorite perfume era). Instead, I discovered an abruptly green opening followed by a thick jammy spiced-fruit accord. Next come the florals. Then the drydown is all vetivier & vanilla...very dry hay with just a touch of vanilla. Yes, there is amber but the final star of this show is the vetivier. I can see this as a masculine if you put it on early and go out for the drydown. Bravo!

I like vanilla. I like vetiver. I don't like them together, I guess. This just smells very old.

To my nose, this is the model upon which Jaïpur pour homme has been created.
Jaïpur is spicier and habanita fruitier, but I feel they share a lot of similarities, and the same structure and feeling.
Kudos!

I received a sample of this and found myself loving this ambery vanilla scent to be very sophisticated. It lasts a very long time. To me it does not smell as masculine. It's amazing that this complex fragrance from 1921 can still feel seductive and sophisticated today. Makes me feel sexy and elegant, all at once.

A mixture of vetiver and vanilla, very ambery, very sweet and completely feminine. I have no idea what it's reminding me of, but the first sniff of this gave me a massive nostalgic headrush of butterflies-in-the-stomach, first dates, and first kisses.. I think this is the perfume equivalent of the LBD that never fails. I could go out wearing this and feel unsrtoppable.

The first ten minutes of it is a disaster. some kind of medical and resin notes which are very strong gave me a headache. Then it becomes a powdery aldehyde. I put it into a group of harsh scents i hated like dana, Bal à Versailles, (for the top) and Je Reviens by Worth (for the heart). I can find no femininity or any piece of grace in it.

Reminds me a bit of Mitsouko because it hates me, but this one is not quite as evil to me as Mitsouko is. Habanita is a refined and well-constructed fragrance, sensual and sophisticated, interesting. It does have a leather note that, when it hits my skin, presents a quite annoying olfaction; but at least it doesn’t resort to a full metal jacket olfactory assault as Mitsouko does. They are both good fragrances, I suppose, but certainly not to my nose.

I own it for the great bottle. I have the EDT. There is no way I could ever pull this one off as a masculine. It is strong, sweet, powdery perfume. This is one that I would definitely associate with the old lady sweet powder perfume. Very well done, but I really don't see how anyone thinks this is unisex at all. Maybe the Pure Parfum is less powdery?

Instant time transport back to a different era--Habanita is an extremely nostalgic, perfumey-perfume consisting of a sweet powder and a strong tobacco accord. It is the scent of a couple, she wearing the powder and he holding the cigar, their bodies entwined on the dance floor of a nightclub in full swing. It's forceful stuff, too; not designed for the meek. My only complaint concerns the sour and bitter edge that it must wield order to avoid sliding into "ordinary" territory, making it less than enjoyable for everyday use. Perhaps I would wear it occasionally when I felt like dressing up naughty and making a statement, but Bandit already occupies that function for me. I can't say that I really like this, even though it is a marvellous work of art well worth preserving. A good experience, and I'm glad that many people find it more practical than I do.

I am sorry but I disagree with some reviewers. This perfume is very feminine. It is powdery and has a strong Rose middle note. Still, it is a beautiful perfume, masterfully balanced and very long lasting. But don't fool yourself thinking it can be considered a masculine fragrance. It can't!

Please see my review for TABAC BLOND as I have reviewed them together.

This is a truly beautiful composition. Entirely out of the ordinary and surprisingly good quality. It has great longevity, still a whisper on the skin the next morning, and it has an appropriate, close ring of silage.

Top:
The opening is a strong blast of myrrh and smoke on me - a harsh, metallic and sweet smell, reminiscent of the taste of blood . . . Edited: I find that the harshness and smoke I smelled in the jus from my miniature bottles is replaced in my full bottle by a fresh verdant blast of forest greens and leathery notes, with a gentle powderiness and mild smoke that's at once chic and barbaric (in all the right ways).

Heart:
As this fragrance develops, the harshness of the top notes turns into clarity, and the smokiness takes hold in bonfire strength . . . Edited: again, in the full bottle, I find much less smoke, but instead the leather takes hold and vanillic qualities begin to come through . . . Leather begins to poke out over a bed of Turkish roses and other understated, but exquisite florals.

Base:
Vanilla comes out full-force and plays off still-strong smoke and rich leather notes. This vanilla has nothing sweet or gourmand about it - it is merely the grounding, human embrace to reign in the intimidation factor of the sexy, fierce confidence of the strong smoke and leather.

Character:
Habanita makes me feel like a wild woman out of an Angela Carter story – intensely sexual and entirely self-possessed. Much of our culture's associations with feminine strength is simply masculinity transposed to women or associations with nurturing motherliness- this fragrance, instead, is female potency, unapologetic, sinuous, sexy, and most importantly, strong.

This fragrance also happens to be downright mouth watering. It smells extremely pleasing, and so its sexuality and confidence is not intimidating. Because of its clarity and complete absence of girlish, candied, flowery, fruity or fresh notes, this fragrance can read as sophisticated and dressy as well as robust and sexy. It would be equally at home in daily life as an intelligent, cozy and sexy fragrance, or at the symphony or an upscale restaurant.

Shalimar's naughty cousin -- she drinks whiskey, wears flapper skirts and tunics, smokes cigars in public, plays poker, dances the Charleston and probably knows all the words to The Internationale. She also sleeps around and has taken numerous lovers of both genders.

Habanita epitomizes the Roaring Twenties with its utter sultriness and intriguing complexity. It's also one of the very few frags out there that can pull off heliotrope without coming across as cloying. Marvelously balanced dry-down, with the tonka bean and tobacco never struggling to take center stage (as they so often do).

The edt version stays fairly close to the skin; however, the perfume has vast sillage and should not be over-applied.

Btw, the Lalique designed black bottle with the nudes in its frieze HAS to be one of the most gorgeous commercial bottles ever created.

I am glad I got a 1 oz. sample on eBay; it's really good. I don't think of this as unisex or feminine one bit. Strikes me as a bit like Knize Ten; dry and austere and compelling. It also changes quite a bit throughout the day and it's always good and interesting. The only slight drawback is that it gets a little tiresome after a long day. Probably best for a night out, but not work.

I can see how this was originally a perfume to scent cigarettes. It does smell a bit like cigarettes or cigarilles with a flavour: unlit tobacco, but sweeter and softer. It's syrupy and powdery and quite heady and I can't really pick out any notes except for the tobacco-y feeling of it. Tobacco isn't even in it, just a long list of other notes. Like Mitsouko, it could perhaps be called a fruity/floral chypre, very classic and glamourous in feeling.

Habanita goes on in a potent burst of smoke and tobacco, with sweet floral notes and leather in the background. The smoky leather accord persists while the florals recede to yield a very potent, dry, almost medicinal tobacco accord with dark leather underneath. At this stage Habanita smells like a stark, dry cousin of Caron’s Tabac Blond.

Then, very, very slowly, the floral accord begins to resurface, riding on a wave of smooth vanilla and powdery musk. Within an hour Habanita has transformed into a mysterious, smoky-sweet skin scent, with a hint of amber under a leather dominated base. From an opening that’s outright brazen, it becomes a gentle and elusive fragrance, but one that is also overtly sexual and deeply compelling. You can forget you’re wearing it after an hour or so, but it will reassert itself again from time to time, always showing some new facet of its complex makeup. Worthy of classic status alongside the great Carons and Guerlains, and also as unisex as they come.

Also wearable by men (it was originally designed for them), but be extremely light when you spray it or you will smell too much like a drag queen ! Guerlain has been EXTREMELY influenced by Habanita when he created 'Habit Rouge for men' in the 60's; it's similar but in a different way I'd say... maybe 'cose the fragrance is lighter).

The reactions to this glorious, gutsy, passionate frag are SO diverse and SO interesting! On my older body and to my older nose this rich and complex scent is irresistible. On me it opens up to smoke and roses, segues into the light leather of a new pair of gloves and settles into a very light rosy vanilla supported by suede and tobacco. Close to the skin, it lasts a lo-o-o-ng time. Great bedtime companion - it is SO sexy!

This is the scent of Bizet's Carmen - warm, sultry and sexy, -so much more than the opening would lead you to expect. After a somewhat masculine start the subsequent melange of some of my favourite notes (orris, lilac, sweet tobacco, vanilla and heliotrope) is truly beguiling.I have only tried the EDT, but am in awe of this stage of the pyramid. The drydown includes my beloved cedarwood and tonka bean and stays close to the skin for hours.
This is a perfume to wear in the colder months and in the evenings. I am lucky in that it suits my chemistry.

Pretty up close, but otherwise just baby powder on me. I'd much perfer Shalimar, more teeth to bite passers-by.

I really wanted to like this, so much so that I bought it unsniffed. Alas, to say it doesn't work with my chemistry would be an understatement of ridiculous proportions. I can imagine Habanita working its magic on someone else, but on me it bears an unfortunate olfactory resemblance to bug spray. As fate would have it, the longevity and sillage are remarkably good!

One of my all-time favorite scents; so seamless, deep, sweet and smoky, round and rich, incredibly lasting in EDT. A drop on each wrist is enough for 12 hours. I get sweet tobacco from this, and fruit in Habanita - not fresh tangy juice but something very mellow and sweet, similar in character - but not scent - to the subtle sweetness of sundried tomatoes or dried apricots. Leather, amber, vanilla, musk, so smoothly blended that none of these notes announce themselves. There are no edges on this one, just an irresistable comfort and seduction.

It´s hard for me to do either thumbs up or down for this one; it´s definitley one of the most fascinating scents I know. I keep adding a litte drop on the spot between the thumb and the other fingers, just to sniff and sniff and sniff. It has a loaded, almost vulgar kind of beauty. That mastic gum note sure is a prominent one, and together with leather, smoke, sweet fruits and fragrant flowers, it makes up a thick, narcotic brew. Habanita is as opaque as the bottle it comes in. I´m a great admirer, but I can´t wear it. Maybe I will be brave enough one day, but not now. It doesn´t matter how little I apply, I always feel like it´s wearing me instead.

Habanita on me is thick talcum powder and tobacco. None of the peach and rose came out on my skin. Don't get me wrong, I like this, but it's not for me at all. Many people I've spoken to about Habanita liken it to Shalimar- I LOVE Shalimar, I find them not alike in the least bit; at least on my skin.

Habanita brings to mind lonely adventures, and radiates a definite confidence of a man aware of his weaknesses and knowing well how to hide them.
In a far away country, away from his beloved family, and doing everything to make sure they are safe and constantly prove to them that they are loved.
He is keeping a secret, no, many secrets, and the weight is heavy on his shoulders. Yet he shows generosity and is kind to all as much as he can when given the opportunity.

If I could assign any character to this perfume, it would be Alec Lymas, the hero in The Spy who Came in From The Cold. If he ever bothered to put on any perfume before spending hours waiting and smoking packs of cigarettes for his agents to pass the walls separating between Eastern and Western Europe in the long and cold years post World War II - I am sure it would have smelled like Habanita.

Whether if you are a man or a woman, Habanita possesses all the warmth and comfort you need, and can make you feel extremely confident in every possible way.
It’s daring combination of notes makes it extremely masculine and appealing to women at the same time. It is bold and softly enveloping, professional and shamelessly sensual, cool or calculated and warm and passionate all at once!

Though it was designed for women, I find it to be an ideal scent for men (I am definitely going to convince my partner to wear it with me!). For both men and women to wear Habanita would mean being seductive in a dangerous way (and by that I mean an interesting combination of passion and aloofness that perhaps most of us find oddly attractive), sensual and adventurous, mysterious and assertive.
If this is what you are looking for - go for it!

Sniffing it from the bottle, the Habanita top notes are fresh and subtle - a rush of masculine woody notes of mastic (a gum from a Mediterranean bush), juniper berry and cedarwood are accompanied by a generous amount of bergamot, which is citrusy but not in the fruity or eau de cologne sense of citrus - a more refined, green and slightly floral note derived from the bergamot bitter non-edible oranges. This is accentuated by a hint of lavender, which is very subtle and soft, and radiates a certain warmth that is typical to Fougere compositions. Here it is just hinting an adventurous attitude.There is also some leathery, almost smoky note that instantly reminds you of pipe smoke.

The heart note is not quite the main theme in Habanita, but rather assists in bridging between the lighter and somewhat sharper top notes and the dark leather-tobacco base.
The heart has mainly jasmine and rose, which do not make the composition floral in any way. Again, they are there only for harmonizing the blend. There is quite a bit of heliotrope, which has a rich and somewhat powdery vanilla-like aroma, and a bit later you may notice some fruitiness that is quite reminiscent of peach.

The base for Habanita in this case is actually the core and the true heart of the perfume.
A rich tobacco accord, very much like fine Cuban cigar - enriched with full bodied layers of tonka bean and vanilla is the absolute essence of Habanita. It is deepened by a lovely amber, and just hints of oakmoss, musk and perhaps a very tiny amount of vetiver.
The drydown, though still quite the sweet cigar and amber scent, has some chypre and woody qualities to it.

The total impression of Habanita is that of a subtle, skin-reminiscent scent. The kind of fragrance that if worn properly may be soon identified by your surrounding as your own natural scent. In that sense it works similarly to Shalimar on my skin, only it is a bit more balanced as the ambery-vanilla sweetness is there only to balance the bitterness of the leather and tobacco notes (and is no the main theme that some find is overly done in Shalimar).

Top notes: Mastic, Cedarwood, Lavender, Bergamot, a hint of Juniper berry, Leather notes
Heart notes: Jasmine, Rose, Peach, Heliotrope
Base notes: Vanilla, Tobacco, Tonka Bean, Amber, Oakmoss, Musk, Opoponax, Vetiver.

Visiting my friend Marcel on his sick bed the other day, I found his mind had strayed to former times. 'I must tell you, mon cher Nitram,' he confided, 'when as a youth I was infatuated with the Duchesse de Guermantes, once I managed to sniff the inside of her handbag. It had a golden quality, both fruity and floral, with perhaps an elusive odour of almonds, but the predominant note was a sweet and rich confusion of powder and leather. Sensation-memory being what it is, when first I encountered Molinard's Habanita (which strangely it is rumoured was inspired as a celebration of the tawdry glamour of the cigar girls of Havana), it immediately put me in mind of the Duchess's handbag: the mysterious and expensive aura of womanhood compounded by the poetry of aristocratic lineage. That being said, I believe that any man who can wear Habit Rouge could also wear Habanita.'

Ouch! I thought I was grown up enough (I'm 50) to sample this "big girl's" perfume, but Habanita, Rumba, Aromatics Elixir, and White Linen have me feeling abused. Habanita could be a unisex fragrance if its history weren't tied to women in the 1920s. I consider it manly and smoldering with a baby powder quality. Hope not to run into this again on anyone unless their body chemistry manipulates Habanita in some better way than I experienced.