Divine Bergamote (2003)
by Different Company

Amazing bergamot! Though very typical otherwise. With the topnotes lasted longer. Though the basenotes usually are more important, even the basenotes don't last very long.

A jazzy upper orange note starts this one out as a good-time scent but not undignified, you understand. It has a supremely elegant dry-down with a sherry/muscat/rose ? sheen on it that is perhaps what the company itself describes as rhubarb wood and musk, ingredients out of which I plan one day to make the world’s best crumble. Along with Rose Poivrée, this is the most inventive and fascinating of the four JCE TDC scents.

A strong introduction of an excellent bergamot, which immediately begins to degrade. I don’t know what causes the too-rapid offing of the bergamot note, but I suspect it’s the fusing with the ginger – not a good choice for pairing as far as I’m concerned. The degrading of the note doesn’t really lead to an off note; rather it leads to something quite generic and inconsequential. It is a minimalist fragrance, as so many of Ellena’s works are. I am usually very comfortable with minimalism, but with Divine Bergamot I just don’t grasp whatever is happening with the fragrance, except that it starts out beautifully then does a nose dive off the cliff. Perhaps there are wonderful things happening in this fragrance that I’m not aware of. What I get is unexciting, uninteresting, and short-lived. I’m not a fan.

"Divine Bergamote" opens fresh and tart but dries down to an almost powdery scent with green notes, musk and something sweet (rhubarb?). The bergamote lingers on above this soft base, ceeping it light and crisp.
If you're generally not a huge fan of hesperides, give this one a try!

I was underwhelmed by this Bergamot. Kind of blah and generic, in spite of the promise of its short-lived start-up . It doesn't have as much of the beauty of the actual essential oil but shares its drawback, which is lack of staying power. It *is* longer lasting than the real thing, but not enough for me to want to buy it at those prices.

I simply don't like this scent. In my experience, like many Ellena scents, it starts off wonderfully - very nice, crisp, green citrus scent. From there is gets musty instead of musky, like the smell of a nursing home. This one did not live up to my expectations, and so was swapped. Sorry, but I do not see the fuss over this guy's work!