Reviews of Black Tie
by Washington Tremlett

Washington Tremlett Black Tie

There are arguably more quality rose scents out there than any other note. Rose has certainly been one of the notes perfumers have used from almost the beginning. The British perfumer Washington Tremlett released Black Tie in 2007 and in many ways it feels like many other rose scents out there but yet somehow manages to feel unique. As I wear Black Tie I am reminded of many other scents I've tried. At the top Black Tie starts with a lovely saffron and sage accord. The saffron is reminiscent of both Czech & Speake Dark Rose and L'Artisan Safran Troublant. As this moves into the heart a rose geranium mix takes over. Again this reminds me of the other Czech & Speake, No. 88 as well as Domenico Caraceni 1913. The base is a mix of sandalwood, vanilla, musk, and patchouli but it comes off with a strong agarwood character to my nose and that makes Black Tie very reminiscent of many of the Montale Aoud scents. When a reviewer is mentioning other scents from other Houses one could take that as a sign that the scent being reviewed is maybe not so good or original. Actually the opposite is true. The fact that Black Tie calls to mind a number of scents that I like is a good thing. Black Tie has taken many of the things that work best in those scents and fused them all here into a beautiful whole. In many ways Black Tie sort of feels like a "greatest hits" musical compilation for my nose. One that I'll enjoy "listening" to over and over.

Black Tie is a very refined masculine rose fragrance with bold saffron and an earthy wood undercurrent behind the geranium rose heart. You can also smell the green stems with the roses here as well with galbanum peaking through. Maybe the best overall rose fragrance mix for men I've tried. When it comes right down to selecting a rose fragrance I find myself reaching for this one most often due to its easy to enjoy attitude. It will never offend and it seduces with gentleness and well tended composition. It is warm and bold but doesn't push the boundaries like Black Aoud does. It maintains a rose presence without aggressive spicey incense notes of Rose 31. It is earthy but not too earthy like Paestum Rose can be. It is just right. Very proper and buttoned up masculine roses in a garden setting. Three thumbs up!

For a little over a year now, I have been singing the praises of this exceptional men's release to all who will listen. Black Tie is a fragrance for men, based around a floral, spicy heart which descends into a base of precious woods. Saffron and rose tread the boards beneath the radiant limelight and take the starring roles in this elegant composition. It is supported by a wonderful chorus-line of floral/herbaceous accords including tuberose, peppery geranium and sage. This exquisite mix maintains the tempo and then comes to a crescendo with its smouldering basenotes of walnut, galbanum, sandalwood and patchouli.

Black Tie can be likened in style to Czech & Speake's No.88, though I feel the afore-mentioned seems distinctly more refined and less husky than the latter. Much like a faultlessly tailored shirt, Black Tie is cut to sit very close to the skin... it is the distinguished skin scent of a man with impeccable grooming and refined masculinity.

In many ways I concur with foetidus review, but my conclusions are quite different: I absolutely adore this sent for the quiet perfection it exudes, a polished quiet aura speaking of impeccable quality, understatement and just a hint of the unconventional - for, and here my perception is different from that of my highly respected fellow reviewer - I find there to be a pronounced saffron note that invests the trademark depth and beauty of Forester Milano's rose/floral notes with a wondeful twist distinctive of that magic yellow spice. This is a perfect fragrance to be comfortably enveloped in in a leisure context, but no less wonderful at the workplace, where it is quiet and reassuring. It would be no less suitable in the surroundings suggested by its name, if restrained elegance is the desired impression. A great success marred only by the rather high price.

A fragrance obviously aimed at certain formal occasions. It has a traditional rose / geranium ambiance such as found in Domenico Caraceni, but without the tobacco and incense, without the darkness; this is no Domenico Caraceni. I think that Black Tie is rather lack luster. Granted it’s a very nice (masculine? …I don’t think so... Unisex? …Yes) floral nicely balanced, beautifully refined… but it is missing something. I guess saffron might have been the intended hook, but it doesn’t seem to work: I dislike saffron in fragrances, but I can’t even find it in Black Tie. Galbanum, salvia, tuberose, sandalwood, patchouli, vanilla, musk all form the combined accord that I experience, but, as nice as it is, it is blended to the point where I can’t detect the individual notes: This is something that the great Chanels do, and for the Chanels, it works brilliantly… In Black Tie, it is gracefully adequate. The result is that Black Tie seems to me to be all background – nothing up front, nothing on top, nothing underneath. It’s poised, though – it’s both formal and wearable, and it has good longevity on my skin. I can see myself purchasing this. I’m calling it a thumbs up because it is unquestionably refined, discreet, and secure, and there are occasions when I wish to wear such a dignified and sophisticated scent that doesn’t call attention to itself.