Tabac
by AbdesSalaam Attar Profumo

The start is indeed boozy and mildly vinegary, and it's not the perfumer's alcohol talking either. The tobacco note seems to be of the floral variety rather than the cured unsmoked leaves, projecting just short of shy, lurking behind the balsamic resins of cistus labdanum which also give the tobacco a slightly dry ambery feel. It is surprisingly complex for I also get a little tea note, plus an incensy almost chypre-like vibe going on. Perhaps that's why TABAC is comfortably more unisex than Chilum - it wears like a classic chypre rather than the straight-up tobacco scent I was hoping for. Still, no less mesmerizing.

19th February, 2011.

I was very surprised to read JBHoren’s review, especially his experience of it as being like newly mown grass. There is almost nothing green in this for me. My experience of Tabac is very much in tune with the other reviews so far; I too have fallen under the spell of this warm, heady fragrance. It is so complex and well blended that I’m not sure which elements are tobacco and which are other things entirely. As others have already done a fine job describing things, I’ll add only some brief comments. For me, the fragrance is in part a cross between a Padron maduro anniversario cigar - dark, rich, sweet (but not overly sweet), fermented or pressure-cured tobacco, with accents of cocoa and hazelnut - and “Turkish” tobacco - sun cured leaf from N. Africa, Turkey or Greece, with spice and a little dryness/light hay-ness. There are also hints of dried fruit (prunes mostly, I think), tea (or is it bergamot orange?), something rose-moss like and even the faintest, merest whisper of butter cooked mushrooms. (I have never had labdanum pointed out to me as a smell but wonder if the earthiness of the rose/moss/mushroom is labdanum?) With the more noticeable but still beautifully balanced softness of tonka and vanilla, I’m in heaven. This will definitely be a regular frag for me.

Slightly worried about what would happen if he fell under a bus (does he have his recipes written down - does he have an apprentice?!) and I can’t wait to try some of his other fragrances.

28th October, 2010.

I'm a huge fan of tobacco scents (a "reformed" smoker), but I get absolutely no tobacco from this one... not even a hint. What I do get is "grass"; not new-mown grass, not "pot", but a strong, soothing, grassy smell. Which I like. I'd like it much more, if it wasn't astronomically expensive. But no tobacco.

27th September, 2010.

A deliciously comfortable masculine” (cf. Luca Turin) is a brilliant encapsulation of this fantastic fragrance. You might look at this description in the following way: “deliciously” referring to the slightly gourmandish aspects of the fragrance – most obviously gingerbread-like (as with Feuilles de Tabac – which Tabac, in my view, comfortably outclasses), although sometimes I seem to catch a faint whiff of something a bit like cocoa in the top notes. “Comfortable” – sometimes it reminds me of putting on a favourite old jumper (Tabac works well in winter, I’ve yet to try it in warmer weather), and there is definitely a strongly comforting aspect to the fragrance (perhaps this is partly because I used to be a smoker), although Tabac wouldn’t be at all out of place at a black-tie event. “Masculine” – I would say the fragrance is most obviously masculine, though I think a daring woman could pull it off.

There is a kind of sense of depth and density the fragrance has to it – this is perhaps due to the complex blending of a large number of natural ingredients – which I find very appealing.

All in all, one my personal favourites from the La Via del Profumo line, and, I think, a definite must-sample for anyone looking for a truly high-quality tobacco fragrance.

8th March, 2010.

I can't add much to hirch's lucid desciption. It is indeed a wonderful, must-try fragance. I, too, appreciate the absence of honey-dripping sweetness, as in SMN's Acqua di Cuba, Boellis Panama and many other tobaccos and anyone who finds the musty density of vintage Tabarôme overly stifling will find here a clearer, more accentuated and tobacco-focused scent. That said, it is by no means simple - Dubrana has pointed out that this is in fact his most complex fragance in which he employs ingredients themselves constructed from many individual oils. Yet it is supremely elegant and easy to wear and even quite long lasting for a natural perfume.

27th August, 2009.

Tabac

Starts with a slightly boozy blast of tobacco, like an islay malt, smokey and resinous with echoes of hay. For a short while the tobacco remains centre and top until it settles down and it drops into a strong structure with the warm tobacco at the low register, some lovely fluid labdanum, sweet tonka and beautiful vanilla sitting in layers. There is clary sage too, seamlessly integrated as flavouring. The drydown is absolutely my favourite tobacco accord of all time. The balance is wonderful, the tobacco is present but not too sharp or musty, not sour and thin or thick and overwhelming but with body and lightness at the same time. The other notes are carefully built around to pull out aspects of its complex smell.

This has instantly become my favourite tobacco scent and one of my favourite perfumes of all. If you like tobacco at all, you must try this.

While the opening is quite masculine, I think the drydown is very wearable by a woman who likes tobacco.

I am not sure if it is the natural materials, the composition or both, but there is something in these profumo perfumes which gives me the impression of 3D, its almost like I can see the layers of the structure, distinct but in balance and with clear air between them.

16th June, 2009.