Tabac Aurea (2009)
by Sonoma Scent Studio

Sonoma Scent Studio TABAC AUREA is primarily a pipe tobacco perfume, with a touch of leather and wood thrown into the mix. I find this composition fairly masculine and would rather smell it on a bearer of a Y chromosome than on myself. I have no objection, in principle, to smelling like a pipe tobacco store complete with mahogany and cherry wood shelving and leather armchairs, but I don't really have any desire to smell like one, either.

TABAC AUREA is certainly a nice blend, similar in some ways to Tom Ford TOBACCO VANILLE, but quite a bit less sweet. There is apparently tonka in TABAC AUREA, but it is very low key, as are the patchouli and the amber to my nose. The SSS beefy burnt cedar note is present here, but fortunately it's not a focus!

10th July, 2011.

If you are looking for something that smells like cigarette, cigar, or pipe tobacco, in other words, what I would define as a tobacco scent, this is not it. This is what I was looking for, and I was intially dissappointed.

I don't believe I have ever smelled raw or unprocessed tobacco. This perhaps perfectly emulates that, I don't know. However, if I just forget about "tobacco," this is quite interesting. I put "tobacco" in quotation marks because the industry seems to have a standard tobacco scent, and this seem to be it. I have detected this exact scent in other tobacco fragrances. However, this fragrance leads with "tobacco," and does it well.

1st June, 2011.

Tabaco Aurea is one of the few modern creations that really has me excited. I feel Tabac Aurea is a good balance between varying presentations of tobacco seen in many different fragrances. It's not as musty or uptight as Vintage Tabarome, not a leafy green as La Via del Profumo, and not as boozy-spicy as Cuba. The opening is beautiful though slightly sweet cherry-plum tobacco accord that is natural and close to the skin. All of the heavy aspects here work well together (I usually don't favor heavy components like labdanum, vanilla, leather,etc). Despite its extrait concentration, the sillage is restrained and wears close to the skin for many hours. A pure joy. Every time I open the gift box that contains my sample, I smell the most beautiful pipe tobacco accord settled into the paper of the box.

25th May, 2011.

Cherry. Tobacco.

Imagine the best smelling cherry pipe tobacco that could possibly exist, then imagine rounding out that scent with hints of vanilla and amber. That's what you have here. Except somehow way better.

It develops nicely, with a great parallel to the subtle scent development of actually smoking a pipeful of cherry tobacco. Even better, it lasts all day. I've seen comparisons to Tom Ford's Tobacco Vanille, but to me the scents are very different. Tobacco Vanille is at least as much vanilla as tobacco, but the Tabac Aurea is all tobacco, all the time (it just happens to be a beautifully scented tobacco). In other words, Tobacco Vanille is a fragrance that includes tobacco, but Tabac Aurea is a true tobacco fragrance. And it's better.

Anecdotally, I first tried a sample of the Tabac Aurea and liked it but wasn't sure if it was precisely what I was looking for. It seemed a well-crafted tobacco fragrance, no more and no less. Then I tried it again, and liked it more. Then a third time and liked it still more. By this point I was really becoming quite strangely addicted to it. After a few more tries the writing was on the wall: I confessed my undying love to Laurie and asked that she please send me a bottle of it. And upon the first spray ... wow! So much more depth, intensity, and wonder in the fragrance I already loved. As long as she keeps making it, I'll never again be without it.

2nd March, 2011. (Last Edited: 14th April, 2011.)

Tabac Aurea has turned out to be my tobacco scent of choice. Unsmoked pipe tobacco that has real presence and in extrait strength. Very smooth and very long lasting. I purchased the one half ounce size to try it, but will be getting the one ounce next purchase. Bravo! Laurie Erickson.

10th January, 2011.

My favorite tobacco-scented fragrance. I like it even more than the wildly popular SL Chergui. Tabac Aurea is must-have -- it's the one I reach for come autumn, along with Rose 31 and Like This.

6th January, 2011.