Eo01 by Biehl Parfumkunstwerke

eo01 is a soft, lovely comfort scent that smells a lot like nutmeg and rice pudding. It is very pretty while it lasts, which isn't long.

Update: Many months later I've revisited this and appreciate the delicate beauty of the fragrance. I did before think it smelled like a pretty standard, but nice, vanilla comfort fragrance. That is before I began to realize that most pretty vanilla fragrances mostly smell like very nice candles or cake batter, even the well done Organza Indecence. eo01 actually has many more nuances to it, and to my nose, maintains a nice dry powdery aspect that keeps it from being too cloying or foody. After falling hard these last few months for fragrances like AT L'Air du Desert Marocain and Mauboussin, even PdN Sacrebleue (without the florals), I can see that I totally underestimated eo01. It even reminds me very subltly of the discontinued L'Artisan Orchide Blanche, but not so rich or sweet, as eo01 has a bit of that very sophisticated and lovely "vanilla orchid" powderiness of OB, without the cold and heavy "cream". Lovers of OB should sample eo01 as it may satisfy that lovely sophisticated vanilla scent. I highly recommend this to vanilla lovers (even those like me who are generally bored by vanillas) who want something with a bit of subtle complexity, but something that wears more like gossamer than thick wool or cake batter.

I would have given this 5 stars, but for lasting power, so I just give 4 stars.

E0 01 is a very pretty perfume from the biehl parfumkunstwerke line that starts off quite sweet, much sweeter than the notes below would suggest. After a couple of minutes a warm spicy cardamom note starts to develop and I am slightly reminded of Afteliers Tango. From there, a pretty symphonic floral fragrance emerges along with unexpected but very charming hints of chocolate. The cocoa note is delicate but hangs around and that is the scent which keeps wafting towards my nose as EO 01 settles in for the long haul. The middle/base of EO 01 has a marked hint of powdery luxuriousness that I associate with aldehydes, a good example of which is Le Labos Aldehyde 44, and a bad example is Etat Libre dOranges Rien. EO01s final phase is comprised of warm, slightly spicy woods that are so well blended that it is hard to isolate a particular note.

In short, EO 01 is an elegant, gracious fragrance and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys this genre of perfumery (which I do!). Well done, Egon Oelkers!

Here are the notes, courtesy of The Perfumed Court: Top: tangerine, blood orange, cardamom, muscat, apricot, cocoa, Middle: rosewood, pimento, iris, orchid, lily of the valley, Base: styrax, vanilla, cinnamon, tonka beans, cedarwood, vetiver, patchouli.