New York by Parfums de Nicolaï, 1989

I guess any good perfumisto/perfumista, sooner or later, has arrived to the point to wonder what makes of a fragrance a good fragrance. Uniqueness? Raw Materials? Execution? My personal answer is that, while all this elements can make the difference, at the same time they may not necessarely coexist and New York is a good example of my statement. This fragrance isn't among the most unique or distinctive around, it doesn't count rare or precious raw materials in the note list, but it's definitely well executed. Don't expect something groundbraking or outstanding as you will be disappointed. All the Luca Turin's talking about New York has created great expectations among perfume lovers, expectations that too often have been unattended. Just try to approach this composition with an open mind, as if it were just one among others and not Turin's favourite and you'll discover a great fragrance. The first comparison that came to my mind when I first smelled New York is the one with an old armchair your family bought in the 70's. It was handmade, not particularly beautiful but extremely comfortable and solidly crafted that rapidly became your family's favourite. During the years it survived to several relocations, to new eye-catching designer fournitures, to technology and it's still there in your living room. Worn-out, somehow out of date but still your favourite. New York is all of this. It's not original, it's not the most catchy fragrance around and it's definitely old-fashioned but it's still tremendously reliable and honest. These aspects are its points of strenght. I won't go through note explanation as you can find billions of descriptions anywere but let me report one thing a good friend of mine used to quote: "Don't try to be original. Be simple. Be good technically, and if there is something in you, it will come out". Henri Matisse. Thanks Saripatates.

This perfume seems to embody some of the best elements of classic male citric-spicy-sweet-orientals of the 1970s-1980s, as if in 1989, Nicolai took the best of the genre for those decades and refined it all into New York. While sharing aspects with numerous other perfumes of its time, there is something about New York that I find much more warm, inviting, nuanced, self-assuredly humble, and comforting than the others. It walks a perfect line between the bitter-citric, spicy, and sweet moves one associates with the era, keeping those elements acutely balanced. It is a bit mysterious to me that while I note the warmer, sweeter elements of this fragrance, they are hardly there when sniffed close, leaving me to wonder if this smells even better from a few feet away. New York evokes, to me, classy menswear of the 1980s, and those who wore it with style and ease. While not entirely unique or groundbreaking, it is among the best in its class, if not the best, and could easily become a go-to perfume for practically any occasion, especially the office. If this is niche, it is more by association than smell, yet it is a step above the scents to which it is frequently compared, and in my opinion, worth the extra money. Some will say it is dated, but to me that means it does not smell like what others are wearing; and besides, my generation and those younger probably would not pick up on it anyway. A child of the 70s-80s, this strikes me as classic, timeless, and comforting.