The first official gathering of the Tampa Bay Basenoters occurred on Saturday, October 4, 2008 at International Plaza in Tampa, FL. In attendance was silverbullet (Jack), thaifighter (Wiley), mekanic (Rich) and petruccijc (Joe).
Our destinations were Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Dillards, Sephora, Burberry, L’Occitane and Caswell-Massey. We sniffed and sampled and rated a bunch of fragrances using a 1-5 scale (5=excellent, 4=very good, 3=average, 2=below average, 1=horrible). Here are some highlights from our day:
Nordstrom:
- Nordstrom had just unpacked Cartier Roadster and put it on the shelves. There was no tester but our favorite SA said “Since you are such good regular customers, I will just open one up”. I really love the mint opening – it was fantastic. But then as it dried down, I got really bored with it. It just turned into nothing great or special. I am disappointed, but got some samples to test it some more. No one else was really thrilled with it either. Our consensus rating is 2.5 stars.
- We all tried Dsquared2 He Wood. We felt it had a nice cedar opening, but not too much else going on with it - kind of boring. Our consensus rating is 2.5 stars.
- We all felt Guerlain Homme was nice, clean, safe and inoffensive – but nothing special to write home about. The consensus rating is 3 stars.
Neiman Marcus:
- Wiley and Jack both fell in love Tom Ford White Patchouli, and both give it 4.5 stars. This one just does not do well on my skin so I only give it 2.5 stars.
- I wasn’t interested in trying any Creed fragrances (I know what I like and don’t like already). But the other guys wanted to check them out. Wiley was smitten by Fleur de The Rose Bulgarie. He said it was one of the best rose fragrances that he has ever smelled and gives it 5 stars. This was Rich’s first time getting to sample Creeds - he was like a kid in a candy store.
He fell for Millesime Imperial and Silver Mountain Water. He gives both 5 stars. I just said to him “Wait until we go to Dillards”. 
Dillards:
- We tried Polo Modern Reserve. I know I already posted about this one. But the consensus seemed to be “Yeah, it’s a toned down version of the original Polo”. It’s a modern take – lighter, inoffensive, not as sharp. But I guess that is what sells in today's market. Our consensus rating is 3 stars. I know I personally like the original Polo because it is strong, bold and complex. This is how I like my fragrances to be, as well as my coffee and men.
- I had Rich try on Sean John Unforgivable. I asked him if he saw any similarities between it and Milliseme Imperial. He said “No way! MI blows Unforgivable away!”. About ½ hour later he said to me “You know what, these smell exactly alike!”.
Sephora:
- Wiley and I both were enamored with Fresh Cannabis Rose. We both love the bright rose/citrus opening and then the warmer drydown with the chocolate and patchouli notes. We both give it 4 stars.
- Wiley had never tried Bulgari Aqua. He said “It is the best aquatic fragrance I have smelled to date”. He gives it 4 stars.
- Jack’s favorite fragrances in the store were Fresh Cannabis Santal and Masaki Matsushima M;Men. He gives them both 5 starts.
- Rich has sort of a “sweet nose” and gravitates towards sweeter scents. So I knew he would probably like Carolina Herrera 212 Sexy Men. He did and gives it 4 stars.
- I purposely made Rich try Jean-Paul Gaultier Fleur du Male. His comment was “It is the most vile scent I have ever smelled”. He gives it 1 star (he would have given it 0 if that was the scale we were using). I knew he was going to have that reaction – which is why I wanted him to try it.
- Someone mentioned grapefruit, so I said "You have to try Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune!". I love the "dirty grapfruit" vibe that it has and give it 4 stars. Everyone else was not as excited about it as I am. They all pretty much wrinkled up their noses and thought it was nasty and gave it 1 star.
Burberry:
The Burberry store had The Beat for Men. It is a nice, clean, inoffensive scent - nothing special or extraordinary. However, I surprisingly got really good sillage and longevity out of this one. It’s not something I am interested in. But if you are looking for this type of fragrance – this one could be a good option for you. My rating is 3 stars.
L’Occitane:
- Wiley really loved the L’Occitane Vetyver. He said he was getting some strong cedar notes from it and liked that it was not soapy like a lot of other vetivers. He gives it 4 stars.
- Rich really liked the Eau de Baux. He liked the woody opening and slightly sweeter drydown. He gives it 4 stars.
- Jack was fond of the lavender based Eau de L’Occitane and gives it 4 stars.
- I think L’Occitane puts out some really great fragrances at very reasonable prices. If you haven’t tried them, I recommend that you do.
Caswell-Massey:
- We sampled a variety of fragrances from Lorenzo Villoresi, Roger & Gallet, and Truefitt & Hill. Jack’s favorite (as I knew it would be) was Lorenzo Villoresi Piper Nigrum and he gives it 5 stars. I have always been fond of Roger & Gallet Jean Marie Farina. It is the epitome of the classic eau de cologne – IMO one of the best, if not the best on the market. I give it 5 stars.
We had a great time together sampling fragrances and getting to know each other better - and we all took home a bunch of samples to do some further testing. We hope to have our 2nd sniffathon sometime soon. We welcome any other members who live in the Tampa Bay area to accompany us on our next trip, as well as join our Basenotes social group. Also if anyone is visiting our area and would like to meet up, please give us a shout!
Cheers,
Joe
Relaxing after a long day of fragrance sampling. From left to right - Jack, Wiley, Joe, Rich
Our destinations were Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Dillards, Sephora, Burberry, L’Occitane and Caswell-Massey. We sniffed and sampled and rated a bunch of fragrances using a 1-5 scale (5=excellent, 4=very good, 3=average, 2=below average, 1=horrible). Here are some highlights from our day:
Nordstrom:
- Nordstrom had just unpacked Cartier Roadster and put it on the shelves. There was no tester but our favorite SA said “Since you are such good regular customers, I will just open one up”. I really love the mint opening – it was fantastic. But then as it dried down, I got really bored with it. It just turned into nothing great or special. I am disappointed, but got some samples to test it some more. No one else was really thrilled with it either. Our consensus rating is 2.5 stars.
- We all tried Dsquared2 He Wood. We felt it had a nice cedar opening, but not too much else going on with it - kind of boring. Our consensus rating is 2.5 stars.
- We all felt Guerlain Homme was nice, clean, safe and inoffensive – but nothing special to write home about. The consensus rating is 3 stars.
Neiman Marcus:
- Wiley and Jack both fell in love Tom Ford White Patchouli, and both give it 4.5 stars. This one just does not do well on my skin so I only give it 2.5 stars.
- I wasn’t interested in trying any Creed fragrances (I know what I like and don’t like already). But the other guys wanted to check them out. Wiley was smitten by Fleur de The Rose Bulgarie. He said it was one of the best rose fragrances that he has ever smelled and gives it 5 stars. This was Rich’s first time getting to sample Creeds - he was like a kid in a candy store.
He fell for Millesime Imperial and Silver Mountain Water. He gives both 5 stars. I just said to him “Wait until we go to Dillards”. Dillards:
- We tried Polo Modern Reserve. I know I already posted about this one. But the consensus seemed to be “Yeah, it’s a toned down version of the original Polo”. It’s a modern take – lighter, inoffensive, not as sharp. But I guess that is what sells in today's market. Our consensus rating is 3 stars. I know I personally like the original Polo because it is strong, bold and complex. This is how I like my fragrances to be, as well as my coffee and men.
- I had Rich try on Sean John Unforgivable. I asked him if he saw any similarities between it and Milliseme Imperial. He said “No way! MI blows Unforgivable away!”. About ½ hour later he said to me “You know what, these smell exactly alike!”.
Sephora:
- Wiley and I both were enamored with Fresh Cannabis Rose. We both love the bright rose/citrus opening and then the warmer drydown with the chocolate and patchouli notes. We both give it 4 stars.
- Wiley had never tried Bulgari Aqua. He said “It is the best aquatic fragrance I have smelled to date”. He gives it 4 stars.
- Jack’s favorite fragrances in the store were Fresh Cannabis Santal and Masaki Matsushima M;Men. He gives them both 5 starts.
- Rich has sort of a “sweet nose” and gravitates towards sweeter scents. So I knew he would probably like Carolina Herrera 212 Sexy Men. He did and gives it 4 stars.
- I purposely made Rich try Jean-Paul Gaultier Fleur du Male. His comment was “It is the most vile scent I have ever smelled”. He gives it 1 star (he would have given it 0 if that was the scale we were using). I knew he was going to have that reaction – which is why I wanted him to try it.
- Someone mentioned grapefruit, so I said "You have to try Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune!". I love the "dirty grapfruit" vibe that it has and give it 4 stars. Everyone else was not as excited about it as I am. They all pretty much wrinkled up their noses and thought it was nasty and gave it 1 star.
Burberry:
The Burberry store had The Beat for Men. It is a nice, clean, inoffensive scent - nothing special or extraordinary. However, I surprisingly got really good sillage and longevity out of this one. It’s not something I am interested in. But if you are looking for this type of fragrance – this one could be a good option for you. My rating is 3 stars.
L’Occitane:
- Wiley really loved the L’Occitane Vetyver. He said he was getting some strong cedar notes from it and liked that it was not soapy like a lot of other vetivers. He gives it 4 stars.
- Rich really liked the Eau de Baux. He liked the woody opening and slightly sweeter drydown. He gives it 4 stars.
- Jack was fond of the lavender based Eau de L’Occitane and gives it 4 stars.
- I think L’Occitane puts out some really great fragrances at very reasonable prices. If you haven’t tried them, I recommend that you do.
Caswell-Massey:
- We sampled a variety of fragrances from Lorenzo Villoresi, Roger & Gallet, and Truefitt & Hill. Jack’s favorite (as I knew it would be) was Lorenzo Villoresi Piper Nigrum and he gives it 5 stars. I have always been fond of Roger & Gallet Jean Marie Farina. It is the epitome of the classic eau de cologne – IMO one of the best, if not the best on the market. I give it 5 stars.
We had a great time together sampling fragrances and getting to know each other better - and we all took home a bunch of samples to do some further testing. We hope to have our 2nd sniffathon sometime soon. We welcome any other members who live in the Tampa Bay area to accompany us on our next trip, as well as join our Basenotes social group. Also if anyone is visiting our area and would like to meet up, please give us a shout!
Cheers,
Joe
Relaxing after a long day of fragrance sampling. From left to right - Jack, Wiley, Joe, Rich
I wasn't even there, and will deny it to my grave. I know you're a master with Photoshop Joe, but that's reaching new lows. I have proof that I stood you all up and went up to Millenia Mall in Orlando to meet up with my new friend jrd4t.
