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Tabac Blond, ( Roja Dove/Harrod´s ) Original Formula.

post #1 of 13
8/18/11 at 11:14am
Thread Starter 
Iv´e just returned back from a trip to the UK. Whilst in London I visited Roja Dove´s plush perfumery on the fifth floor at Harrod´s. I was very impressed !!!
I tried Caron´s Tabac Blond, (Extrait) from the fountains, and to me it smelled exactly like the old formula Tabac Blond. I have been buying the extrait since 1978 and have collected several old bottles through ebay etc.
The extrait I smelled from the fountains smelled identical to the older formulas. Does anyone else agree/disagree ?
Perhaps I had a bad nose day, but I could not tell any difference. Perhaps Roja insisted on having the original formula rather than a reformed version in his perfumery - and Caron obliged ?
I did however notice that the Poivre Extrait was very different to the older formula, (the pepper and clove really toned down.......but perhaps this is due to stringent new European Union regulations concerning the use of clove in perfumes.
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post #2 of 13
8/18/11 at 11:43am
Makes you want to go to London ...

Was TB the same in the opening or also in the drydown? I've never tried vintage TB. I bought TB at the Caron in rue Montaigne last year. The opening is wonderful, but I'm not convinced about the drydown. Did you have the chance to compare the Paris vs the Harrods versions?

cacio
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post #3 of 13
8/18/11 at 1:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by david View Post

I tried Caron´s Tabac Blond, (Extrait) from the fountains, and to me it smelled exactly like the old formula Tabac Blond. I have been buying the extrait since 1978 and have collected several old bottles through ebay etc.
The extrait I smelled from the fountains smelled identical to the older formulas. Does anyone else agree/disagree ?
Perhaps I had a bad nose day, but I could not tell any difference.

Thank you for your report! I have yet to smell one of those dreaded Caron reformulations. I wrote a thread on the female board with regard to En Avion. I did a comparison of the current extrait, 1990s extrait and 1930s extrait.
With regard to Tabac Blond, I think it is hugely misunderstood and a 'difficult' fragrance to grasp like Roja Dove put it in his book. I bought a vintage sample of Tabac Blond from The Perfumed Court and could actually not smell a really noticeable difference. Owners of vintage extrait confirmed to me that the only difference to the current extrait might be 'more depth' possibly from oakmoss. I'm not even sure about that. The current extrait clearly lists oakmoss as ingredient and I would simply suspect ageing makes the oakmoss seem more prominent in the vintage. IMO, IT IS A HUGE MYTH, partly stemming from the fact that spare vintage bottles sell for hilariously high prices on ebay plus I start wondering about bashing, too. Quite some perfume blogs are full of imaginative pictures and vivid associations, but that may simply distract from facts.
I renew my request (for the third or fourth time here - so far nobody has ever replied) .... Please do sell me a small sample of your holy vintage jus to compare, if you feel it is so much better than the current, which you own as well!

BTW david, what color was the extrait of Tabac Blond at Roja Dove's?
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post #4 of 13
8/20/11 at 6:28am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for your interest and your replies.
cacio - It´s difficult to compare the drydown. I would have to do a back to back test. Unfortunately I didn´t have the vintage with me to compare to the Extrait Roja Dove was selling. The first hour of smelling the sample on card seemed exactly like the vintage Tabac Blond.
Larimar - I agree entirely with you re. the HUGE MYTH factor surrounding vintage Tabac Blond. I have also come to the conclusion that Turin uses `shock tactics´ in his writing/descriptions of perfumes, which is a clever strategy - after all it gets everyone talking and he is on everyone´s lips. So by giving Tabac Blond just one star he is creating a great stir - very good marketing, but I disagree with his comments.
Regarding the colour, I cannot exactly remember, but the colour of the Poivre was very different from the vintage stuff. My vintage Poivre is a much darker red colour. I am convinced that the Poivre Extrait was very different from the older formulations, but not the Tabac Blond Extrait on sale at Roja Dove´s perfumery.
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post #5 of 13
8/20/11 at 6:28am
Thread Starter 
Sorry - double post.
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post #6 of 13
8/20/11 at 8:36am
LT is really scary. But then sometimes it's not clear to which concentration he is referring to. Some of the edt's I've tried are indeed unsatisfactory. Narcisse Noir edt soon becomes a tame floral of no consequence.

And there are different vintages around, perhaps the formulation he smelled was really bad, but then it has improved again. At some points a couple of years back, I do remember smelling from Bergdorf Goodman's fountains (back when they were there) a TB that smelled distinctly, to use LT's words, of Cinnabon. The current one (I don't have it with me, unfortunately) does smell somewhat too sweet in the drydown, but not cinnabon like. And, btw, LT too recognizes that the top of TB is still right.

cacio
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post #7 of 13
8/20/11 at 8:54am
In fact, it was TS reviewing Tabac Blond and not LT. It just ocurred to me that I also have a vintage EdT sample, which the vintage aficionados referred to as very similar in feel. I could not detect any noticeable difference there either. I have mentioned this before... I have my own Tabac Blond syringe (and a scarf that will smell of it forever ) because I like to apply this in the way that half lands on skin and half is absorbed by fabric. That's how I enjoy my Tabac Blond to the greatest extent. TB is a moderate sillage extrait with great longevity (also on skin).
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post #8 of 13
8/20/11 at 3:07pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larimar View Post

In fact, it was TS reviewing Tabac Blond and not LT. It just ocurred to me that I also have a vintage EdT sample, which the vintage aficionados referred to as very similar in feel. I could not detect any noticeable difference there either. I have mentioned this before... I have my own Tabac Blond syringe (and a scarf that will smell of it forever ) because I like to apply this in the way that half lands on skin and half is absorbed by fabric. That's how I enjoy my Tabac Blond to the greatest extent. TB is a moderate sillage extrait with great longevity (also on skin).

Thanks for pointing this out. I did not realise that TS wrote the TB review !
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post #9 of 13
8/20/11 at 11:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by david View Post

Thanks for pointing this out. I did not realise that TS wrote the TB review !

Actually, she wrote (I think) all reviews for the Carons (En Avion - two stars, ...).
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post #10 of 13
8/20/11 at 11:45pm
I don't have the book with me, but I think I remember that at least a couple were Turin's (one of the Rocailles "bland for Miss Texas lineup", Nuit de Noel, which, indeed, was rated 4 star, and perhaps even Narcisse Noir or Blanc?), but I could be wrong. But you are right about TS. But LT would probably have agreed. Anyhow, not being 5 stars, we won't see any re-review in the upcoming book.

cacio
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post #11 of 13
11/14/12 at 4:11pm
This is a question I'd dearly like answered.
I obtained a sample of the vintage parfum from the Perfumed Court early this year, and it was heaven - leather was prominant throughout, with a base of smoke and vanilla that had a several-hour long sillage. (I didn't find much in the way of carnation or green notes, though.)
Funnily enough, the leather accord was something I recognised from my (shock horror!) bottle of En Avion, purchased at Harrods four years back. On that occasion, I had tried TB too - but it came off too metallic and with little lasting power.
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post #12 of 13
11/14/12 at 10:28pm
The Perfumed Court sells a vintage Tabac Blond, which is not the original formulation. The original was loaded with animalics (really LOADED) - think along the lines of the 1930s Lanvin classics minus florals - a sombre, very animalic, very chypré base. Thanks to a BNer I have been able to sample the original. The current Tabac Blond smells almost identical to the Perfumed Court sample to my nose.
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post #13 of 13
11/17/12 at 4:39pm
Thanks for that - it looks like I will be getting the TB then. (I've just looked at my EA and it's described as parfum, so I'm presuming Harrods carry the extrait version.)
I quite liked EA, but ultimately it's not 'my' scent - I prefer the earthy pipe-tobacco and vanilla warmth of TB. It absolutely speaks of late night parties in flapper-era Paris or Nice, fur-wrapped adventuresses on the Orient Express, and other mysterious times and places. (I was reading Le Carres Karla Trilogy when I got my decant from the PC, and it accorded absolutely with the memorable characters.)
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