Originally Posted by
themoogle 
I am just stunned.
Stunned at just how overrated and bad this fragrance is, and perplexed at the frag heads and reviews it's received here and among the afore mentioned frag aficionados.
I got New Haarlem in the mail today and extremely disappointed. It just smells cheap and terrible- exactly like a $5 meal of IHOP pancakes loaded with maple syrup, or creme brulee, or custard. It does not smell like class, like Tobacco Vanille, which I own.
NH is showered with positive reviews and it's gourmand quality, and I imagined something like TV. What I got out of it was terrible, terrible, terrible. I do not want to smell like maple syrup. I can just buy a bottle of maple syrup and smell like NH.
I simply cannot FATHOM how anyone can appreciate this "fragrance." My Trader Joe's Oatmeal and Honey soap, costing all of $1.69, is heavenly compared to the syrupy, dirty smell of NH. (I would definitely buy a scent that smelled like the TJ Oatmeal and Honey soap, now that's a gourmand smell I like) It is like there's some huge joke going on.
I LOVE TV, I own L'Air Du Desert Marocain, and love the fresh Creed scents ( Aventus , SMW, MI). The only reaction you can get from NH is ... 'Did you eat pancakes ?'
Question(s) to NH owners or supporters :
1) Why not just buy a bottle of maple syrup ?
2) Why do you want to smell like pancakes ? The scent is a turn-off, people will think you forgot to wash your hands.
3) What do you use it for ? The smell itself is crap. Doesn't matter how cold it is, it just smells like cheap syrup.
4) Is there some kind of Reality Distortion Field (RDF) I'm unaware of, akin to the Apple RDF ? Do you know what a pancake and syrup tastes like ?
Lessons learned ? Try before you buy. Second lesson - Read the negative reviews carefully and take note of them.
N.B -- Gave the bottle to my cousin, not for sale.