Chandler Burr Untitled S01E07

I just placed my order. I haven't been disappointed in any of the Untitleds yet (note that I didn't join the party until S01E03), so I'm happy to keep letting Chandler select scents for me.

He mentions that the perfumer is Bavarian/German - at least that ruled out one particular fragrance that I wouldn't want a full ounce of! Somehow I suspect this may be one of the more challenging scents in the series.

Could be Ralf Schwieger?

Maybe I'll be getting a Philippine Houseboy?

Ulrich Lang perhaps?

He's currently artist in residence at the Museum of Art and Design's Department of Olfactory Art.... would certainly fit. Fils de Dieu/Philippine Houseboy would fit Burr's description, but so would Eau des Merveilles, his stuff with Atelier, or maybe even Womanity.

I hope it is Ralf Schwieger, or that he is featured in the Untitled Series. I really admire his work.

Yeah, I think I heard "Bavarian" where he said "brilliant", so no clue as to nationality there although we know the artist is based in NY. However, I wonder if we struck on the right artist by coincidence???

I received my bottle too, and also notice the shape difference from the picture, but who cares? Its what's inside that counts.

This scent is a little more challenging for me than some of the others. I agree that its opaque and gourmand. The ingredient that doesn't seem to belong could be citrus in a gourmand accord.

More later when I've had more time with the scent...

Ooooh this sounds very interesting, I have an affinity for all these creatures


Does it remind you of lemon meringue?

I seem to be perpetually fighting some kind of sinus condition, and at the moment I'm very congested...not that this is relevant except that in my current state my nose hung onto some extremely potent notes in S01E07 and I continued to smell them for about 24 hours. I'd classify them as spicy, but not necessarily what you'd normally expect when you say a fragrance is spicy. I'm hoping to do a side-by-side comparison with a couple of scents in my wardrobe just to try to identify what is or isn't in E07. I know I didn't already own this scent, but it seems similar in some ways to a couple of things I have.

Note to Irina - NO, its not lemon meringue. Its not that kind of gourmand. Definitely not dessert.

A different bottle, a different sort of scent, and it arrived in a timely manner ?

Sounds like some interesting changes this time.

I'm not quite as negative as you about E07, but its not one of my favorites. The scent it reminds me of -- somewhat -- is Jo Malone Sweet Lime and Cedar. E07 has a lot more going on than Sweet Lime and Cedar, but the base seems to have similar notes.

I had a chance to sample the scent I originally thought this might be, Fils de Dieu, and wish that's what this was!

LOL Sorry to hear about this, Red. But it's good to have a less 'pretty' fragrance in the series.

That's why I asked about meringue because of the 'ewwww' effect of Adoxal.

Hum, sounds interesting alright !

Chandler said it was from the East coast, so it can't be Bull's Blood.

Seriously weird stuff, that.

So, what sort of an impression do you guys think this is trying to make?

On a base level, is it niche weirdness gone awry, like something that's intentionally trying to provoke?

Or is it more like commercialism gone wrong, like a meeting full of marketing executives who wanted both an aquatic and a gourmand and this monstrosity is what came of that?

Or something in the middle, a scent that's fairly pleasant but shows some weirdness under scrutiny?

Does the "off-ness" feel like a misstep (some sort of off note included by mistake) or a quirky artful inclusion (like a reward for paying attention)

And, to bring this back around, given all this, is it bad art? intentionally provocative art? good art with intentionally unpleasant nuances? corporate garbage masquerading as art?

---

Neil! Thank you for sending because I can finally say . . . an SO1 that I actually really like!

Even though I know talking about notes is a no-no, I don't really care. Because it seems to me, this is a juice that's all about achieving a kind of olfactory disharmony in a way that isas some of you have put itso, so wrong, but also on another level, so, so funny and almost . . . delightful.

Neil's choco-lemon-Windex description is spot on, to which I'd also add, bread dough, black pepper, and . . . Band-Aide. Maybe even Vicks Vaporub.

It still has that "transparent" quality that seems to mark if not Chandler's overall taste, then at least the theme he's chosen for SO1, but there's also a heft to the fragrance that I found lacking in the others. Something I can hang on to, something with a bit of teeth.

Gourmand, most certainly, but also medicinal, like being back in my mother's kitchen, watching her bake bread while I was home from school with a nasty bout of the flu.

Definitely artistic, but in a way that comic books and graphic novels are artistic.

Yeah. I dig it.

When a perfume gives Red's writing groove back, it must be worth smelling it Wonderful to read your passion again, guys, thank you

Ha, I bail out just before things get interesting. Go figure :P.

Thanks for the write up you guys - this one sounds very interesting indeed. Anything that has camphoraceous notes is up my alley. Love me some vapo rub!

I second your party analogy, and the deliberate tweaking of accords for effect. The last time I smelled a perfume that actually made me giggle like this one does, it was Gucci's Rush. They share a similar "vibe."

A party in your nose No worries, Red, I just add it to my wishlist, will get a decant somewhere after the reveal. It worked with the previous episodes perfectly

Whew, just received my sample from Neil (repeated gratitude !) and uhhh.....I think it's going to take a few wears before I'll be able to say anything definitive about this one.

Chandler shows his scizophrenic side ?

Well, we did ask for "different".

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OK, I've given this several wears now, and while it seemed odd on the first wear, that oddness seems to be fading now that I'm more used to it....at least to my nose.

The opening is strange, but that part does not last long for me. The chocolate thing seems to then dominate for the majority of the time.....in a milk-chocolate rather than bitter and dark sort of way.

But what I found most interesting were the basenotes that appear near the very end. I get that smell of....old books, and even though the chocolate seems to be the main theme, it's the books part that sticks in my mind when I think back on it later.

I'd call this a restrained gourmet, a thing that does not want to intrude on anyone's space, no matter how many spritzes I begin with. Yet it seems to trend in a masculine direction, which is not always the case with such non-intrusive things. Not as strong as I might wish, but I suspect my skin is eating it up, and that it may have more projection for others.

Emotionally I see it as somewhat reclusive in nature, if that's a fair term to use. Once I hit the "old books" part, hours later, I get a bit of a melancholy vibe as well.

Not sure where this would fit in my rotation, as I tend to like frags that are ether calming, or that give me a pick-me-up, and I'm not sure that this is either of those.

Interesting though, although what the heck is going on with that first minute or so of the top notes is a mystery for sure.

I'll be interested in hearing the official verbiage that accompanies this fragrance, and what the maker intends it to reflect.

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Just my opinion of course, but I get what you mean about this thing trying to be a number of different things at once. It could be as you say : a commercial fragrance that is trying to exist in the safe and non-intrusive realm that Chandler seems to like, while at the same time trying to lay claim to niche edginess as well.

I get a feeling that it can't quite make up it's mind about what it wants to be, and that it might be more successful if it were willing to be a bit more out in the open about it's true intentions.

I have got mine too, unexpectedly, from RNP. Thank you, dahlin'.

My impressions: there is no citrus whatsoever, be it widely popular or rare, at the start. The gourmand-ish aspect is achieved by the super sweet and plasticky burnt sugar note with a drop of vanilla which does not translate into chocolate of any kind on this skin. There are also subdued florals at the start (I would say similar to Pierre's PG15 Ylang Ivohibe) with a slight fruity overtone, but they quickly fade away to leave the smell of unprocessed and wet pipe tobacco with menthol and clove vibe. It is not a traditional pipe tobacco that has been or will be smoked, it still has to go through drying stages, but it is definitely here. There is some sort of very dry wood present too. Low heat, wooden structure and heaps of tobacco or, perhaps, tea leaves, old photographs in sepia, and somehow I get the image of a museum of knickknacks that were used (not necessarily) on a tobacco farm a century ago, together with cardboard boxes.

Stylistically, I will not be surprised if it is Christopher Brossius I Hate Perfume. In the Library or even #302 Russian Caravan Tea (with its "shelves full of old books").

I thought CB didn't do indie? It must be someone from the big 5, right?

I'm curious too

Although I experience this scent as "party hearty" and you experience it as a bit restrained and melancholy, I think your observation here pretty much sums it up, regardless.

Bumping it up closer to the end of the month.

No word on when the reveal will be, as of this posting. But soon, one would think.

Is Mr. Burr planning on doing a reveal or is the episode in which we are supposed to ignore his instructions and guess?

No reveal yet. Will there be an S01E08 ?

Oh we are such impatient beings.

Finally!! I found where people are talking about E07!, didn't even think to look here! Nobody is really making any real comments on Open Sky, so thank you, thank for all the wonderful insights here! I am desperately waiting for the reveal too and to start SO1EO8's journey.
I have sprayed out 1/3 of my bottle to try and figure out what the ! this smell is. I off load a heavy dose on my person, as I really smell nothing but alcohol as the "top" note that leaves moderately quickly to the rotten squash blossoms then nothing, so I go to bed. In the morning however there is there is this wonderfully soft barely tangible not quite sweet almost lickable scent of not really lemons that not from around here. I try to chase it and catch it's smell but it is so elusive I can not.
I smell no old books, I would love that, but I don't.

I c & p'ed my first and second impressions from O Sky.:

"Day 1 SO1E07: I know, I know. We are not supposed to do this, but I just got my #7 and all I can say is: Brosius, Chris Brosius? by just I mean just now sprayed-- 2 minutes ago. I have no words or opinions yet.Vodka leaves-- yeah I know vodka "doesn't smell" ha! yeah, it does, grass, rotten grass, lilies gone bad that were only briefly barely sweet to begin with --not saying I like or don't like #7 --- I am still, what the heck is it, we shall see as the time passes and it evolves, devolves? Please has anyone else gotten theirs? What is it that you smell? If I am in the heart now I don't smell anything--- sometimes hearts are difficult for me to smell and I do have a bit of a cold, my nose could be off. ----off to keep smelling......Please share what you smell if you have your #7. please.

Day 2: In the morning-- I doused myself before going to bed last night to see what would happen --- I smelled an elusive sweet pleasantness, I think, other wise I just don't get it. I just am not smelling much of anything at all, no thing. Is that the paradox? except a tiny bit of rotten squash blossom. I will keep smelling to see if I get a clue. Any clues?-- not on the who, but the what.
Reply · 1 · Like · Follow Post · January 17 at 11:08pm

Day 14: Okay.
I don't get it. My bottle smells of alcohol and then nothing and then a wee tiny bit of vary faint caramel and maybe a tiny bit of cut grass, but more like it is just a dud bottle of scent. It smells of nothing. Chandler Burr I need a little more guidance.
Reply · Like · Follow Post · January 29 at 9:57pm"


thank you
K.

Hey Kate !

Glad that you finally found us ! There's a lot of energy and opinion surrounding our discussions, and I'm glad that you are here to add your own !

Welcome, Kate!

Sorry to hear that this scent is such a no-show on your skin. I have had the complete opposite experience. It's loud and tenacious and ever-evolving.

I hear you on the lack of quality discussion on Open Sky. Chandler Burr launched this great idea, but then dropped the ball on guiding its participants from that point forward. There was terrific discussion on Katie Puckrik's blog, but then I think she and Burr had a falling out and that ended that.

This is the only place where folks who believe in the spirit of Burr's idea can hang out--it's these Basenoters who are running with Chandler's ball. Still, the one thing they can't do is reveal the scent. And now, it seems, Mr. Burr can't even do that, at least not in a timely manner. If it weren't for Neil's generous attempts to keep us in the game, I would have packed up my Barbies and left the sandbox long ago.

Well said perfumepormoi ,but as someone who ended up herself in the ER just a few days ago with a dislocated shoulder I'd like to give Chandler the benefit of the doubt. I hope he is well!

Ouch! Sorry to hear about your shoulder! Yes, life does happen and I sure hope Mr. Burr's silence isn't because of something that ails him or a loved one.

Thank you for the welcome! I lurk around every once and awhile, but really forgot what great place with ACTUAL discussions going on Basenotes is! I am going to keep spraying that damn bottle of 07, see if I can't connect.
Did my own little untitled blind sampler of 8 famous/infamous/loved/hated scents last night chosen somewhat randomly from a blog that had a "list me your most hated scrubbers/scents" post.
Most of them I had not smelled--well all except one, some I had heard of before others I had not heard of, but did not know what they were supposed to smell like etc. --I labeled them A-H smelled them blind, I had somewhat forgot what all 8 little decants were, slept with all 8 on my arms after several hours of notes talking and smelled again in the morning. Just crazy how scents evolve! Anyway..... that is what I love about Chandler's series, the not knowing, getting a huge "sample" of scent, whether I end up in love or not, that I know is not crap in a bottle, but awe, art, authentic -- that I otherwise would not ever smell or choose to smell. I ended up in love with 06 and I am NOT a gourmand girl. thank you all for a really great place to conect with others who get "it."

Kate, I agree with all your reasons for enjoying the Untitled Series. Its fun and enlightening to have someone else choose scents for you to try. Like you, I really enjoyed E06. Glad you found the rest of the tribe.

Apparently Chandler has been out of town--- he is hopeful to get the reveal up tomorrow! --just read that on Open Sky.
Glad I found the tribe too! Perfume_Addict.

Kate,

Just to warn you, sometimes we are a little hard on Chandler, but we love him just the same.

:-)

The reveal is out!

https://opensky.com/chandlerburr

It's Vanille Insensee by Atelier Cologne

Wow - we did hit on the right perfumer by chance in the beginning (Ralf Schweiger). I feel somewhat vindicated at my impression of spiciness stuck in my nose - coriander can do that! I still think it reminds me of Sweet Lime & Cedar (another scent that Burr gave high marks to). Has anyone else tried both and have an opinion?

Well surprise, surprise. ANOTHER cologne ) I was hoping for something more knock-our-socks-off-ier, like Missoni or a Bond. But I still really like this 'fume.

Watched the reveal, smelled a different batch of Vanille, still do not get.

So, I went to the store and tried on some Vanille Insensee just so I'd know what everyone was talking about. It's an interesting one.

In terms of smell, I definitely got the vanilla. It's a very modern vanilla, heavy on the isobutavan, so it's got that cotton candy/marshmallow sweetness, but also the interesting depth that it brings, with its hints of creme soda, white chocolate, and burnt nuts.

There was also a basil-heavy mix of herbs and a touch of sweet citrus, as well as an interesting wisp of smoky rubber in the beginning, which seemed like a wink and a nod to Bulgari Black. It felt a little out of place, which I assume is what ended up bothering so many people here, but I found it an interesting way of bringing together the toasted nut element of the isobutavan with the darkness of the herbs.

In terms of criticism, I'd include Vanille Insensee in the rather new genre of dark herbal gourmands that seems to be picking up steam lately. I still think the defining work of the genre is Diptyque's Eau Duelle, but Creed's Royal Oud also fits the bill, but shakes things up by putting the focus on the herbs and incense and saving the vanilla for the base. Vanille Insensee reverses that by focusing squarely on the vanilla and using the smoke and herbs for flavor.

As for artistry, I see it as a light orange color, like melted orange sherbet or orange cotton candy, and I view it in my mind as a sphere, with dark green and black ribbons running through it like the ribbons of color in a marble. It's definitely abstract - there really isn't a foothold into realism here. The orange creamsicle smell is unavoidable, but it's been "dirtied" in a way that leaves it more abstract and inedible. Honestly, I have no idea why I find it three-dimensional and sculptural as opposed to a flat painting.

No one else has any thoughts?

"Dark herbal gourmand" is a good description, although to me, its overall vibe is much more cheery than those words might imply. In fact, I was shocked to discover it's a cologne, because it has a rather strident heft on my skin, broadcasting itself for a good 2–3 hours. My initial impression was of primary colors—comic book art for adults as I said above—and knowing what it actually IS doesn't change that for me.

What is most interesting to me about this whole series is just how differently some of us perceive these perfumes on an emotional level, while also agreeing on the notes. Yes, this is a vanilla, but its a vanilla that manages to assert at the same time it's also being consumed by the other notes, much in the way the jasmine in Gucci Rush is handled.

Really well done, and IMHO certainly the most interesting scent Mr. Burr has presented us so far in this series.

As an aside, Atelier Cologne is the brand name. Their scents are actually quite highly concentrated (they say 15%), so they're technically EDP's despite the name. I think the name is more a salute to the classic idea of citrus cologne, which all of their scents pay tribute to or try to modernize.

Ah. Makes senses. This stuff lasts forever on fabric, too.