Moonlight in Chiangmai (2020)
by Parfums Dusita

(Genre: Floral Oriental)

On first acquaintance, Moonlight in Chiangmai strikes me as one of the less distinctive Dusita compositions I’ve experienced. Whether I’ve liked them or not, most previous Dusita compositions, including Oudh Infini, Mélodie de l’Amour, Erawan, Le Sillage Blanc, and Issara, have left me with a strong impression. This one, along with La Douceur de Siam, Le Pavillion d’Or, and Fleur de Lalita, doesn’t really speak to me.

After a pleasantly holographic (though not necessarily identifiable as “yuzu,”) citrus top note, what I smell for the most part is a smooth and sanitized fruits-and-white flowers accord, decorated with the listed nutmeg note and underpinned by sweet benzoin. Any of the vetiver and synthetic woody base notes that I catch on paper disappear on my skin – at least until the far drydown, where they emerge as distant, muted, and scratchy, as if played on an old and badly-worn LP. Noticeably absent to my nose are any of the indolic accents common to many jasmine-centered fragrances. Hence, perhaps, the overall “clean” and unprovocative olfactory profile.

Not that I have any expectation that a fragrance reflect its name, but I find nothing that’s particularly nocturnal or suggestive of moonlight here. Moonlight in Chiangmai may hold some appeal for those who seek a relatively bright, transparent, sweet white-floral oriental and are averse to indole, but I fear I'll have forgotten what it smells like by tomorrow.