Paris La Havane
Tobacco is the reason to buy Carven Paris La Havane Eau de Parfum 125ml, and the house has had the sense to build everything else in the bottle around keeping it comfortable.
Black pepper and elemi open it together, the pepper dry and prickly, the elemi resinous with a bright lemony edge that is almost like turpentine in a good way, and mandarin orange sweetens the pair with something round and pithy. It is a lively start and it clears quickly.
Then the tobacco arrives and settles in. It is the sweet, leafy, faintly honeyed kind rather than anything burnt, closer to an unopened pouch than to an ashtray, and it is softened by rose and steadied by lavender, which brings its clean herbal coolness in to stop the sweetness spreading. That combination of a cured leaf with a herb and a flower is an old idea and it still works. Leather, amber and patchouli finish it. The leather is dry and worn rather than new, amber gives a resinous sweetness underneath, and patchouli adds a damp, inky depth. The drydown is warm, slightly sweet and quite masculine in the traditional sense.
Released in 2019, it is long lasting at eau de parfum strength and keeps a moderate distance after the opening hour. It reads as unisex but will be bought mainly by men, it is a cold weather fragrance, and it suits evenings and bars rather than desks. At 125ml it is a considerable amount of a very specific smell, which is either excellent value or a mistake depending on how much you like tobacco.
Carven is a Paris couture house opened in 1945 by Carmen de Tommaso, who worked as Marie-Louise Carven and died in 2015 at the age of 105. Its first scent, Ma Griffe, dates from 1946 and is still the one the name is tied to, with the fragrance line relaunched in 2013.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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