Perfume Bundles
Layer It With
A perfect partner scent with matching notes
About This Scent
Discover the key notes in this scent. Tap a note to find out more.
Key Notes
- Top notes
- Poivre noir, Élemi, Mandarine
- Heart notes
- Tabac, Lavande, Rose
- Base notes
- Cuir, Ambré, Patchouli
- Longevity
- Long Lasting
- Sillage
- Strong
- Brand
- Carven
- Launch date
- 2019
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.
Similar Notes
The Scent Vault
Join thousands earning on every order
Earn points as you shop, redeem for money off, and unlock member perks.
Find out more
The Scent Vault Gift Cards
Give the gift of choice
One card, every scent. Let them pick the fragrance that is truly them. Send it instantly by email, or schedule it for a future date with a message of your own.
Shop gift cards
