Sutton Place
Fruit laid over leather is the whole proposition of Bond No. 9 Sutton Place Eau de Parfum 100ml, and the contrast between the two halves is what carries it.
The opening is busy and bright. Blackcurrant is tart and dark, pineapple gives sweetness without syrup, tangerine and bergamot do the citrus lifting, and pink pepper crackles across all of it. Five materials arriving at once could easily be a mess, but they are balanced so the pineapple and the blackcurrant read as the shape of the thing and everything else reads as light. Then it deepens. Patchouli comes in earthy and dark, jasmine adds a rich white floral weight, and lily keeps a cleaner, waxier line running through the middle. The fruit is still clearly present, sitting on top of all this rather than dissolving into it, which is the trick that holds the composition together.
The base is the half people buy it for. Leather is dry and lightly polished rather than raw, vanilla and amber warm it considerably, and musk pulls the whole arrangement close to the skin. The last several hours smell of sweetened hide, warm and a little smoky, with the fruit lingering above it as a memory rather than a presence.
It is a strong and long lasting fragrance with substantial projection in the first hour, so a light hand is the right approach. Cold weather suits it, as do evenings, although the brightness at the top makes it wearable in daylight as well. It reads unisex and is worn widely by both men and women. The year is 2016.
Laurice Rahme has owned and run this New York house since she founded it in 2003, and its bottles still take their names from the city around her.
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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