Noir De Noir

A long time ago in a previous career I had a managing director whose husband sent her a Valentine while at the office. They were wealthy, and the Valentine's gift certainly didn't hide it. It was delivered by special courier on dry ice, and inside this package was a "bouquet of twelve rose buds" in a bright red box with a hand-tied white silk bow. The rose buds were actually handmade dark chocolates infused with a rose extract. They were gorgeously intricate, the smell of the rose coming off of the chocolate was photorealistic and divine, and the dark chocolate was hand roasted and blended to the artisan's specifications from beans from a private farmer the firm worked with in some part of the world - or something like that - and it smelled exquisite. She shared it with me and her other managers, and I remembered thinking it was probably the best chocolate I've ever had in my mouth and likely still so to this day. Noir de Noir makes me think of a lot of things, but I somehow always end up coming back to that memory of decadent rose dark chocolate and Valentine's Day.

I've had a 5 ml decant of this for a while and I finally decided to give it a wear today. When I tried this on paper this was a delectable blend of rose and chocolatey patchouli, but on skin I get 95% rose and 5% patchouli and truffle. What I really smell in the air is a sweet and bright rose, not jammy like a lot of rose fragrances so I appreciate that a lot. I do get a small trail of the patchouli's earthiness every now and then but it's drowned out by the rose most of the time. Up close on the skin it's more noticeable, as well as the odd fruitiness from the truffle, exactly the same found in Black Orchid. While I liked this more on first impressions I still think this is a great fragrance and one of the best Private Blends I've tried.

A dark and mysterious fragrance. Probably the best scent in my collection. However, there are some big downsides to this fragrance. The first one is performance. It lasts on my skin for around 4 hours, then becomes a skin scent. The sillage is similar: it projects strongly for about 1 hour, then fades quite quickly. The second issue is where and when to wear it. This is not a fragrance you can simply buy and wear all winter, because it is quite hard to pull off. In short, it is one of the best scents in the Tom Ford Private Blend line. However, the performance issues, difficult wearability, and high price tag make it hard to recommend.

it just never fails to absolutely steal my heart. i think this fragrance is easily in my top 5 favorites! the patchouli and rose combo is definitely something else with the truffle and oud adding a mysterious and darkly elegant undertone without stealing the light. a must try for every patchouli lover. imo this definitely leans more feminine. the longevity is quite good in my opinion, and the sillage doesn't disappoint either. i think this very well can be worn daily, however i probably wouldn't reach for this very often in the summer because the heat on overly hot days could make it out to be a rather overwhelming fragrance.

A masterpiece, truly. The rosiness, the woodiness, the earthiness, the pepper and spice and sweetness, the patchouli a perfect touch. Adding rose in there was a genius move that made it so beautifully universal and so perfectly balanced. It's classical, elegant, sophisticated while still so original. Great for multiple occasion and perfect as a signature scent for someone naturally refined. Dark while remaining intimate and soft, quiet and serious, sensual and private. Just wow. (to keep in mind - it can smell a lot like eucalyptus, especially on the skin)