Etat Libre d’Orange – Jasmin et Cigarette

It’s thrilling when a perfume unexpectedly captures our attention and makes us feel we cannot live without it. Whether it becomes an impulse buy or a carefully meditated purchase after spritzing through several decants, certain fragrances simply become part of us. What then for those fragrances which we eagerly anticipate, certain that they are destined to be love at first sniff, only to leave us indifferent or worse, running for the nearest sink?

Since I find jasmine an irresistable note, I had held out immense hope for Jasmin et Cigarette, released by the funky niche house Etat Libre in 2006. And in the way only a former smoker can truly know, there is something delicious about the smell of perfume intermingling with tobacco, forming a sort of third skin scent. And yet Jasmin et Cigarette left me completely flat.

The opening has a nice whiff of tobacco, which dies down to reveal a light, apricot-tinged jasmine which never ventures into the indolic territory (which is quite frankly the main reason I love jasmine, for that slight tinge of decay). I sniffed and waited for the curls of smoke (or at least tobacco) to waft up to my nose, but they never came. A bit of cherry smell from the tonka, but nothing more. I put my sample away for 6 months and tried again. Light jasmine, imperceptible smoke. Another six months – and yet my wait was in vain. Perhaps I have been ruined by the extremes of my collection, by the likes of A La Nuit and Guerlain’s Cuir de Russie.

For those of you who favor light florals and are looking for something with a light twist, this may be for you. As far as I am concerned, I am already planning my next love at first sniff.

Notes: Jasmin Absolut, Tobacco, Apricot, Tonka, Hay, Cedar, Amber, Musk