Curlyhen@curlyhen
· Edited
Boozy opening with a smooth and elegant, beautiful dry down.
D'AnnamJapanese Whiskey3.812 ratings- Longevity3/5
- 3 / 5
- Projection3/5
- 3 / 5
- Sillage3/5
- 3 / 5
- Value1/5
- 1 / 5
- Bottle3/5
- 3 / 5
- Full wear
- On skin
On paper, this was so so boozy my immediate thoughts were, ‘Could I wear this in public?’.. on skin, it tells a different story.
I have never drank or whiffed a Japanese Whiskey, but I know my Irish Whiskeys. And this opens with such a photorealistic smooth whiskey note that is warm, present and moorish.
As it moves into the heart, I get a lot of notes that aren’t listed. The smooth whiskey is woody, but I also get chocolate. There’s iris and the tiniest hint of vetiver too, adding a clean freshness edge to the scent. Theres a slight sweetness of honeyed whiskey and plum notes in an aged oak barrel. All blended beautifully together.
This scent profile continues into the dry down. My nose identifies the chesnut, maybe this was a what my nose was initially reading as chocolate. But as the sandalwood appears with the chestnut, gently, it gives a beautiful creamy and nutty aspect to the perfume but not overwhelming creamy. And it’s only after 2hrs that I gets hints of clary sage when I bring my nose to my skin, it’s earthy and warm hay and I realise now that this has been supporting the woods throughout, giving that beautiful aged barrel tone to the whiskey. It’s a this stage where there’s hints of maltiness, but I wouldn’t say this is a heavily malted scent. There is definitely Iris in this, and so there’s licks of powdery Iris noticeably to my nose here too.
This is the first d’Annam I have ever whiffed. So I anticipated that it was not going to be a loud, in your face scent. And then the paper test threw me a bit.. But this is really gorgeous. It’s so smooth and elegant, and very wearable with a moderate projection. It doesn’t feel overly mature or full on smoking jacket as some whiskey profiles can feel. It’s not very boozy in the dry down at all, and dies almost turn a little genetic. It does read masculine to my unintentionally, socially conditioned nose, but I would say more unisex leaning masculine. The other half is very impressed, so I’ll be leaving the sample out for him to give it a whirl. Good stuff
