About a month ago, I decided to revisit Mona Di Orio perfumes and I ordered a sample pack from their website. The pack included 5 perfumes, Rose Etoile de Hollande, a peachy syrupy rose, Tubereuse, a green, spicy, earthy and creamy tuberose, Vanille, a beautiful, spiced, smoky, leathery vanilla, Ambre, a soft and cosy amber enriched with ylang & Musc, a sweet animalic musc dipped in tonka beans.
With it a surprise sample of the new release Bohea Bohème arrived which distracted me completely so I decided to focus my attention to it.
Bohea Bohème is a unisex fragrance launched in 2016 by Mona di Orio.
Created by the talented Fredrik Dalman, Bohea Bohème captures the smouldering delicacy of the distinctive oolong cultivated in the Wuyi Mountains of China. The precious Bohea Tea, fumed with pinewood, is prized for its complex aroma and rich character.
The notes feature bergamot, cardamom, iris, blue chamomile, poplar, fir balsam, boxwood, geranium, black tea, smoked juniper, oak moss, sandalwood, beeswax, bay laurel, benzoin and vanilla.
"Bright and spicy accords of Bergamot and Sichuan Pepper arrive with the powdery elegance of Florentine Iris and the fruity florals of Osmanthus Absolute, as dry Hay and subtle green notes of Geranium surface. The warmth of the scent deepens and lingers as the sophisticated tea is steeped in nutty Amber, honeyed Poplar buds and an infusion of Balsams, Oakwood, and Gaiac."
It opens with a blast; a scent of medicinal herbs on fire, balsamic with the smoke enveloping all your senses, taking over every other note. It continues like this, strong, woods and shrubs on fire, like a tree hit by lightning for the first 5-10 minutes and then the smoky black tea note develops with a hint of bergamot and cardamom shyly appearing.
Slowly more notes appear as the fire subsides and you can smell the other herbs and flowers; chamomile, laurel, juniper and iris sweetened by honey and vanilla and settling to a beautiful full bodied blend with the lovely smoky black tea note very prominent. It lingers to the skin for hours, a smoky blend of tea, herbs and flowers bonded with sandalwood, like a milky spicy brew close to the skin, sweet and comforting, with minimal projection but great longevity.
Bohea Bohème is an acquired taste; but then again for me, all tea is.