Caron L'Anarchiste, and other smoke

Would you like some tobacco with that?

The other day, I was driving down a city street, and saw cigarette smoke foofed out the window of the car ahead of mine. I wondered if part of the cloud would make its way to me, as it often does...and indeed it did. Good, I thought; I had a plan.

I had recently read someone musing how certain perfumes would have smelled in the era of rampant cigarette smoking, and in fact speculating that perhaps some vintage scents were designed for just such an experience. In other words, they were constructed with the assumption you would almost always experience someone's perfume through a cloud of smoke. And there was I, ambling through city traffic, with a fairly fresh shot of Chergui on the back of my hand. I was ready. What if.....

Zonk! There it was. A layer of cigarette smoke over the dense comfort of Chergui. And you know what? It had a certain appeal. I am not a smoker; not only am I frequently nauseated by the smell, I play a wind instrument, so there's no good end in taking up what would probably be a bad addiction on my part. But. There I was, inhaling the Chergui through the cigarette smoke, and nodding my head. I could see the appeal.

My ruminations went in the direction of incense + Chergui....

Not that day, but today, I tried Caron L'Anarchiste for the first time. Tobacco. Not the plant-y tobacco of Fleur de Narcisse, but cigarette smoke. Something bright inside, but a dense cloud of tobacco at the opening. As it settles in, the tobacco pulls back, and the something bright is denser than you originally thought, a bit sweeter, a hint of spice, as if the time spent with the tobacco allowed some sort of apple juice to be mulled into a flavored, thicker beverage. With tobacco still swirling around the edges, natch. Eventually, the tobacco gets sucked back into the mulled brew, popping its head to the surface every now and then. [time passes] Oh, this is not a good evolution. Tobacco = gone. Sharp bright apple, also spice = gone way inside. What is this outer juice that's left? Smells like... after-shave.

Nonetheless, I may have to adjust my expectations of what scents to pull out for fall. Next post, I'll continue rummaging in the men's cabinet, and pull out Caron Third Man.