Saturday, January 10, 2009

Scent for a Snow Day

It’s a beautiful day outside.  Snow has been falling for hours.  The gentle blanket is at this point becoming a mattress, soon to be an oversized pillow top.  The sun is bright whenever the snowfall lessens, it is cold enough for snow but not so cold to be uncomfortable.  With so much snow about, one is compelled to slow down, because so many plans and tasks are clearly undoable.  Snow games and warm drinks.  Happiness and cocoa.


It’s a great day for L’Or de Torrente.


L’Or is flowers with a generous dash of Torani syrup.  To me, the syrup is chocolate.  Officially, the note is coffee, but I think the combination of vanilla/coffee/angelica/”white amber” has more of an overall chocolate effect.


In fact, if I were doing a pairings, I’d be finding the right chocolate liqueur, and offering that up as a potential member of the flight that accompanies L’Or.  You might want to include a special cocktail, blended with a floral and a chocolate.  Good old St. Germaine comes to mind; given the fruit notes listed in L’Or, the edible quality of elderflower, and its brightness, are a good companion to that part of the equation.  There’s a nice chocolate liqueur, Alumni,* that would do well for that end, though for a third concoction in the flight you could use Kahlua and probably come up with the right concept.


I disagree with Luca Turin, who called L’Or de Torrente a Negroni.  A Negroni is gin, campari, vermouth, twist of lemon.  I get the lemon, but the Campari is the wrong nose-feel/mouth-feel.  Too bitter, too sharp on the tongue.  Needs to be a liqueur that hangs out a bit, in the vein of Drambuie or Cuarenta Y Tres.  And I quibble with gin, though if you are using a Hendrick’s type, it could work.  (Still, the mouth-feel/nose-feel is not thick enough for my experience of L’Or.)  


It’s a snow day around here.  Perky, but with warm comfort.  Try some L’Or de Torrente to go with.  Playing in the snow is free; L’or is a veritable bargain, under $30 for 1.7oz at a number of online retailers.



*Alumni may have gone out of production.  Drop me a line if you’re in the neighborhood; I’ll pour you a snort and you can see for yourself.  

11 comments:

The Daily Connoisseur said...

Ooh how fun... enjoy the snow!

Anonymous said...

Mmmm, Drambuie. My favorite winter drink is a Rusty Nail -- 3 parts scotch (whiskey) to 1 part Drambuie. Some recipes call for a lemon peel, but I prefer a maraschino cherry.

Pour, stir, sit by the fire and savor . . .

ScentScelf said...

Daily,
I have enjoyed very much, and plan to get back out tomorrow! Time to reactivate the cross-country ski muscles...

ScentScelf said...

Nathan,
Oh, good...we can mix up a couple, you with cherry, me with lemon peel. C'mon north...11 inches of snow fell in the last 24 hours. Plenty of excuse to put feet up by the fire with a glass in hand.

Side note; I found a recipe for a home brew Drambuie...plenty of honey involved...herbs...I'm seeing the next fragrance trend.

Rose said...

Hello from the land of internet access problems. Well I admit to total ignorance about this- how lovely, I adore finding something new to investigate, it sounds fab. Hope you had fun in the snow!

ScentScelf said...

Hello, Rose! Sorry to hear about your access troubles...but glad you made it through today. Have fun investigating...and yes, I did have fun in the snow. :)

Unknown said...

Wish I had a snow day fragrance (we don't really get snow here) and campari does not sound like the right liquor considering what I have heard of L'or de Torrente.

ScentScelf said...

Well, Jen, at the moment we've got plenty of snow to share... ;)

Lucy Fishwife said...

Ooh snow days - haven't seen many of those since I moved South. London gets the odd flurry but nothing that sticks. I love a Negroni though! It's my "take me seriously and don't try and palm me off with something sickly and full of fruit" drink of choice in swanky bars. My best winter perfumes range from the cheap ("Cinnamon Toast" by Demeter) through the ones I wear to work ("Tea For Two" by L'Artisan) to the posh ("24 Faubourg" by Hermes) - they all have to have warmth and spiciness. Have ordered L'Or de Torrente from Perfumed Court though!

ScentScelf said...

I enjoy a Negroni...and so many others too. ;) I know what you mean by the message your drink sends...I go through similar thinking, sometimes, when choosing fragrance.

Let me know what you think about the L'Or. I've just received "November" from CB I Hate Perfumes...kind of a gingerbread plus...if this weather keeps up, that will likely be discussed here shortly.

Lucy Fishwife said...

You're so right - even if 99% of people wouldn't know one was wearing "Britney Spears Fantasy" (or similar) it's somehow just not possible to make your hand pick the bottle up in case that rogue 1% noticed and judged you on it...
Actually Perfumed Court don't have L'Or! Will have to try Basenotes and see where does testers.