Well, let me start by saying Bluff is not at all what I thought it'd be. I was hoping for a scent that finally did cola justice. Nope, not here. Immediate disappointment.
But then I gave Bluff a chance and tried to assess it on its own merits, and I discovered a really interesting fragrance. First off, let it be known that this is through and through a vetiver scent. A very dry vetiver - not dirty but not clean and vibrant or citrusy like say MPG's Racine. I've never smelled a tumbleweed (do they have an odor?) but that's what the smell of this vetiver evokes in my mind's eye. There's a hint of lime in the opening along with an airy clary sage note, but immediately the dry vetiver jumps to the fore.
What's especially interesting is how that natural nutty facet of vetiver is explored and enhanced by the nutmeg and kola nut notes (I should mention that the nutmeg is so well blended that I never smelled it as a stand-alone note but always as part of a larger accord). It's ingenious, actually, because at all times you know that you're smelling vetiver but yet not - it's like one of those CD covers where if you tilt it from left to right you see two different images, except here you can see, or rather smell both of them simultaneously, and they both augment each other in a wondrously harmonious fashion.
The dry grassy vetiver plus semi-sweet airy sage, cinnamon, and other notes create a sense of space, of dry fields beneath a clear blue sky. The only other frag that has evoked this wonderful "blue skies and open space" feeling is Amouage's Ciel Man. Now, Bluff doesn't smell like Ciel much at all, and achieves the effect by very different means, but it's a sensation that I know those who know and enjoy Ciel will be able to relate to.
If I had to describe Bluff in terms of another scent I'd say it's kind of like Infusion d'Homme minus a ton of soap and with a huge dry grassy vetiver as its spine. It has that same dry/white feel of Infusion d'Homme, but the vetiver is so much more apparent here, and then there's the way Bluff explores the nuttiness of vetiver and kola nut that puts it in a different olfactory space. Still, I think the comparison to IdH has some merit as many have smelled IdH and they do share some of that dry feel and olfactory 'colors' and such.
Bluff is awesome - just don't go into it expecting coca-cola!
But then I gave Bluff a chance and tried to assess it on its own merits, and I discovered a really interesting fragrance. First off, let it be known that this is through and through a vetiver scent. A very dry vetiver - not dirty but not clean and vibrant or citrusy like say MPG's Racine. I've never smelled a tumbleweed (do they have an odor?) but that's what the smell of this vetiver evokes in my mind's eye. There's a hint of lime in the opening along with an airy clary sage note, but immediately the dry vetiver jumps to the fore.
What's especially interesting is how that natural nutty facet of vetiver is explored and enhanced by the nutmeg and kola nut notes (I should mention that the nutmeg is so well blended that I never smelled it as a stand-alone note but always as part of a larger accord). It's ingenious, actually, because at all times you know that you're smelling vetiver but yet not - it's like one of those CD covers where if you tilt it from left to right you see two different images, except here you can see, or rather smell both of them simultaneously, and they both augment each other in a wondrously harmonious fashion.
The dry grassy vetiver plus semi-sweet airy sage, cinnamon, and other notes create a sense of space, of dry fields beneath a clear blue sky. The only other frag that has evoked this wonderful "blue skies and open space" feeling is Amouage's Ciel Man. Now, Bluff doesn't smell like Ciel much at all, and achieves the effect by very different means, but it's a sensation that I know those who know and enjoy Ciel will be able to relate to.
If I had to describe Bluff in terms of another scent I'd say it's kind of like Infusion d'Homme minus a ton of soap and with a huge dry grassy vetiver as its spine. It has that same dry/white feel of Infusion d'Homme, but the vetiver is so much more apparent here, and then there's the way Bluff explores the nuttiness of vetiver and kola nut that puts it in a different olfactory space. Still, I think the comparison to IdH has some merit as many have smelled IdH and they do share some of that dry feel and olfactory 'colors' and such.
Bluff is awesome - just don't go into it expecting coca-cola!
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