Denver get-together? And! L’Artisan Havana Vanille

March’s great post from yesterday about all the fun they had with the D.C. perfumista party has me thinking how great it would be for those in and around Denver to get together to share perfume, drinks, just have a great time.  So if you are in the Denver’ish area, could you either comment or e-mail me (contact us on the left) or both?  I’ll post this on Facebook tomorrow too.  I’m thinking we could do something in February, and I’d have it at my house, I’ll padlock the perfume vault, but bring out lots of things to play with. 🙂  But I’d love to do it like March did hers – everyone bring something to play with, bring your things to swap or sale that you don’t want anymore.  I’ll chase out all the dogs and kids, and it will be a blast.   Oui?  If you know someone that doesn’t read this blog or hasn’t friended me on Facebook that you think would be interested, let them know!

L’Artisan Havana Vanille was something I sniffed briefly in London in July – loved immediately, but couldn’t talk coherently about it because my brain won’t hold much smell data at a time –  and then March reviewed it in August as did Robin in August. I finally have a sample in my hands that I can play with instead of trying to sniff it on the fly.  How come it took me almost three months to get my paws on a real sample, I ask?

Note of rum, clove, dried fruits, narcissus, tonka bean, helichrysum, vanilla, smoked woods, moss and balsamic notes.  The open for me is seriously boozy gourmand, sorta like you woke up face planted in a fruitcake after a long night with a particularly potent bottle of rum.  You all know by now that I mean that IAGW (in a good way).  Then you shake your head a little, splash some water on your face, pick the rum-soaked raisins out of your eyebrows, put the mostly empty rum bottle in the trash and find that mess your life concocted out of some drunken  hours  just turned into this delicious smoky vanilla that’s carrying some hints of the more lurid memories of the night before that you can’t talk about in polite — well, any company around with it, but you’re only seeing it cross-eyed because there is this lovely, silky, vanilla patina on top of it.  Those lurid memorie would be the narcissus’ fault.

What a nice departure for L’Artisan.  I like their Vanillia very much, love a lot of their scents, but this one is something a little different than normal, sorta like Dzing is – another L’Artisan that I adore and can’t live without.  From what I hear, this is one of L’Artisan’s most eagerly anticipated releases.  It won’t be for everyone, but it will be perfect for a lot of someones.  Worth waiting for, y’all, but when do you suppose they’ll actually start shipping bottles?  I’d love to give a sample away, but all I’ve got is this teeny vial that I’ve got locked in my drawer so the cats don’t knock it off the table or steal it outright.  Oh, fine,  I’ll squidge out a partiall sample to one commenter.