Tom Ford Fleur de Portofino and Goutal L’lle au The

Tom Ford Fleur de Portofino and Annick Goutal L’lle au The are two great summer or any time fragrances, but since they released at the start of summer, which they are perfect for, I’ve got them on steady rotation.

Speaking of summer, does anyone know exactly how to build an ark?  I don’t complain about rain in Colorado, but lawd, it has rained cats and dogs almost every day the last two months.

Annick Goutal L’lle au The is a green tea scent.  I expected a really light hand from Goutal, but this thing does not skimp on the tea, which is perfect.  It’s not heavy (think Cdg Tea, etc), but it has a great green smokiness with a musky bottom.  So it’s somewhere between Bvlgari Au the Vert, Parfum d’Empire Osmanthus Interdite (that osmanthus in Goutal L’lle au The are great) and the epic Goutal Eau de Fier.  Yeah, something in the middle of that tea mash-up, I swear!  I’ve loved it for all the greeny smoked osmanthus’ness of it.  If you want to see more tea perfume reviews, I did a big tea perfume review

The pairings it could have are endless, which is great because nearby I put on…

Tom Ford Fleur de Portofino.  This is his Private Blend Portofino flanker, which strikes me as being kinda weird, but I’m just not arguing about it this time.  I like all the Portofinos, they are lovely, light, great for summer.  Tom Ford Fleur de Portofino has something else, besides going well with Goutal L’lle au The.  Notes of Bergamot, lemon, orange, acacia blossom, mimosa, osmanthus, acacia honey.

Tom Ford said this about his 2015 release “Vibrant. Carefree. Captivating. Private Blend Fleur de Portofino is inspired by the cascades of white flowers that spill off the the branches of the white acacia beloved shade tree that dots the Mediterranean’s gardens and lines its tranquil avenues. Fleur de Portofino creates a crisp and bright floral accord from this bloom, then surrounds it with effervescent citruses and acacia honey. The fragrance creates an effect of sheer floral possession that is incomparably hypnotic and extremely bold.”

So, yeah, like that.  It’s a lovely citrus, but that acacia and osmanthus just give it a beautiful floral push that makes it so much more than that, with a lovely honey bit that is enchanting.  Must be part of the reason it’s a great pairing with Goutal L’lle du The – honey and tea!  Tom Ford Fleur de Portofino is just a great mix of cologne and florals.  The drydown  is so enchanting with that honey sweetening it just a bit.

Great flanker, Tom, and those are words I almost never say.  First Tom Ford Noir Extreme, which was epically great, and now this.  Don’t make me take back all my snark about flankers.

I have some winners from last week’s drawing for Frederic Malle Cologne Indelebile samples – Gigi and Mariann.  Just click on Drop Us a Note at the top of the blog, send me your name and address and remind me what you’ve won.  I’ll send you a quick “got it” e-mail so you know it didn’t drop into my spam filter and then get it sent to you.

And I’ll give away samples of Tom Ford Fleur de Portofino. I don’t have enough of the Goutal to share, just one small sample.  I’ll pick three winners at random from comments.  Have you run across a flanker you love?  Or a Tom Ford?