Cannabis Fruttata
Bois 1920 (2019)

Cannabis Fruttata by Bois 1920 (2019) is a flanker launched alongside the original Cannabis by Bois 1920 (2019), both perfumed by niche nose Christian Calabro. As with Cannabis, this doesn't fully resemble any marijuana I've smelled in my life, fresh on the plant, in a baggie, or burned in a joint/bowl/bong, and I've "been around" so I know the variations of smell different strains can have. Instead, we see the green citrus chypre that was Cannabis infused with some fruity lactonic notes, interestingly bringing this closer to a feminine market 1970's chypre like Charlie by Revlon (1973). The rounded feel this fruit note gives Cannabis Fruttata makes it smell a bit more like the "real deal", as some pot strains can have a bit of fruitiness to their "stank", but it's still not close to accurate. Lovers of stuff like Ninféo Mio by Annick Goutal (2010) or Diptyque Philosykos (1996) may have a bit more to love in Cannabis Fruttata over Cannabis, but that just about defines the major differences between these perfumes. I still don't get how a cannabis fragrance relates to a claimed short-lived 1920's perfume house brought back from the dead, but I may just be cynical about the oft-abused historical market copy.

The overall vibe of Cannabis Fruttata is a classic exercise in chypre without the use of the critical ingredient oakmoss, which as I mentioned in my review for Cannabis, can be a huge deal breaker for the artisanal-fartisanal demographic or the folks who won't wear a fragrance made after 1990. An uptick of labdanum does veer this closer to smelling like a "proper" chypre, but I don't know if I enjoy it more. The dry bergamot in the top is met with galbanum, then is met with the same "garrigue" herbal melange which makes this smell like a cross between kitchen herbs and yard clippings. A milky fig and peach lactone bring in the "fruttata", then a heart of clary sage (less dominant than the original Cannabis) appears. There is some floral nuance here in the heart too, but the base is the same cashmeran, patchouli, and labdabum but with more of the latter, and a breathy ambergris vibe caused by ambroxan. Wear time and performance are average but a bit heavier than original Cannabis, and best use is casual spring and summer wear, preferably outdoors where smelling like an herb garden will be à propos with whatever you're doing.

What Bois 1920 here has made is another abstract ode to a substance I am still shocked people want to smell like, especially considering that marijuna isn't universally legal and smelling like anything even remotely resembling pot (even if woefully innacurate) can still end up giving you unwanted attention from police. Considering the political climate of 2019-2020, that may seem like an even bigger faux-pas depending on where you live, and a potentially dangerous one at that. Still, if I smelled this on a person, I'd not think of doobies or dimebags, but rather some old musty fruity citrus chypre sitting in grandma's closet (and I do love stuff like that by the way), which is the furthest thing from hippie commune there is in my mind, because if grandma was a hippie back in the day, she would know the smell of pot too, and this ain't it. Still, nice for what it is and if the price is right, worth looking into, although sampling may be tough without purchasing a decant. Luckily, splitters seem to love doling out this house's products in decant vials on eBay so that shouldn't be too difficult if you don't have a niche perfume store near you. Thumbs up.