La Habana
19-69 (2020)

I've smelled this one before, and then I remembered 2 Man from CDG. This fragrance is 70% similar, but it differs by adding a tiny bit of sweetness from vanilla and amber. The aldehydes, incense, and saffron almost mirror 2 Man, and the hyrax and oud found in La Habana almost mimic the mahogany and leather note.

The performance is mediocre, and the projection is moderate for the first 2 hours, then sits a bit close to the skin, which is similar to 2 Man. CDG's offering is often seen as a masterpiece, but I'm starting to prefer this over 2 Man, which says something. La Habana replaces the vetiver with sweetness, so it feels a bit rounder. You still get the pencil shaving vibe, but it feels like someone added a few drops of dry vanilla.

This is a surprising release since the few others that I tested from 19-69 have been lackluster.

The house of 19-69 doesn't get much talk, but my impression is mostly positive. Its offerings are modern and polished without shying away from some weirder accords and facets (in the vein of D.S. & Durga).

The ad copy on this one is all about Cuba, and there's an overall rum-and-tobacco impression about it, but structurally it's actually more of an oud scent than anything.

La Habana offers notes of saffron, incense, resins, oud, "wood chip"-style cedar, and a bitter caramel base. The cedar is very prominent and animalic at the start but softens into a "cedar bedding" effect on top of which the nicely filled-out oud accord rests, with there being a slight candle wax feel that emerges in the drydown (coming from the "caramel" listed in the note pyramid; it's dark and a touch sticky). The weirder facets of the oud aren't loud but aren't disguised, either.

Maybe more "interesting" than brilliant, but commendable nonetheless.