Lafayette Street
Bond No. 9 (2018)

Goes on with a blast of citrus and coriander. There is a deep note of vanilla but it doesn't make this fragrance gourmand. Smells wonderful at first, but like several other BN9 fragrances, the powerful "grape kool-aid and chemicals" note takes over. I wish I knew what that aroma-chemical was that they use. After 15 min it always bores into my nose and makes me want to scrub off the fragrance. Too bad because like a few of the others that have this annoying quality, it smells great underneath the chemical smell

Forget about the notes -- they look a bit mundane on paper.

It's woody and fruity and a little generic.

What saves and lifts this fragrance is it's glorious and endless drydown of tonka and ambergris.

Just south of £300, but it's worth a test

This is another wonderful fragrance from Bond No. 9. The overall impression I get is one of creamy, sweet (but not too sweet) warm woods with a touch of citrus and apple blossom up front. It's totally unisex and feels appropriate for almost any occasion.

When first sprayed on paper, I do get a very brief resemblance to Dunhill Desire and Diesel Plus Plus, but only superficially. The bergamot and (to my nose) apple blossom are the prominent top notes, but the citrus quickly disappears leaving only the floral component. Although coriander is listed as a top note, I can't detect it anywhere. Still on paper, after the first 15 minutes or so, Lafayette Street no longer resembles either the Dunhill or Diesel and has morphed into a different scent. Unlike the Dunhill that stays sweet red apple throughout its lifetime, or the Diesel that leans more towards a sweet milky vanilla, Lafayette Street is much woodier and a bit ambery. I think the ‘creamy' vibe I'm getting comes from a combination of vanilla, tonka and (synthetic) ambergris.

The only difference between the experience I have on paper and that on skin is that the bergamot is non-existent. On skin I get the apple blossom first, then the warm, creamy, woody and amber base. The floral component hangs around for a while, but as the base notes really take hold, the florals all but disappear.

Like the other Bond No. 9 fragrances I have experienced, Lafayette Street's performance is fantastic. It lasts all day on my masculine skin and projects quite nicely. This gets 2 thumbs up and 4 & a half stars.