Tobacco Mandarin
Extrait de Parfum, Byredo (2020)

Alchymia. Perfumare. Magnum Opus.

A dull disaster

Wow, this has got to be the fastest thumbs down I have given to a perfume. Without reservation.
So glad I didn’t risk testing it on my skin, despite the seeming eagerness of the consultant to make me do that.
Some smoky tobacco in the opening, a faint citrus – granted, mandarin – trying to make its way in out in the open, hopelessly suffocated by the unapologetic synthetic sandalwood, oud and leather. It didn’t even have the courtesy to delay the effect of this chemical bravado. Few minutes into it and the boring, flat, overused ad nauseum lab sandalwood, oud and leather were all that there was to “Tobacco Mandarin”. Whatever else was trying to happen there never had a chance. The sheer laziness of this formula is amazing. A myriad of more honest designer offerings do a much better job. What an otherwise interesting fragrance pyramid! So alluring and promising. And what a disaster. And to ask this much money for this… outrageous!

Byredo, Tobacco Mandarin:
Composition: 4/10
Complexity: 4/10
Development: 3/10
Naturality: 3/10

Tom Ford's Tobacco Oud half strength with some citrus mixed in.
I am hopelessly in love with tobacco Oud so I cannot love this as it is not a full fat dose of the tobacco goodness I have keyed into.
Not bad, but not for me.

I’m not a Byredo fan by any means, but, much as Tobacco Oud is the rare Tom Ford that I enjoy, so Tobacco Mandarin is a pleasant surprise in a suite of otherwise middling efforts. It helps that every cited note is amongst my favorites, save perhaps the mandarin orange; but that one thankfully plays a supporting role, much like other flavorings used in pipe tobacco, and never becomes too sweet or too sharp to sit comfortably in the blend.

Sillage is good but not oppressive, and longevity is excellent. Well, dang: I might have to buy my first Byredo since my ultimately regretful acquisition (and regretless resale) of Bal d’Afrique.

The opening is an animalic blend of leather and tobacco. The citrus is barely there. The dry down is buttery amber, dark and woody. This is heavy and rich, very serious stuff.

Smells like Atelier Tobacco Nuit with less tobacco/more incense or even TF Tobacco Oud with more amber.

Very good performance overall with impressive projection and all-day longevity.

Tobacco Mandarin seems like it was designed to be misunderstood, as neither of the things in its name really play a starring role – cue disappointed emojis from people after a sumptuous tobacco lifted by a sweet-tart mandarin note. Nope, not on offer here.
Instead this is a perfume in debt to the spice bazaar legacy of some early Serge Lutens offerings. A bold, somewhat uncompromising charge of cumin – though nowhere near as dirty as in some musky cumin bombs that will here remain nameless – bolstered by lovely smoky incense and an oud note in the dry and peppery style make up its central harmony, one I was surprised to find myself enjoying despite my usual caution around spicy-resinous orientals. Here everything seems to sit right, the cumin integrated in the blend, neither the ambery base nor the oud taking over as is their usual wont, with the smoke drifting like a unifying thread through the whole thing. The background cast of other spices, resins, leathery and tobacco notes provide subtle, quiet support. The sillage reveals a mellow fruitiness, a bit like candied citrus peel, that the wearer might not perceive on their person. In the later stages the woody-smoky theme is much more evident with the spiciness dialed back, but it seems well thought out rather than the more usual by-numbers fallback of so many modern drydowns.
Undoubtedly a perfume for cold weather, but one that provides a welcome warmth rather than a blast furnace.