Sandalo e The
Bois 1920 (2005)

Could be One Man Show Gold by Bogart

Genre: Woody Oriental

At first this is exactly what the label says: sandalwood and spiced black tea, sweetened by orange blossom and vanillic notes. The accord is just a bit too determinedly woody to make Sandalo e The a gourmand fragrance, but it does have a certain luscious, creamy olfactory texture. Bois 1920 celebrates the mystical, exotic side of sandalwood by setting it on a thick, honeyed oriental foundation.

An hour or so into its evolution and the tea has abandoned Sandalo e The to reveal a potent, sticky, raisiny dried fruit note and a great deal of powdery amber. These notes increase in intensity until they all but blot out the woody accord. The result is a spiced holiday fruit cake smell not too far removed from Serge Lutens's Arabie. At this point I start to find the fragrance syrupy, cloying, and unbalanced in its sweetness. This fruitcake accord continues for a couple of more hours before it diminishes enough to re-expose the floral notes and sandalwood. The composition is much better off for its revived sense of balance, but remains sweeter and more powdery than it was earlier. The extended drydown features extremely powdery, vanillic woods and amber.

In my opinion Sandalo e The is an odd duck. It starts out as a distinctive and compelling scent, but quickly discards its more distinguishing notes. (The very notes, in fact, that it is named for!) It then spends most of its life in a state of extreme imbalance before drying down back into something more composed and wearable. Fans of the sweetest Sheldrake/Lutens fragrances will probably appreciate Sandalo e The, but I'm not willing to endure its ooey-gooey Middle Eastern dessert of a heart just to enjoy the lovely first half hour.

Pleasant, light, really elegant and understated. A nice, delicate, sweet and bright accord of citrus and woods on a powdery base, which slowly gets drier and darker still keeping it light (I know it is apparently contradictory, but still...). If you want to keep the Florentine reference: a sunny spring afternoon in a Florentine garden. Fairly overpriced and really close to skin, though.

7/10

Love at first breath. This opens like a Louis Armstrong song; raspy, deep, and powerful. The caraway,lavender, and rosemary nearly overwhelm, but then the citrus and rose accords start to assert themselves.
Just after the top notes start to harmonize, the woody aromatics begin to rise up, ever so slowly: a mild growl of an Armstrong riff. The tender sweet lilt of patchouli sustains an exotic rythym as the florals start to swing. The cedar, myrhh, and tea fuse like a jazz trio of bass, sax, and piano, creating an elegant balance where none outshines the other.
This scent turns sleepy, and then suddenly rises up, the same way that good music swells and surges, keeping in time to your own heat and beat. Hours later, when the lights are low, you can still smell the warm, deep, essence of the basenotes, and vaguely hear that Armstrong "yeah!!".

Sandalo e The opens with a sweet-citrusy-the accord that is not so impressive. The Sandalwood note is very efemeral and shows up after half an hour or so. In the drydown the whole scent gets woody and somehow sweeter. Overall ithis is an ok perfume but after the good suprise I had with Bois 1920 Extreme this one is a bit disappointing. Nothing special and quite expensive.

After having read all of the reviews, I thought that I should try this fragrance for myself. So, I bought a sample from Luckyscent.com and I must say after recieving my sample.......I enjoy this fragrance a great deal. Yes, depending on your taste of scent you may initially receive a different reaction at first wiff, but let it dry down and man is this fragrance amazing!!!! Again, try it for yourself before you make a finally conclusion. I am so glad I purcahsed this even after reading all the reviews.