Sterling
Boadicea the Victorious (2015)

Blurb: "Get acquainted with an eau de perfume that is utterly divine…a masterpiece, both bold and enticing. Sterling is most certainly for the wearer with the courage of his or her own convictions. Over a heart of feisty galbanum lies a top tier of green tea and clary sage from the Salvia family–potent, arid and nutty with the faintest trace of a bitter edge. Beneath gathers a formidable cohort of earth-oriented notes which range from leather, musk and myrrh to tonka with its redolent presence of vanilla, almond, cinnamon and cloves. Forthright and true."

Review: The name "Sterling" is a reasonable fit for this fragrance: the tea, sage, and galbanum form an impressionistically silver-tone metallic accord, albeit one more oxidized than freshly polished–not a bad thing, mind you. Leather and musk, I get, though not especially forward; likewise the myrrh and clove. Tonka, vanilla, almond, and cinnamon? Not coming through here; and that, too, is not a bad thing. Rather, this is a butch, smokey tea fragrance, the sage and faint clove steering the green tea toward lapsang souchong territory, and the base notes mirroring the vaporous top in a low octave unison. The galbanum isn't its usual fresh bright green self, but rather serves as the glint in what might otherwise be dull metal, aided by a hefty dose of Iso E Super.

Per the purple prose above, this is not a crowd pleaser by nature: it's too resolutely grey for that. In fact, it calls to mind Grey Flannel, though the notes are quite different. In any case, Sterling is a scent unconcerned with being liked. I haven't quite decided how much I like it myself; it's almost trying too hard to be aloof. Still, a spritz of this and a good book would make for a fine quiet evening at home.