Tobacco & Tonka Bean
Banana Republic (2019)

Fantastic fragrance. Decent longevity and projection. Fruity tobacco with some sweetness. For the price and quality this is such an easy blind buy. It is similar to a Zara Tobacco RWA but IMO BR is much better. Overall a winner and worthy a blind buy. Enjoy!

Well, my first proper review and I've not got a trained nose or anything so I'm really not sure what use this is to anyone but I'm really getting into fragrances and here are my impressions as a complete novice!! :)

I used 5 sprays onto moisturised skin. 2 on the neck/upper chest area, 1 behind both ears, 1 back of the neck.

I wasn't especially won over by the first sprays. I'm guessing it was the plum/pear combination that I didn't quite love? There was nothing particularly wrong with it and the fruitiness was nice but for 2 minutes it just seemed a bit too loud. Speaking of the fruitiness I could only really pick out the plum and didn't detect any pear but I'm early into fragrance journey so that is probably my nose.

After the first 20-30 minutes I don't really detect the plum anymore and the scent has settled into what seems to be tonka/vanilla/tobacco combo. The tonka and vanilla is what seems to shine the most, the tobacco is definitely there but I only pick it up a bit closer to the skin. It seems to pick up a slightly creamy smell to my nose as well, I have no idea if it is the coconut that is giving it that creaminess? If not, then I do not detect the coconut at all.

For 3-4 hours I had a good scent bubble around myself and could smell the scent pretty much constantly during this time. I'm not sure if I was leaving trails or not but since I wear perfume for myself only this really isn't a concern for me. Between hours 4-8 I can still smell the scent occasionally especially when I am walking around, pretty much just the tonka and vanilla combo though but again if I dig my nose right in then I can still detect the tobacco.

There is definitely no evolving of the scent, after the first 20-30 minutes what you smell will be it until the end. If you are not a fan of sweet fragrances then I would say stay clear of this one, especially if it is the tobacco leaf note you are chasing as it very much plays second fiddle to that sweet tonka/vanilla combo.

I loved this perfume and was surprised that it lasted so long, and it kept my mood up on such a cold damp miserable day and at £20 I think was a steal.

An all-time cheapie favorite of mine. This was one of the first fragrances from Banana Republic's "Icon Collection" that I bought, and I liked it so much that I set out to collect the rest of the line. It's the kind of scent I love to just sniff from the atomizer like a maniac. The opening is addictive with its juicy plum note. The plum does fade relatively quickly, and you're left with a very light smokiness wrapped with gourmand sweetness. It's nothing revolutionary, just super pleasant, with decent performance.

For usage, the whole Icon collection is marketed as unisex, and I can definitely see this being worn by either gender. As a man I greatly enjoy wearing it. Definitely something for cooler days. I'd say it's pretty versatile in that regard, anything from wearing it to work or going out. It's not the loudest when it comes to projection, I don't think you should expect to fill a room with it. Just something for people to catch whiffs of when standing close, walking by, or cuddling up.

I'd say it's a good value at retail price or online discounters, but where it really shines is at rack stores. I picked it up for just $20. The whole Icon collection can be found pretty regularly at rack stores for that price (particularly Burlington), and it's hard to beat for value at that price. An added bonus, and what really made me collect the whole line, is the packaging. It has this really nice thick cardboard box that opens up like a drawer and has foam cushioning on the inside. The bottle is also a nice solid glass with a heavy cap. Makes it seem like a much more premium fragrance than its price point.

So yes, highly recommended for smell, for price, and for presentation.

Banana Republic Tobacco & Tonka Bean is part of the Icon Collection, released around the same time as Dark Cherry & Amber in 2019, but definitely a notch better, a sweet and spicy mix of the signature two notes, along with vanilla and coconut, the result being something majority-sweet with a slight amount of tobacco. Plum and pear are also listed notes but I do not especially detect either, the sweetness being that peculiar vanilla/tonka/coconut mix that comes up from time to time, rather than something that smells fruity.

Fans of sweet tobacco fragrances should certainly check this but be forewarned that there is not that much tobacco, though as I see it, there's just enough to yield some semblance of balance between the sweet and spicy, but as mentioned before, the result is quite sweet, sweeter than most of the well-known sweet tobacco fragrances. The best comparison is Zara's Tobacco Collection Rich/Warm/Addictive, which has a bit more of a coconut/honey vibe, contra the slightly more powdery tonka scent of Tobacco & Tonka Bean.

It is currently priced at $45 for 75ml on FragranceNet but I believe that that is roughly the retail pricing (I acquired my bottle for $30) so I'd certainly recommend looking out for a detail. At $30, it's a really superb value but even $45 isn't bad at all.

7 out of 10

A very solid fragrance for the price. Quality is good and longevity is pretty decent. I get around 6 hours with it. The Tonka is creamy its a very nice sweet but not to sweet fragrance. The tobacco is there but not to strong. A overall solid smooth smelling scent.