West Side
Bond No. 9 (2006)

Starts off a mix of boozy and fruity, like someone made a Schnapps liqueur flavored with cherry Lifesavers candy. The mix of upfront sugar and boozy depth is clever - there's an illusion of woods, chocolate, and papyrus hiding in there, but the overall vibe is actually more like brunch: freshly applied lipstick, juice, and cocktails.

Given time, it settles into a nice ionone violet/suede combination, with the sugar note living on as vanilla. At this point, the papyrus and woods have come into focus as a tobacco/tonka note.

The base is a bit pedestrian, a tonka/clove fruitchouli made famous by Burberry Brit but used by just about every designer house. In all, this is well orchestrated, but not what I enjoy, so I'm voting neutral.

Wow I love West Side. Very nice boozy rose fragrance with vanilla, musk, amber and sandalwood. It is definitely sweet and powdery. For me, the dry down is the best part. Projection and longevity is superb. I put it on this morning at 8:00 am and it's now 2:00 pm and I can still smell it on me.

Picked this out of some samples Epapsiou sent me ages ago.
Twelve years ago the Aromachemicals were better than today or perhaps there is better crafting.
This is a beautiful take on Rose. Peony is blended to the Rose particularly well. A light touch of Patchouli draws my mind to a background of Tobacco. With a light spritz this presents an elegant aura approaching Ambre Nuit. Trounces Mancera Roses Greedy in structure and finesse.
Peony certainly has me vision Feminine, Frilly Pink Undergarment, however the patch provides a camphour in such a way as to steer this, to a surprisingly comfortable Masculine wear.

Stardate 20161107:

I love Tocade and when I tried west side I loved it too (perhaps the only one from this house)
This to me is Tocade Pour Homme. Less vanilla more Patchouli.
Ylang Ylang and other florals are subtle and support the star - the mighty rose.

Last long and is pleasant and unisex.

West Side is my wife's favorite Bond No9 fragrance. While she loved it from the first sniff, it's taken some time to grow on me. This fragrance is mostly rose, baker's vanilla and amber, although it sometimes seems to me that there's a tobacco note hidden behind the vanilla. While not gormound, it occasionally drifts into a cake batter like aroma when over applied. Like most Bonds, West Side is a powerful fragrance and a little is a lot IMO. At it's lower tone, I've found I like this fragrance a lot. I think it is one of the few unique Bond scents and quite versatile for any woman to wear. There's something youthful and something serious about it all in one. Although listed as unisex, most guys won't want to wear this.

While I still prefer Chinatown and So New York over West Side on my wife, I will endorse this as a great "go to" modern fragrance in my wife's wardrobe. Twist my arm and I have to give it a Thumbs Up

Are you sure there isn't a little chocolate in here?
Because of the ylang and rather heavy dose of vanilla I think of this as Banana Cream Samsara.