First Impressions – Tauer Perfumes – Sundowner

Tauer Perfumes – Sundowner – I’m continuing to catch up with releases from last year. Recently I sampled Andy Tauer’s latest, Sundowner. I was suitably impressed. It, along with Corpus Equus, may have had a good chance of making my favourite perfumes from 2021. So let’s take a look at what makes this one tick.

In a nutshell, it’s Andy Tauer’s take on tobacco. Here’s the inspiration for the scent courtesy of Andy Tauer’s website:

“The eau de parfum came by awe-inspiring moments when the sun reaches the horizon. Imagine sitting on the terrace on Elephantine Island in the middle of the river Nile near Aswan, enjoying the warmth of the evening sun, with your cocktail glass bursting in orange glitter. There is tobacco in the air. The sun disappears behind the horizon and the air is freshening up with cozy woody sweetness.”

I love the description. Though, for mine, it’s more tobacco than boozy. Sundowner opens with a surge of citric notes, primarily orange. Cinnamon spice is also prominent. Despite that, Sundowner is less reminiscent of a bakery than things like Hermes Ambre Narguile or Kilian Angels’ Share. I never thought of apple pie or cinnamon buns when I wore Sundowner. Instead, it reminds me more of a chocolate orange dessert—a sophisticated one with a considerable dose of leafy, smoky tobacco.

The tobacco in Sundowner plays so nicely against the resins, vanilla, cinnamon, and Tauer ambers. Vanilla is not one of the major players in Sundowner. So, it differs from scents such as Tobacco Vanille. Instead, Andy chooses cacao to go with the tobacco. It kicks in after a few minutes, adding a delicious dusty layer of chocolate to Sundowner. Hence the reference to chocolate orange desserts in my description above. It’s an easy perfume to love at this point.

I very much enjoy the woodiness in this scent too. The cypriol oil and sandalwood give it a solid resinous backbone. Even a slight Middle Eastern nuance. During the development of Sundowner, certain moments reminded me a little of my favourite BDK Parfums, Wood Jasmin. That scent is more fruity, however. And, it doesn’t have the floral flourish or boozy impact of Wood Jasmin.

It isn’t a scent that makes me think of drinks at sunset, per se. Perhaps it has a festive Christmas feel with the gourmand cinnamon/chocolate orange aspect. But, it doesn’t quite fit that sort of categorisation either, as any resemblance to food is fleeting. The woody resins and tobacco give it an added air of refinement. I haven’t even mentioned the ambergris, which imparts an air of animalic muskiness.

So, let’s just put it this way, it’s a multifaceted tobacco, easy to wear, and made with quality ingredients that tip toes around the edges of a few genres. Combine all the elements, though, and we have one of Tauer’s best releases in recent times. Sundowner lasted 6-8 hours on me before fading to a skin scent. Existing fans of the brand should enjoy it.

Note: Bottle image courtesy of Fragrantica. Sunset images my own.