Supposedly inspired by an East Village bar frequented by Johnny Depp, Kate Moss, and Madonna, Aedes de Venustas’s latest Café Tabac leaves me cold. Rather than an edgy hip bar, it reminds me more of a carnival fun park. It’s too sweet, and my tolerance for this style of perfume is low. So, take my evaluation with a grain of salt or, in this case, a pinch of sugar.
I generally admire the work of the dynamic duo of Aedes de Venustas and Bertrand Duchaufour. They’ve produced numerous winners over the years, including one of my favourite iris perfumes, Iris Nazarena, and their tart rhubarb scent, Signature. Sadly, Café Tabac is not their finest hour.
I wore Café Tabac four times before writing down my thoughts, so it’s more of an initial than a first impression. The first three times, the weather was hot, and this perfume was simply too sweet to work on a humid day. The combination of dried fruits, sweet tobacco, and cacao became stifling and unbearable. It smelled like I had smeared myself in candy, toffee apple sweets, or had the lingering saccharine goo of cotton candy stuck to my arm. It fared slightly better on the cold weather day, with the bitter cacao facet coming into play more. However, overall, it remained too sweet for my liking.
As Café Tabac drew comparisons with cotton candy and other confections, I felt it lacked sophistication and smelled cheap, almost like one of those bargain bin candles. Café Tabac’s note list is ridiculously long (I’ll list them at the end). Perhaps because of that, I find it incohesive and uneven. On my skin, I mainly picked up sweet tobacco, figs, apples, dates, vanilla, cacao, and burnt sugar – a gourmand lover’s dream. If I compare it to anything, I’d line it up with Or du Serail, Naomi Goodsir (also a Duchaufour), and Rouge Saray, Atelier Des Ors. From my collection, it’s most similar to Ambre Narguile. But I find all these more wearable, cohesive compositions than the Aedes de Venustas.
Surprisingly, there’s no coffee in Café Tabac, but too many candied notes compete for attention. Therefore, there’s insufficient contrast to break up the sweetness. Indeed, the stand-out notes all emphasise sweetness. It reads like a dessert cafe, and I prefer my gourmands on the savoury side. I fancied a higher content of woods, herbs, and resins. But, that would mean a totally difference scent. Predictably, with its heavy gourmand leanings, Café Tabac lasts for a long time. Each wear lasted over 10 hours. Certainly, it outstayed its welcome. My tip is to avoid this if you’re not a fan of sweet things. On the other hand, if you do have a sweet tooth, you’ll probably be coming back for seconds.
As promised, here’s the note list:
Tobacco absolute, Peru balm, cardamom, clove, bergamot, tamarind, tar, dried date, dried fig, cacao accord, burnt sugar, mango, beeswax absolute, apple, davana, clary sage, vanilla, oak moss, cistum-labdanum absolute, tonka bean, cedar wood, ambergris, cade.
Note: All images except the Café Tabac bottle image (Google) are mine. I purchased my sample.
