WHAT I SMELL:  Rendezvous opens up as pure animal with a strong and breathtaking civet.  It’s powerful and primal and it draws you in to take you prisoner.  After a few minutes, the initial wave of animalic prowess begins to soften with a light creaminess, but at the same time a dry oakmoss begins to appear along with the most subdued of florals.  A dirtied jasmine, mixed with the animalic  makes for an interesting play because at times the jasmine comes to the forefront and a minute later the civet and castoreum come to the center stage.  After some more time however, the florals win out…still deep, rich and creamy, they provide this heady and voluminous and achingly beautiful arrangement that is wrapped up in an ambered and golden aura.  After quite some time, the perfume reveals its final treasure, a gorgeous soft rounded lightly dirty and spicy powdered floral that’s warm, intoxicating and incredibly nostalgic.

Perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz:

I let my imagination go to a time and place when animalic perfumes reigned supreme.  Of course, I included the four traditional animal notes: musk, civet, ambergris, and castoreum with added elements of aged oakmoss, and botanical “animalics”; ambrette co2, labdanum, and  hyracium tincture (aka African Stone).  The heart is filled with indolic juhi jasmine, orange flower absolute, and gardenia balanced by a slightly sharp and spicy white pepper and aldehyde top note.  The result is a lush, provocative, and thoroughly sexy perfume for both men and women.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: beautiful decay

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE RENDEZVOUS:  haunting, breathtaking, careworn

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT RENDEZVOUS: None to be found as of yet.

BOTTOM LINE:  I love it when perfumes can stir something inside your core.  Too often, new releases tend to be pleasant and nice but rather uninteresting.  Rendezvous however, evoked an emotional response in me that took me by surprise.  I don’t know if my words convey exactly how beautiful the perfume is and I don’t want my visual to denigrate its effect.  But to me, there’s a fragility in the perfume, like a magnificent beauty that has faded in time…you can see the ravages of time, but at its heart it still possesses a grand presence.  Rendezvous is a stunning perfume.

• Bone Rating:  5 out of possible 5 bones
• Scent:  Aromatic
• Nose: Dawn Spencer Hurwitz
• Classification: Unisex
• Expense: $165 for 1 oz. eau de parfum or $295 for .5 oz parfum extrait (also available in additional sizes and strengths).  Available via the DSH Perfumes website.

Sample courtesy of DSH Perfumes.  Opinion my own.  Review based on the eau de parfum concentration.