WHAT I SMELL:  Enchanted Forest opens with a beautiful juicy blast of ripe blackcurrant.  It’s lusciously mouth-watering and evokes the sensation of just picked fruit of a fresh and green fir.  It’s so fresh and dense that you want to take a drink of the wine that it represents.  After a bit the blackcurrent diminishes and what develops is more fir.  It smells like a fresh Christmas tree after it had just been cut and the moist melting snow combined with the smell of the resins fill the air.  After a lengthy transformation and many wanderings throughout the forest, you’re left with a slightly sweet and slightly spicy warm and comforting musk.  Very beautiful indeed.

Top Notes: pink pepper, aldehydes, sweet orange (traces), flower cassis, blackcurrant leaf, hawthorn, effects of rum and wine, rosemary, davana.

Heart Notes: blackcurrant buds absolute (by LMR from Grasse), CO2 blackcurrant (by Floral Concept from Grasse), Russian coriander seed, honeysuckle, rose, carnation, vetiver.

Base Notes: opoponax resinoid, Siam benzoin, amber, oakmoss, fir balsam absolute, Patchouli Purecoeur®, castoreum absolute, cedar notes, vanilla, musk.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  Enchanted Forest is named exactly for what it smells like; an enchanted forest.  I can’t do any better than that for a visual.  OK, maybe add Hansel and Gretel to the mix (minus an old witch)!

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE ENCHANTED FOREST:  lush, ripe, evergreen

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ENCHANTED FOREST:  Kafkaesque, Scents Memory

BOTTOM LINE:  I really like this fragrance, especially the top notes which are just incredibly lush and full-bodied.  The middle phase is OK, but the drydown makes this a comfort scent.  I give an A for the marketing and packaging of this product and I’m sure there are plenty who will be clamouring for this when it goes on sale in the US.  I probably would be in line for this as well, but I just wish they would offer this in 50ml size in addition to the 100ml version.

• Bone Rating: 4.5 out of 5 possible bones
• Scent: Woody Aromatic
• Nose: Bertrand Duchaufour
• Classification: Unisex
• Expense: 140 Euros for 100ml EdP.  Only available at Jovoy Paris at present.

Promotional sample provided by The Vagabond Prince.