A Bold Bluff

[Brianne]

 

A Bold Bluff, C.M. Coolidge.

Cherry tobacco, tonka, and hops.

 

Another review for me where I'm the first?

 

In the bottle:

A very faint cigar tobacco

 

On me:

Hmm, at first I have to wonder if maybe this isn't the wrong blend because I know the smell of cherry tobacco by heart (my grandfather smoked it all the time in his pipe) and I just don't get it at all when this is wet on my skin. What I do get is the very very faint smell of cigar and... what I think must be the hops. It almost smells too faint to me to represent cherry tobacco.

 

As it dries though, it starts to warm up and get going a bit - the cherry is so so so faint on me. The tobacco is pleasantly warm and comforting, just like what you would smell in a cigar or pipe. The hops are hard to describe - I can TELL it's hops but at the same time... not sure how to describe the scent. I guess sort of a golden, wheaty slightly tangy smell. It works with this because of the slight sweetness and warmth of tonka.

 

I keep waiting for this scent to get "louder" or more bold but it just never does. I'm not sure if it's my skin or it's the scent. It's like waiting for a party to get going and right when you think it's picking up, everyone leaves.

 

Final note:

I think this is more like A Subtle Bluff on me, but that's not to make it sound like I don't like this scent. I actually really like it, it's very comforting and smooth. I will definitely be using my bottle, I just wish it was a little more amped up and that the cherry was a little more present!

[edenssixthday]

A Bold Bluff - This is the overwhelming scent of dried hops, ready to be used in the production of beer. It's a dry-leaf scent that is extremely bitter smelling. However, the tonka tempers the bitterness of the hops, although the scent certainly isn't a tonka-dominant scent (it's not rich, creamy, vanilla-esque in the way tonka usually is). I don't smell the cherry tobacco in the least. It's just nowhere to be found on my skin. This to me is a man's scent -- the scent of rugged, swarthy, outdoor man. The scent has very strong throw and staying power.

[nikkoblue]

I always find it so bizarre how things can change on different people!!

 

I am TOTALLY AMPING the cherry tobacco on this. I get almost no tonka.....the hops finally make their presence known to me after about an hour, but the first hour of this is overwhelming, sweet cherry tobacco. It finally simmers down to a warm, balanced tobacco smell, but at no point does it lose sweetness on me. I like my imp enough, I don't think I'll be purchasing a bottle, though.

[tinyvulture]

On me, this is a blend of rich cherry tobacco, powdery sweet tonka (smells like marshmallows!), and something minty… like eucalyptus, sorta, but not as medicinal. On my husband, it’s straight-up cherry tobacco with no trace of tonka sweetness. I’m not sure what hops smell like (are they minty?)… all I know is, this doesn’t smell like beer, and I don’t get any similarity to Roadhouse. I like it -- it’s complex and comforting, a scent you want to curl up in.

[euterpe414]

Whoo! Cherry tobacco. That is all that A Bold Bluff is for its entire wet stage on my skin. Then, magically, as it dries, the hops decide that they want to turn to cat pee. So basically, this one smelled like cherry tobacco + cat pee and a bit of creamy tonka on my skin. It's a pity, because I was really hoping this one would work.

[forspecial_plate]

A Bold Bluff smells like sweet tobacco, and I forgot it was cherry tobacco until I re-read the notes. Now that I know, I can smell just a faint suggestion of cherry. I’m glad I don’t smell hops because actual dried hops smell a little vomity to me (maybe the hops here are fresher). This is a touch more powdery than I thought it would be. I think the hops combined with tobacco are giving it a sweet, slightly powdery feel. Usually I avoid most things powdery but it doesn't ruin this scent.

 

It's a comforting scent that I do like and will wear again.

[supremegoddessofall]

In bottle: Cherry hops.

 

On me: Lots of tonka with just a touch of cherry underneath. Nice.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp this is clove cigs and cherry hops

 

once applied the clove and cherry intermingle with the tonka making

this an incredible blend...long lasting too...i am a huge fan and i only

wish i had ordered a big bottle of this one as it is my fav out of the poker playing pups...

 

it's just that good

[gingersnapp]

Oooh, this is all sweet cherry pipe tobacco and hops on me. The hops are most apparent when I'm smelling my wrist very close to my nose, and then they kind of linger in the back of my throat. The tonka just kind of ties it all together in a sweet, creamy bow.

[Little Bird]

I love tonka, but I can't really pick the tonka out of this blend... and I'm not sure what exactly hops smell like, but this is a rather bitter, dry blend on my skin. In the drydown it gets a bit sweeter, though I wouldn't pick out cherry or tonka. A Bold Bluff is a dry, sweet tobacco on me. I'm not crazy about this one.

[captainecchi]

I like boozy notes. I like tobacco notes. I like tonka. So why don't I love this?

 

In the bottle: I wrinkled my nose at the bitterness of this scent. There's a tinge of sweetness, but it was just so, so acrid. That must be the hops--whoever described the scent as "dry, bitter leaf" is right on the money.

 

On me (wet): It doesn't seem to change much. Here I smell the cherry tobacco coming to the fore a little bit more, but it's so, so faint. It's the twinge of sweetness behind the hops bite.

 

On me (dry): the tonka makes an appearance, but stands at the back like a wallflower, making the room a little prettier, but still waiting to dance. Everything has gone to powder on my wrists (not an unusual occurrence), but the hops and tobacco are still dancing the night away on my neck.

 

To me there are really only two notes here: bitter (the hops) and sweet (the cherry tobacco). There's a sort of an unwashed funkiness to it, to it, too, like coming home late after a party in a boozy, smoky room. Way to be evocative, I guess, but there doesn't seem to be much complexity here. I feel like too many of the scents are pointing in the same direction, if that makes. I wish the cherry tobacco sweetened it more or I wish there were a few spicy notes to give it depth. Will probably be trading it away.

[sofaking6]

Mmm cherry tobacco!!

 

I don't get any tonka at all, and just a little hops. This a very evocative scent for me, reminding me of driving with my father as he smoked his old pipe. It's not so much wearable around town, it's really masculine and strong, but it's incredibly beautiful and I really enjoy the memories.

[Em-]

A wet hoppy scent on me, mostly, warmed by the tonka and the cherry tobacco. I like this a lot - it is a very interesting, evocative scent, and the components are just perfect together.

[slave1]

A BOLD BLUFF

 

In Bottle: Cherry smoke

 

On Skin: Yum… this is sweet and delicious. The smoke is so light, not sickly sweet like I associate with cigars. My dad used to have a drawer where he would keep his pipe. Well, he stopped pipe smoking many years ago, but the drawer still has that faint pipe tobacco odor and this reminds me of it. The hops is tied with the tobacco at the top of the note chain. The cherry is very light, only a whisper in this scent. The tonka is also there, just giving a slight sweetness. I agree with the comment someone else made about this scent being more “subtle” than “bold”. It is very light and fades almost immedietly on me. I really like it but wish it had more throw and staying power. Super light throw and extra super short wearlength.

[filigree_shadow]

Woah. Exceedingly alcoholic at first. Doesn't really smell like hops to me, more like rum. But then as it's drying that initial rum weirdness goes away, and it ends up smelling like cherry pipe tobacco. NOT like pipe smoke, like the actual tobacco you put in the pipe. I used to go into a cigar/pipe shop all the time to buy clove cigarettes because it was the only place in town to buy them, and the inside of that shop smelled like this. It's a sweet, dry, almost musty, tobacco scent. Smelling this transports me mentally back to that shop.

 

I bet my husband would love this. I'll let him try it.

[cuervosueno]

I wanted to try this for the hops, mostly, because I love that bitter scent, and I hoped this would really feature it (like Roadhouse).

 

it doesn't.

 

when I opened my decanted imp, I thought holy shit what is that! I can't even describe it--it was just awful.

 

I didn't really want to put it on, but I've been a BPALer too long think it would smell the same on me.

 

Thankfully, it is different on, though I'm still not crazy about it. On it is tonka and cherry tobacco, mostly tobacco. No hops. It's like putting on a flannel shirt that belonged to someone who was smoking a pipe. Warm and fuzzy, but not really me.

[alicia_stardust]

In the bottle: cherry smoke, hops.

 

On my skin: Whoa, dried hops! I get a very distinct smell of hops. It's a dry, dusty version of hops to me. After a while this smell becomes slightly bitter but that smell is tempered by the tonka which brings a slightly creamy, comforting aroma to it. I get hints of the cherry tobacco but it sits behind the other two dominant notes.

 

I am very glad I tried this but I don't see myself reaching for it out of my massive collection. I may swap this away.

[Avery]

I am disappointed. From the moment I discovered BPAL and that there were cherry tobacco scented oils, I knew I had to have one. But none that I have tried so far have worked on me... not Hearth 2004, and certainly not this.

This doesn´t have any cherry to speak of that I can tell. It´s all tobacco and hops, but not a good tobacco and not the fresh hops that I get from a blend like Roadhouse. I had Bold Bluff on one arm last night and Sugar Skull 2005 (which I reviewed today as well) on the other, and my boyfriend came in and almost gagged, telling me that I smelled like a stale glass of wine with a cigarette butt in it. Lovely! I washed off Bluff and turns out that was the culprit for both the stale and the butt. Bummer!! Maybe Herr D will do it for me for the cherry tobacco, or the next one that Beth releases... should have just the right amount of cherry. A girl can dream, right? Will try aging this one for awhile... if there´s no improvement it´s off to swaps. I could kick myself for not ordering Pinched with Four Aces.

[PurringPulsar]

A Bold Bluff

 

In the imp: honeyed cherry tobacco with a hint of sweetness. The honey-like scent here reminds me of Hellfire.

Wet on skin: anise? Now I smell anise with tobacco, the bitterness of hops, and sweet smooth tonka.

Dry on skin: mmm, this is actually not that bad! it smells oddly like liquorice, but the tonka here is gorgeous. The tobacco isn't the heavy, dark, cherry-scented tobacco from Hearth 04 or Herr Drosselmeyer, but a more sophisticated mix, less cherry like and more like a sticky, mushy mix of tobacco held with resin. The hops add a hint of booziness without smelling blatantly of beer. (Maybe that's adding that odd 'anise' smell too?) But the tonka is the star of the scent, smooth, sweet and gorgeous, it adds a lovely soft and almost powdered sweet base to the rich tobacco.

After a while: the tonka really smoothes the scent out beautifully. I don't smell as much hops, the tobacco smells dark and 'chewy' (that's the best way I can describe it) almost like it's covered in caramel but doesn't smell like caramel…the tonka is this warm, soft, blanket of broad and full-bodied sweetness-like vanilla but more sophisticated-under the tobacco. In fact, as it dries down, it smells almost chocolate-like, or like some kind of posh chocolate filling, chocolates being eaten in a dapper gentleman's lounge, served with a pipe. It's that rich sweet brown scent which is almost gourmand but not quite. The tobacco shows up again when the scent fades, and it smells drier, more cigar like, at this point, it's lost the tonka sweetness.

Verdict: this is a lot nicer than what I was expecting from the description. I thought the cherry tobacco notes in Hearth 04 and Herr Drosselmeyer were much too overwhelming and masculine, and I feared that the hops would smell like beer. But this is really nice-and the tonka is what makes it such a pretty scent. there's an odd liquorice scent to this at first but this then fades to leave a soft gummy tobacco scent, dark and slightly sweet but nothing really cherry-like to it. the tonka is amazing here, really sweet and rich and soft, gently powdery, like a non-foody vanilla, it rounds the scent up really nicely. This is a very nice mix of tonka and tobacco, both notes show themselves off at different stages, and the tobacco leaf drydown is almost reminiscent of crisp autumn leaves. This is a nice scent but not a favourite-not one to get more of but it was surprisingly good.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? not sure. It's an unusual scent and I like it better than expected, but I'm not sure I'd wear it much.

If you like this, try: Gluttony, Perversion, Hellfire, Riding the Goat, Herr Drosselmeyer

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Dr Pepper with a hint of hops

 

Wet on me – Dry slightly bitter tobacco with something slightly syrupy in the background

 

Dry on me – Warm dry tobacco drizzled with lashings of spiced syrup

 

Overall – This is gorgeous. Warm and comforting, but with a dark sensual edge to it

[underline2]

In the bottle:

Sweet tobacco

 

Wet:

Still sweet tobacco, with a hint of hops in the background. It's a very Al Capone a la Untouchables, or Guys and Dolls-type manly man. Manly men who are secure enough to sing and dance, and wear silk underthings.

 

Dry:

The same. The tonka never makes an appearance, which makes me sad, but that's okay. Off to the swaps!

[The_Merf]

huge thanks to cheshirecat for tossing this in as an extra.

 

This is an initial blast of cherry that immediately goes over to a tobacco/hops combination. As the blend continues to dry down, the hops become stronger and stronger, but this ends as a tobacco/hops blends. I get very little cherry or tonka from this blend.

[tartchef]

Mmm, fresh bitter hops & a trace of Captain Black... this is much fresher than I'd expected. In the bottle, the cherry & tobacco dominate, but once it hits my skin, any chance of cloying sweetness vanishes. There's something almost anise-like lurking, and the tonka shows its face only after an hour's wear. A Bold Bluff is full of masculine notes, but not especially manly, if you follow - it's a very subtle scent, more the natural smell of a well-worn tweed jacket slung over a heavy wood chair in the corner of a dark, quiet pub... a kinder, gentler scent than Herr Drosselmeyer, but certainly in the same vein...

[lilacea]

Out of all the dogs I've tried, this has to be the sweetest and most perfume-y. But having said that, it's not at all ladylike and still pretty masculine. Sweet tobacco is the first thing I notice (reminds me a lot of night queen incense), the tonka comes out on the skin and gives this a musty round sweetness. It's very close to the skin, this blend, and oh so soft. The tabacco is reminiscent of Herr Drosselmyer with it's slightly anise touches, but less pungent.

[Indigo78]

This was a frimp decant from a forumite...Tonka? Yes! Cherry Tobacco? Hell to the yes! Hops? Umm...We'll see.

 

Imp-wise: Wild Turkey Bourbon &..err..a certain chemical sustance.

 

Skin-wise: Here come the hops & cherry tobacco. Spilled beer, all the way. This is the smell of a dive-bar in Vegas, replete with old guys, cracked vinyl stools, and low-end cigars. Definitely an evocative scent, but the Hops go pretty awful on my skin and/or to my nose. Sadly, this is no good for me.