Havana

[lohengrin]

Date palm, dried tobacco, snakeroot, and leather.

In the imp: Green, leafy and rooty, a little soapy.

On skin, wet: Pretty much the same as in the imp.

On skin, dry: Still the same.

After an hour: This one did not morph. Which is unfortunate, because I wanted leather and tobacco and got green soap.

[FormerViking]

Funny how much difference there is between folks opinions of this one . I'm in the " it smells really green " group . Maybe a little leather behind it , but not a strong note at all . After drying this is much less green/soapy . It's very subtle . Really have to hang my nose right over where applied . I like it but once again I think I'll have to slather this a bit for full effect . I like the combo of green/brown/vegetation notes . Just very laid back . Now I have time I need to go through more of these frimps I've acquired over the last few years . Who knows what else might be here I missed first time through ?

A few hours later . Really like this . Getting much more of a palm oil vibe from it now . Not so much green now , more brown probably from the leather underpinning the scent . Very nice & possible bottle needed in the future .

Edited June 14, 2012 by FormerViking

[catalyst]

Yes.

 

I get no green in this at all. I get exactly what the notes describe: Date, tobacco, some kind of root, and leather.

 

Awesome.

 

I wasn't sure about this at first, but the more it goes on, the more it mellows and the leather comes up and tells the tobacco and root to settle down. It's like being in a older gentleman's study with leather chairs and a really impressive humidor. The tobacco in this is the cured unsmoked kind, like a pouch of good pipe tobacco that's been left open nearby. I get no smoke or cigarettes from this.

 

I think I just found my GC replacement for Le Pere Fouettard.

Edited July 7, 2012 by catalyst

[rawpotential]

Havana is...brown. Brown, in the best possible way. Brown like warm leather jackets, dried palm fronds, grass burned by the sun.

 

Unsurprisingly, there's a leather here, a soft, insidious leather; there's something that reminds me of sweetgrass (snake root?), and the gentlest tobacco. The palm is there, grounding and basing. To me, this isn't cologney at all, but instead an almost veritable skin-scent perfect for brushing into crowded biker bars with an unlit cigar in hand, Cuba Libre pending. Havana comes like a diplomatic mission from the Embassy of Badass--a subdued and subtle reminder not to fuck around.

 

I love this. It's my warm scent, my signature leather jacket mood lifter. It smells fairly unisex, and its aura bends to fit the intentions of the wearer. It could work for work, school, or a night out; I find it mostly hovers close to the skin, sending only a few tendrils out to play when the wind rises. (Literally. I smell this most when I'm driving with the windows down. Which seems quite fitting.)

 

This is going to be my first bottle. I adore it.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Smoky leather.

 

Drydown: Sweet, sticky, and plantlike, which must be the date palm. Beneath that is a touch of tobacco smoke and something sort of dirty and waxy.

 

Dry: It starts to turn funky. I hate to say this, but at times it smells like Raisinets soaked in foot sweat and sprinkled with dirt. Needless to say, this one’s not for me.

 

 

 

 

Edited to Add: I retested this some months later and it no longer turned funky in the dry stage. Instead, it stuck to being a dirty and sweet leather blend.

 

4 out of 10 bones

Edited August 27, 2013 by BoneBone24

[ajansuz]

Given my recent love affair with BPAL tobacco and leather accords, I had to try this when I read the description. It doesn't disappoint.

 

In the imp, tobacco is the dominant note, the same tobacco in The Tata and The Antykithera Mechanism. There's something sweet alongside it, sidling up and making nice. I'll assume that's the date. It's not a note I'm familiar with.

 

Wet the tobacco still dominates, and the sweetness is even sweeter. It almost makes me think of chewing sugar cane, that rich scent that comes along with it. I like this a lot, very casual but also assertive.

 

It's not until it dries that the leather makes its presence known. It's a comfortable older leather jacket a little beaten at the elbows, not new leather. I have no idea what snakeroot smells like except to say there is a vegetative note in here that's fresh and a little sappy. It's a nice contrast to the more grounding notes. This is unisex on me. I don't feel it leans either masculine or feminine. If tobacco and leather work on you, and not every fruit turns to a note of doom, I'd suggest giving this a try. Throw is minimal. It's really more a skin scent. On me it lasted a good eight hours or so before it was faded enough not to smell anymore. I have some really stunning tobacco blends in my collection right now, so I'll be giving this a pass. Once my LEs run out, I'll be running to it.

[catalyst]

The weirdest thing happened today. The imp that I reviewed above there was a decant. Since then, somebody sent me another imp of Havana, this one with a lab label, which is absolutely nothing like the decant that I love. The lab label one is almost floral sweet, and fades after an hour, without any of the dark thickness of the date, tobacco, root and leather of the decant imp. I have to think that this is mislabeled, but the only way to know is to sniff a legit bottle of it. Has anyone else gotten a weird flowery and not tobacco imp of Havana?

[quickdrawkiddo]

This might be the perfect summer scent for a non-fruity, non-floral gal like myself. The dominant notes on me are dried dates and sweet pipe tobacco, and I love that the sweetness is mellow and not cloying or foody. Very gender-neutral, as DarkSinestra points out, though the image it conjures up for me is of a guy wearing linen trousers and huaraches lying on a hammock in the shade. If you like your hot-weather blends more desert-y and less tropical, this one's for you. It sticks close to the skin but lasts for ages on me, generally more than 24 hours or until I shower Definitely bottle-worthy -- it's very very "me".

[welcometothefamily]

In the Imp: Slightly sweet leather. I think I can smell the tobacco lurking in the background :/. Tobacco doesn't normally work on me so we'll see.

 

Wet: Sweet leather. The tobacco has come out a bit more, and yay! It's not doing the maple of doom thing on me!

 

Drydown: I don't know what snakeroot smells like, but I can smell leather. The date palm and tobacco is mingling to create a caramelised base.

 

Verdict: This is too masculine for me. I'm veeeery wary of tobacco in perfumes.

 

2/5

 

P.S: Take my review with a grain of salt, I hate tobacco. It smells like crusty old powdery (the horrible cloying type of powdery) maple syrup on my skin. It's just wrong. It puts the HELL NO in NOte.

[batsy]

In the vial: Old tobacco and leather.

 

On the skin: I get a semi-sweet note from the date palm, turns very sugary. With a faint whiff of tobacco. I guess this would certainly be representative of Havana (never been there) but after the dry down it's just basic sugar and tobacco on my skin. Not really worth wearing.

[agirlnamedfury]

Wet: Leather. But not old, worn, dry leather -- it's soft and supple, a pair of new kidskin gloves as opposed to an old motorcycle jacket. This is actually a very subtle, earthy, skin-like scent. Doesn't seem to have much throw, either.

 

Dry: This stops smelling so much like leather gloves and starts smelling a little like latex gloves. Not sure what that's about.

 

I think this one isn't for me.

[megank4]

Very nice, very "old west", though I think if I had to pick one, it would be tombstone. Or maybe Coyote.

 

Smells dry, dusty, Tobacco. Not much of a morpher.

Also seems very close to the skin.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Sweet woods, hints of palm. A somewhat fruity tobacco. Really interesting. Much fruitier than I expected actually, and sweeter. It's very lush and tropical feeling.

 

 

Dry: This is more tropical and less tobacco than I expected, but I do quite like it. Whatever leather note is in it is totally wearable for me. The date palm is the strongest note, and I really like it. Interesting! Glad to have an imp. Wouldn't mind having a bottle, either.

[blacksambuca]

This is one of the discontinued scents that I really treasure. I actually bought an imp of it just after the discontinuation announcement, right before it went off the site. I've been wishing I bought a bottle ever since! This is delicious, sexy, sweet brown tobacco and brown leather. But somehow it is more than the sum of its parts. It has a subtle tropical quality which I'd probably attribute to the date palm, or maybe the snakeroot? In any case, it is gorgeous and warm and I can't get enough of it

[dlynngarrett]

My beloved Havana. I missed out on this one completely, and finally located a full bottle a few months ago old school label and all. I had been collecting imps and hoping to find even an empty when I saw it for sale. Threeofcups described it perfectly. Havana is a sweet, warm scent that isn't too heavy for warm weather. The tobacco takes a back seat for me and allows everything else to meld together beautifully!

[achildoftime]

All I get from Havana is sun dried tobacco and leather, but man is it nice. Sometimes simple works best, so having two well-paired notes just complimenting each other is welcome. I'm sure the snakeroot and palm are helping everything meld together, but I can't readily pick them out. It's sweet and simple, but utterly lovely.

[Lucchesa]

I want achildoftime's Havana! Almost all I got from my imp of indeterminate age was date palm and snakeroot. Actually, I have no idea what snakeroot smells like and the name seems to attach to a number of botanicals, but I get from Havana something green like sap, with a dry earthy sweetness and the faintest whisper of the gentlest possible tobacco and leather. It is a quiet scent on me, with no throw (not that I get much throw under any circumstances). Pleasant but not what I was hoping for.