The Zadok Allen Vineyard

[girasol]

A deep velvety Cabernet Sauvignon with hints of plum, black cherry, rose petals, coffee bean, and smoky oak. Barrel and bottle aged, with a smooth and spicy hit mid-palate. Hints of Dagon's tarry black incense and clotted blood complete this well-rounded, robust indulgence.

Whoa booze!

In the decant and freshly applied to skin, this is oaky red wine and whiskey. But not a freshly poured glass, oh no. More like when you've gone out the night before, drunk far too much on an empty stomach, retched your entrails up for a couple of hours before falling asleep on the bathroom floor, woken up feeling like hell with the sunlight streaming in and reflecting off the white tiles, your head pounding and sweating the several gallons of booze you misguidedly consumed the prior evening out of your pores. That's what it smells like - the festering aftermath of an evening of drunken debauchery.

Once it settles down though, it's more woody and spicy, with just a touch of wine in the background. Like a cool timber-panelled old pub full of lovable drunks, with decades of spilled-booze-smell gently seeping out of the carpet. I really like this scent, it's definitely different and I think it will be a really nice warming, winter scent.

[CitizenBree]

On wet this smells really sharp, like bad cherry cough syrup. That dies down a bit when dry, and a deep, dusty plum comes out. I may amp dust, but it's a note I don't like so I will spot it pretty easily. This wine has something dusty in it.

 

Further, it doesn't smell like wine much to me at all. It's much more sweet. Maybe like a lambrusco or sangria, it's not a cabernet.

 

This isn't too boozy for me but I feel like it's there just a tad. I saw coffee in the notes....? Don't get any of that.

 

Going to pass on this one.

[forspecial_plate]

This scent brings an association that is very unfortunate. I've had asthma and allergies since I was a child, and there was a certain asthma medicine, Theophylinne (sp?), a liquid medicine that I am guessing was supposed to be grape flavored. Unfortunately, it tasted and smelled hideous, and this scent brings it right back......it was a medicine that made me gag the second it entered my mouth. There is only 1 other bpal scent that brought back that memory, and that was Delphi........I had to wash that one off too.

 

I can understand how people might like this. I do like some wine scents like Montressor and the newer Poe one, but there is no way I could ever wear the Zadok Vineyard. In a way, that is appropriate, given the subject matter. I had the same kind of emotional reaction to Al Azif.....I can't even bring myself to try that one again.

[Greenwoodtree]

Really enjoyed this one especially as it was the only imp in a pack of six I could stand without washing off!

 

Wet, it was much sweeter then drydown. It was all wine and darkness, somewhat complex, and on drydown the sweetness subsided a bit and was replaced with that faint sour tinge that dry wine leaves in your nose and on your taste buds.

 

It reminds me much of one of my favorites, Blood Kiss. It has that complexity. It may be too similar for me to buy a bottle though.

[Redillon]

In the imp: WINE!!!! I LOVE IT! I want to drink it. Can you tell I like wine?

 

On wet: Fruity and winey. I get the plums. No coffee.

 

Dry: Spicy and winey and fruity. I'm really liking it! I may have to find a bottle.

 

 

[aquazoo]

Oh, this is nasty! I'm sniffing a carpet to see what kind of wine got spilled there. The incense and blood come up, which helps quite a lot. A chameleon of scent, now it's nice. The wine is coming back, and I generally don't like wine scents. But now it's a good wine, not that sour stuff from before.

[zankoku_zen]

Full bloodied red wine that gets woodier and dustier as it dries. It dries to something almost powdery with red wine.

[donnatron]

Bottle: Whoa. That is oak. Lots of oak. And plum. And I never realized that I am really not a fan of an oak/plum combo, especially with wine. This is not Zadok Allen's fault and I will gamely try it out.

 

Wet: Not pleasant. The oak is amping up and there is also something that I think is vetiver. Grassy vetiver, not smoky vetiver. This is all over a very sweet/tart wine and plum scent.

 

Dry: The oak really calms down and this becomes a dark, smoky wine with plum and a coppery sort of smell that definitely evokes blood. Also a very faint hint of dragon's blood resin. I think the coffee might be contributing to part of the reason I'm not feeling this. There is a weird undertone to this that reminds me of Misk U (a notorious noooooooooo) and I think it's the oak/coffee combo. However, even though the drydown isn't that great at the beginning it morphs again about fifteen minutes into the dry phase and becomes a really lovely but slightly threatening wine scent. Very dark red and sort of glistening--like it's at the peak of ripeness and at the very edge of decay.

 

Throw: Strong.

 

Overall: The drydown takes its sweet time but this is definitely a keeper especially because it is full of great agers.

[nekogrrl]

In imp: Sweet, rotting fruit and blood.

 

On skin: blood Blood BLOOD. Ugh.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

Imp: Heavy, spicy and jsut a touch of old rose

Wet on Me: old and spicy. faint touches of wine. dusty and musty old rose.

Drying Down: the old rose is amping all over the place getting very faint touches of spice, oak and plum but they are afraid of the rose.

Dry: the rose went and amped all over everything.

[yamiko]

In Bottle: A delicious, deep, gorgeous cabernet.

 

Wet on skin: There's something metallic in the background, beyond the tannic smell of the cabernet. Must be the blood.

 

Drydown (3 minutes): It's more incense-y now, with the individual notes of the wine coming out as well.

 

Drydown (5 minutes): It's sweetened up a bit, but without loosing that tannic/metallic edge to it. I can distinctly smell the rose and fruits, with a background of the oak and incense, and a teeny bit of spice in there. A well-rounded wine, indeed!

 

Overall Impression: I knew I was going to love this from the moment I read the description. Cabernet is my favorite wine, and there's nothing in this that I'm even "meh" over. I absolutely LOVE booze/wine scents, and this does not disappoint.

[filigree_shadow]

Hunh. Okay, here's the thing -- I haven't worn Formula 54 in about 3 years. I had a tiny vial of it a while ago but sent it off to a friend of mine because it was one of those rares that you have but never wear because it's so rare, and she said she'd wear it and love it. So it's been a while since I smelled that.

 

But, when I'm sniffing this one dry, I'm thinking of Formula 54. I know, I know... that one had cognac, this one has wine. There's no clove listed in the notes for this. But it seems like it has that same deep, decadent, slightly spicy cherry-like and alcoholic scent to it.

 

I normally don't like wine scents because they tend to smell bitter and acidic on me (and sometimes dry, bitter, and acidic, which is even worse), but after the first blast of wine you get when this oil is wet, it changes into something a lot fruitier and not bitter at all.

 

And to be honest, I really can't remember what Formula 54 smelled like. But if you told me this was it, I'd believe you. That's how much it reminds me of that scent. And hey, this one is way easier to find! Someone ought to switch out the labels on me and I'll run around thinking I'm wearing something rare and luxurious.

[Altaira]

As soon as I opened the bottle I was in love

 

Zadok Allen Vinyard is dark and sweet and totally sexy. It smells like dark juicy wine and spicy incense soaking into the floorboards after decades of parties. Very rich, decadent, and sultry. Similar to some berry scents, but more grown up. My husband describes it as "womanly."

 

This has a long wear on me and a big throw. I couldn't really wear it this summer as the scent was too strong in the heat, but it is getting a lot more use now that the weather has turned cold again. My husband has said he could "taste it" from across the room when I was putting it on, but that he liked it.

[Ishtar]

Being a huge fan of Montresor, I got an imp of this hoping I would get the same rich, realistic wine note from it. Besides, a hint of plum, rose, spice and incense is always a plus in my book.

 

Sadly, the Zadok Allen Vineyard goes through a deeply smokey stage, before drying down to a toned-down version of Midnight Kiss - not unpleasant, but nothing that sings on my skin either. Since smokey/burnt notes really do not work on me, I am afraid it is off to swaps with this one...

[Helas]

I love the *idea* of smelling like wine, but most of the Lab's wine blends so far have had a very sweet, artificial grape flavour that reminds me more of cheap grape soda than actual wine. The Zadok Allen Vineyard is the first one I have tried that smells like a genuine fine wine - heady and alcoholic, with a pleasant tannic bitterness. I get some oak as well, which makes me think of the old-fashioned tavern that was my friends' drinking hole of choice when we were students. I don't get the other ingredients, which is fine by me (no blood, thank goodness - that would have been a little too weird for me). I've been longing for an uncomplicated but realistic wine scent and this is it for me.

 

Four out of five stars.

[aleciarivas]

Blah! I'm not a fan of how most wine smells (or tastes for that matter), so this was an immediate NO on me. I even waited out the dry down to be sure, but no way Jose!

[calivianya]

Ooooh, this is good.

 

It's a lovely red wine blend with rose - it initially reminds me a bit of Lilith, though a Lilith without the aggressive black musk and more fruit. I'd say this is Lilith's tamer sister. This is a good thing, because Lilith is one of my absolute favorites, but it can be a little too aggressive sometimes. I don't usually get a fruity note from BPAL's wine blends, and I don't think it's the wine making this one fruity, more like the plum and cherry. It also smells drier than Lilith, which comes from the incense making itself known on the drydown. I agree with the reviewer who said that this gets smoky as it dries down, and it does. It becomes more dissimilar from Lilith and more complicated. I get no blood whatsoever from this blend. It's just a lovely, dark, complicated wine scent. Very BURGUNDY. Very sexy.

 

Okay, I did a deathmatch with Lilith, and I've decided this is too grapey and not as awesome as Lilith. Not a keeper.

Edited June 17, 2012 by calivianya

[Dani87]

Oh wow I can't even tell you how much I loved this.

Imp: red wine, and black cherries.

Wet: still red wine, and cherries, but more wine.

Dry down: I'm starting to get a smokey wood

Dry: red wine, cherry, smokey wood, and a hint of rose. It also starts to smell dry/dusty, not powder though. Thank god, a lot of things turn to powder on me.

Overall: this was amazing, I love, love, loved it. My husband also loved it. I didn't get any of the plum, coffee bean, or blood, but I do have a small cold so that might be why. Hopefully those will come out next time I wear it. I have no idea what dragon's terry smells like, so I don't know if it was there, or not. This had good throw, and staying power. I was smelling my wrist all night. Going to need more if this for sure.

[foxroses]

Got a bottle of this in a swap!

 

In the bottle: omg wine! also very fruity. Pretty intense.

 

Wet: plums! cherries! omg! Interestingly, now it's getting spicy. I don't really get coffee, incense, or oak in particular, as in it it doesn't smell LIKE coffee/oak/incense, but i am getting a creaminess or smokiness that makes me think OF them, particularly incense and coffee. It doesn't smell floral to me, because florals usually get funky, but there's a sweet/creamy part to this that really smoothes it out, which I suspect is the rose. Rose used to be awful on me, but I just got Khajuraho and it has some rose in it and it's lovely, and this I suspect is doing the same thing.

 

As it dries, I definitely get more oak/incense. Way less fruit than I was smelling before, but it's just divine. I just smelled the bottle to compare and PHWOAR wine, but on my arm it is a smokey, smooth, just a bit fruit/wine to round it out. Oh man, this was a long shot purchase but it's paying off BIG TIME. I LOVE this.

 

~10 min later: oh.. blood. well hey. Suddenly there's a dried/dark, almost tobacco-y blood. Maybe tobacco = black incense? There's none of the cherry fruit I was getting before but it's still really delicious. A hint of rose, too, at least I can smell it, instead of just suspecting it's there.

 

Will report back after a full day's wear

[MandyCassandra]

Source: Bottle, aged two years.

 

In the bottle: Wine. Wow. It gave my stomach this kind of "oh my god, not today, right?" lurching feeling, the kind you get if you're a lightweight non-drinker about to drink a glass of wine. But it's not a dark wine, not like I was expecting. It's light and heady, fruity and bright. It's a cheerful smell. I like it already.

 

Wet: Bright, boozy, fruity. That wine note fades quickly, leaving fruit. Usually it's the other way around with wine, right? Everything else fades, and the booze remains. Not on me, not here. And is that...incense?

 

Drydown: It's still bright, but it's starting to smell womanly and mature (the word "womanly" was the first I thought of, and I noticed another forumite used it too). That must be the antique rose coming out. If this were the whole perfume, it would be at home at the Lancome counter. But it's not *overly* mature. It's sexy, in its own way.

Fading: All that's left is the rose and the smoky trail of incense. It's a bit like rose-scented incense. I wonder what it would have smelled like with a sandalwood or oak base note? Hmm...either way, this scent is a winner with me, and it'll be a winner with my partner, too. It's bright and cheerful and it honestly lifted my mood today. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

 

Thanks, Diana.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Sour red wine and mossy stones

 

Wet on me - Really strong, sour wine with a smoky undertone

 

Dry on me - A soft, smooth dry red wine with an earthy depth to it

 

Overall - I like the dry down, but the wet stages are very harsh

[brilliantcat]

Bottle: A bright fruity wine with slightly sour undertones and a sense of depth.

 

Wet: Spicy oak with a hint of rose petals and that wonderfully complex Cabernet. Most wine scents tend to go too fruity/sweet and this is rich and beautiful. The rose is also behaving itself and adding another layer to the oak and wine. Very earthy.

 

Dry: Slightly sour with a hint of rose and oak. Love it!

[Lorna Brigid]

Plum? Black cherry? Rose petals? Coffee bean? Yes please to all!! These are some of my favorite notes!!

 

Alas, this stuff is 90 proof!

Whoah, if I got pulled over wearing this, I'd get a breathalizer for sure.

I can't get any of the lovely notes out of this because the wine overpowers all of it.

I haz sad face.

[Rouge]

In the bottle - Ohhhh. This is NICE. On the first inhale it's a deep and rich, full bodied red wine backed with coffee. A second breath carries just a tiny hint of roses. Third time round I can pick out a sweet, smoky opium. This seems like a decadent and thoroughly disreputable blend, and I like it.

 

On the skin - A wood note, and a smoky dark plum are prominent. This blend has a lot of throw, it's dry, deep and sophisticated. I'm currently going through my collection for a scent to accompany an Anne Boleyn costume; I think I may have stumbled across it today... if Anne was a gribbly cultist who worshipped eldritch abominations from beyond the stars. Though if she was that would explain a lot about English history.