Rum-Soaked French Tonka

[Alshneato]

I love the hell out of tonka, but using the absolute in perfumery is not a particularly great idea: tonka beans possess a high concentration of coumarin, an anticoagulant that is toxic to both the liver and kidneys, and might be carcinogenic to boot. Not fun stuff! Our tonka accord is a sweet, warmly sensual fragrance redolent of a vaguely clove-touched deep, dark vanilla balsam that has been lightly sweetened with almond and rum.

 

I can't put my finger on this- I feel like I smell some coconut oil and butterscotch mixed with vanilla... I like it...

ETA- drys down to a powdery like scent that my hubs really disliked

[lohengrin]

In the bottle: Rummy vanilla, maybe a hint of almond. No trace of clove.

 

On skin, wet: This smells almost woody on me, though still rum-heavy as well. Only a hint left of the vanilla. ^^;

 

On skin, dry: Slightly sweet, a little smoky, and still kinda woody.

 

After an hour: The woody/smoky note has mellowed a little and there's still a subtle sweetness, but I would definitely not call this a tonka or vanilla scent. It's NICE, just... not what I would have expected from it being a "single note."

[mymymai]

ITI: Ooey, goodey rum-infused cake. That's interesting, as I was expecting tonka.

 

Wet: Heavy vanilla-infused rum with the smoky complexity of tonka. It's a little too much on the foody side for me.

 

Dry: As it starts to dry, the more woodsy qualities of tonka come out, which mingles with the rum-sweetened vanilla. I want to taste it more than I want to wear it.

[Ondine]

Smelled like Grog or Anne Beany on me ... all butterscotch, no tonka

[abejita]

This scent, right now, is a subtle whisper. It lingers, but is extremely close-wearing (very little throw). It does have a butterscotch-y feel, and a breath of something that reminds me of Butter Rum Lifesavers. Right now, it seems unsettled and a little on the thinner side. However, I've grown familiar with Beth's tonka over the years, and it is one of my favorites when aged long-term. I'm tucking this one away.

[hecate_jones]

Maybe my nose is weird, but I don't get any clove or almond or even really any booziness from this. To me it's like soaking vanilla beans in a really good dark Jamaican rum. One of the ones so dark you can barely see through the bottle. Like a caramel so burnt that it doesn't even smell sugary anymore, just smoky and, well, caramel.

 

I mostly got this because tonka was a pretty common note in the descriptions of quite a lot of the scents I've fallen in love with, and this is, indeed, the note that they all have in common that's so gourmand and foody to my nose. It's a lovey waft of "oooh, can I EAT that?"

[Ajila]

In the bottle - I would have said a spicy egg custard

 

Wet on me - Hard to describe; rich and warm with a touch of almost fruitiness but surprisingly not that sweet

 

Dry on me - A surprisingly woody spiced vanilla sort of scent

 

Overall - I expected to love this, but I really don't know what to make of it

[ajcj213499]

This is very, very similar to Madagascan Vanilla Rum, but it's just a little bit darker. It has a nice, warm, vanilla caramel scent. It's not strongly tonka-y (or what I usually think of as tonka), but it's a lovely, dark, vanilla scent.

[MiasmaResonance]

This is so divine, and thankfully remains just as divine on my skin. It's only slightly rummy, has a lot of depth, and is just a beautiful gourmand and sexy scent on me. Very hard to describe, honestly. I also love wearing it to sleep, very soothing.

 

I don't get Grog from this, this is so much more complex on me.

Edited January 10, 2014 by MiasmaResonance

[porcelina]

i love tonka, so i was hoping to love this. i was skeptical of the rum note… sometimes bpal's rum note smells flat and plasticky to me. the tonka is very nice, although i kind of feel that that vanilla/clove combo makes it feel a bit foody to me. but the rum… arrgh. i just can't wear rum. it smells flat and stale to me, and it ruins the gorgeous tonka.

[Gin]

Eh... too powdery for me. After my Madagascan Vanilla fail, I was hoping Rum-Soaked French Tonka would be the scent I wanted, but it's not. It opens with a 'high' note -- I don't know what that really means, but it makes me think pink, like Marshmallow Poof. It's almost cherry (could be almond). Then it goes powdery vanilla, like a light dusting of powdered sugar over a bit of caramelly rum. It's "OK", but not really what I was looking for.

[Numanoid]

I am never sure about booze notes, but gotta try, right?

 

In bottle: Yep, there is rum, but it is soft and foody to me. Like what rum would smell like in a cake, and not out of a bottle. A little hint of some vanilla possibly?

 

On Skin: Turns soft and lovely. I get soft rum and soft vanilla. I don't detect any clove...maaaayybeee some almond, but just a sliver!

 

Dry down: Surprisingly very little throw on me...considering booze notes go crazy loud on me! To me it turns to a sophisticated rum/vanilla scent. Soft and inviting, yet I don't know if it is for me.

[vanilla323]

In the bottle: don't really smell anything

 

On skin: there's that delicious tonka scent...it's like a creamy vanilla to me. And I love it.

 

Dry down: now the rum is coming out a little more. It's like vanilla cream with a dash of rum. This is lovely. I do not smell any clove.

 

Throw: This is where I was disapointed...there wasn't much throw at all and it faded fast. I know it's a single note and could be layered but I don't layer my scents much. So sadly not a keeper even though I like it.

[sunlitgarden]

I'm not super famililar with what tonka accord smells like on its own. I usually see it compared to vanilla, and it's in some blends I enjoy.

In the bottle, the Rum-Soaked French Tonka SN is creamy. I can definitely smell almond in here. Rum is more on the spiced side, but it doesn't really have that heady alcoholic booze note. Rum is there more in the sense as background of an extract than a pure bottle of spiced rum. Vaguely reminiscent of a suntan lotion kind of coconut as well. I don't really detect clove specifically except contributing to the rum being darker/spiced.

On my skin, it smells kind of "toasty", almost like toasted coconut or almond. It's definitely a warm, snuggly, comforting note. It is similar to vanilla, in that it's light and sweet, but it smells more like an almond or coconut note to me than vanilla. Vanilla often has a kind of buttery or musky "deep" quality to it that I don't really smell here. This reminds me a lot of Snow White, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's an ingredient in that blend. I don't get clove at all.

Edited September 26, 2015 by sunlitgarden

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: This is nuttier than I expected! Like a toasted almond or something. Or...coffee? With spice in it? I'm also getting hints of something like caramel. It's interesting, and really nice, but it wants to go both powdery and plasticy on my skin, boo!

 

 

 

Dry: Not very long lasting on me. It avoids turning plastic, but is quite powdery, what's left of it. Other than that it's just a vague sweetness. Not unpleasant, but not something I have a desire to wear.

[follis]

Wet: Sweet tonka 

On: Rum without the spices (I didn't get the clove interestingly), oh so slightly plastic note (unsure if tonka or the rum itself). It's not too boozy, low throw.

Dry down: Rum and tonka and plastic. Sigh. I suppose other blends mask the plastic more, so I wouldn't wear this alone. It also has a short wear on me.

[puellacaerulea]

In the bottle and wet, I pick up the sweet earthiness of tonka, but there's also a ton of almond in here. I don't find it particularly boozy, but it's definitely heavy on the almond. It's more subtle and low-throw than I expected -- sweet, warm, and a little earthy. It's probably the almond, but it reminds me of Salomé.