Spiced Rum Buttercream Coffee

[gloame]

Coffee and rum laced with allspice, nutmeg, clove, star anise, cardamom, and cinnamon gently whipped into buttercream.

I picked this up yesterday at the Long Beach Midsummer Scream fest. The first sniff is very reminiscent of The Jeweled Spider from the American Gods collection. It has that 'fruited coffee' vibe. I recently switched from drinking regular coffee to fig coffee to give my adrenals a rest and this reminds me of that coffee: deep, dark, purple, but not exactly "coffee". Satisfying in a different way. There's a heaping spoon of cinnamon in here. I don't go red on my skin like I do with some cinnamon blends—which is great!—but the cinnamon definitely sits near the top of the scent for a long while. I don't get any distinct rum.

On drydown, it's a lighter version of the same thing. No morphing.

To me, this is a cleaner version of The Jeweled Spider. No cigarillo, but otherwise a similar stack of notes.

Where I'd wear this: Autumn hay ride with friends and thermoses of spiked coffee.

[KezzieZ]

In Bottle: I swear, in the bottle, this perfume smells like a tea blend I really like (Mycroft by Cara McGee on Adagio's website). I definitely smelled the spices (cinnamon and cloves in particular, though certainly others I can't accurately identify on my own) as well as the coffee. The buttercream and maybe the rum give it an almost chocolatey sweetness, but not overbearing like the actual chocolate note in Bliss; I'll admit that Bliss smells delicious, but I'm not a huge fan of smelling like I slathered fudge on my wrists.

 

Wet on Skin: I feel like the rum picked up. Still getting the spices and buttercream with maybe a little coffee lingering. There's a fruitiness (definitely that rum) to it that I don't think I smelled as much in the bottle. It's all pretty warm and pleasant.

 

Approx. 1 Hour Later: The buttercream is pretty faint by this point, but the coffee amped up a bit. The spiced rum is definitely still there, too. Overall, this is nice.

 

I'm not the biggest person on foody smells, including coffee, but this one's pretty good. I feel like it has really good throw, but I'm not sure I'm the best judge for that.

 

Chose one of these (these meaning this scent and the Irish Coffee Buttercream available) since it was also a charity scent, but I'm glad I picked it up in general. I think I'll particularly want to use it during the cooler weather and holidays as a warm pick-me-up.

[agirlnamedfury]

Not very coffee-forward, but the spices and rum are definitely there. Lots of cinnamon!

[reconditarmonia]

Huh, this reminds me of Plunder! It's very dry, which is perfect for me - I can't do stuff that's too foody. The spices are the dominant note. Huge throw.

[roseus]

The rum and buttercream start out quite sweet and strong in this one with only light spices appearing. This scent also has crazy throw. After putting on I walked into the living room my roommate immediately asked "What smells like.. caramel? It smells like dessert in here." As it dries I get a little more coffee and a lot more spice. Cinnamon and clove are super apparent to my nose, but I get little whiffs of others here and there. The spices over sweet cream and coffee is delicious and feels so cozy. This one is getting me hyped for autumn.

[Otterling]

After my joy over the Irish Coffee Buttercream sister of this scent, I was all a twitter when I came across this at a Lunacy event. I even had it in my basket online at the BPAL site and just hadn't gotten around to ordering it yet. I'm afraid I have to say that I'm glad I didn't. If Irish Coffee Buttercream is the good sister, Spiced Rum Buttercream is the bad one throwing a tantrum.

 

In the bottle: The first whiff was pleasant enough to make me try it on. Strongly spicy with heavy cinnamon notes but with the sweetness of buttercream underneath it. The smell was sharp and yet buttery, like a pastry with heavy spices layered over its flaky crust. I was sure I was going to like this.

 

Wet: Oh no. The buttery notes I'd so loved in the bottle just up and disappeared on me. What I was left with was a bright, sharp slap of cinnamon and the cloying scent of rum. I smelled like I'd just held up a liquor store. If you like rum a lot, that's great, but the rum was so overwhelming on me that all I could do was frown at my arm.

 

20 min later: I wish I could say I let this sit for a full hour but every passing minute that it dried, I just got more and more alcohol scent until I couldn't stand the smell of me anymore. I WAS the liquor store. I smelled like I'd been partying all night with cheap booze and had sloppily dragged myself out into public afterward.

 

This is not a smell I can wear to work and certainly not one I want on me at all times. I'm glad I tested before I bought it. Given that this was for a good cause though...I went ahead and bought more Irish Coffee Buttercream instead.

[Numanoid]

Sniffing in the decant, it smells SOO good!! Rich coffee and rum and spices!!

 

On skin, This is nice.... stays a rich and creamy rum coffee! As it dries, the anise comes out, but I only notice it when I put my nose to my wrist.

 

As it dries down, I start to notice the clove and the rum/coffee notes start to fade to the background. Boo... I get mostly allspice and clove out of this and there isn't much throw to me. Oh well...that's the way of BPAL!

[torikitty]

On me, I wouldn't compare this to The Jeweled Spider. Yes, the cinnamon definitely speaks loudly, but the curry smell from the Jeweled Spider is stronger than cinnamon. As it dries, it's definitely goes towards drier cinnamon. Like fresh cinnamon sticks. Coffee is in the background, along with the rum. It's not particularly boozy anymore.

[Little Bird]

A very dry and spicy scent with a hint of burnt coffee. I can pick out the cinnamon, clove and cardamom clearly, and the oil burns my skin where applied. I don't get the buttercream or any creaminess, but lots of dry cinnamon and cardamom with roasted, toasty, slightly burnt coffee. Super spicy.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Sweet coffee (the sugar smells slightly caramelized) and LOTS of spice! I don't get the buttercream - this is a very dry scent, not creamy or buttery at all (which I am OK with, as sometimes buttercream goes sour on my skin). I would think that those who enjoy Café Mille's coffee and spice combo might enjoy this. That's what it's reminding me of. It's lovely. The spices lean more towards allspice and cardamom (I don't get any anise, which is surprising as it can be a bully note). The cinnamon is there, but it's not that overwhelming cinnamon hot-heart type cinnamon, and you can still smell the other spices. As this dries, it is way more about the spice than the coffee! I'm not sure I can even smell the coffee anymore...

 

 

Dry: This gets better as it dries, the spices calm down a bit and let the coffee come back through. It really does remind me of Café Mille, and I may have to death match them to see if I need both. I am getting to the point in my collection where I have TOO MANY and have to be more selective of what I keep....

[zankoku_zen]

Boozey rum with a ton of spices. In some ways this reminds me to Pais of Canela. Cinnamon, clove, cardamom all make an appearance over a bed of boozey rum and a swirl of buttercream. I'm sort of really digging this. Medium throw and wear length.

[BuxomM]

I don't get that blast of alcohol booziness. to me, bpal Rum scents are usually more like dark long barrel aged rum. It has a dark deep slightly wood bite. I get a bit of that in the background but the majority is SPICE!. I don't get coffee or buttercream. I mainly get some clove with that dark rum barrel edge. I'm going to let this one age. The imp will be enough for me. I tend to amp spice but the scent doesn't change from imp to skin.

[Soupy Twist]

wow, this is a disappointment. Bitter coffee grounds and rum dregs. There's a little spice, but it's sickly-sweet. I must have gotten the bottom of the pot and the bottle.

[auaurita]

In the decant I get a sweetened booze smell, but on me it immediately goes full blast on the spice. Whoa! After a little while the buttercream seems to calm it down somewhat, but I agree with everyone that called it a dry scent rather than creamy. I only get occasional whiffs of the coffee on drydown, and luckily for me the anise never really made an appearance. Not as foody as I expected, but a really nice spicy scent with some underlying sweetness. I kind of love it.

[Lucchesa]

This is mostly a spice scent on me. Wet, it's sweet coffee and spices and a little rum, but it is never over-the-top boozy; instead as it dries the rum becomes a grounding note and even the coffee takes a backseat to the spice blend. I get a lot of cardamom, which I love. My skin did not react to this at all.

 

This is a very enjoyable spicy warm scent for the colder months, but I love it less than Irish Coffee Buttercream, which I'm running low on, so while I'm glad I got to try this, I will be buying more ICB.

[Aveya]

Got my bottle in a happy swap.

 

Wet in bottle: Creamy rum *drool*

Wet on skin: ... Sharp tartness? I'll give it a few.

Dry on skin: Weird scent. My nose doesn't understand it perfectly well. I think the alcholic part of Rum is coming across weirdly tart. the coffee is not prominent, but it's there. The longer it sits on skin the more it creeps up. It starts to ramp up with the spices in the drydown and goes a little bit Pumpkin Latte on me.

 

Mm. Yep. it's the same coffee (to me/on my skin) as what's in Pumpkin latte if you know. But minus the heavy frump pumpkin adds, and instead add in a lighter sorta tart rum note. Spices are similar (but any PSL without spices needs to die) as well. I think cardamon gets a little off-kelter on me personally.

 

I'll give this one a full-day wear at work to see how I feel after before I decide if I'll swap or keep. It's a nice solid scent, but nothing remarkably drool-worthy like some other lab scents. Might be fun to layer with this one though .

[ShleepySnorlax]

I absolutely LOVE this scent now that it’s aged a couple months! Fresh it was pretty much straight buttercream, which did not work well for me at all. After about 2 months I tried it again & it’s been my go to. It’s warm, creamy spiced rum with a tinge of coffee. Just lovely!

[JakkieTreehorn]

This is my new favorite.  It's all comforting and cozy for me as it somehow smells EXACTLY like my grandmother's house always did (I guess because there was always a pot of coffee on and cinnamon potpourri all over the house).  I get no booze which I was a tad bummed by until I realized it's like my gram's house in a bottle.  I'll have to scour the swap boards for more of this.

[Permanent.Black.Ink.]

In the bottle: The buttercream is quite strong, with big coffee under it.  

Wet on skin: there's the booze.  That's rum and coffee.

On dry down:  Ok, the rum dries off pretty quick, and the coffee tempers the cardamom and spices can come up.  This reminds me of a yule--it's quite Christmas-y.  The booziness goes away after 5-10 minutes, so don't worry about walking around smelling like there's something extra in your morning cuppa.