Blackcurrant Pie

[zankoku_zen]

With a hint of cinnamon and cardamom.

[Madame Mew]

Exactly like blackcurrant pie! After watching Tom and Galen review the weenies, and seeing Tom not be able to stop sniffing this, I had to have it. It was not on my radar, because I amp cinnamon and sometimes have a skin reaction. I tried a beautiful blend from another house that had similar notes, so I took a chance. It's delicious. It kind of reminds me of a Sufganiyot scent, but not as sweet. Blackcurrant smells a bit musky to me sometimes, so with this having more crust than berries, it works really well as a perfume. Yum! I am really pining for holiday celebrations with family now. 💜

Edited March 13, 2021 by Madame Mew

[Alisha_SBC]

On me, this is more crust than fruit, with a soft cinnamon swirling in the background. A blackcurrant tart. Sad that the fruit isn't more forward on my skin, as that is what I was looking for.

[Fiam]

This is a bitter berry pie that is not overtly sweet or gourmand. There is something in the dry down that reminds me of Alleviate The Frenzy and a Tom Ford perfume. Not any TF in particular, just how it settles in the dry down. 
Very unique, actually, I am impressed with it. 

[Casablanca]

When this first arrived, it was all the spiced crust and scant currant.

 

Days later, I'm getting a dark, jammy fruit that's both sweet and a little bitter on my skin. It's like black currant half-begrudgingly became a pie. The spices are light but add warmth. The crust is only a faint presence.

 

The bit of bitterness fades. The spices strengthen some after drydown, but never overwhelm.

 

I'd love to find a strong black currant blend that works on my skin, but I'm not sure what to make of this one. It may be one to check back on later.

 

[Numanoid]

Got a decant of this...maybe something else got mixed in, because I don't get fruit or crust, but something perfume-y! If I sniff hard there might be some dark fruit, but there is this floral perfume scent that comes out. Not a fan... 

[Snuffleupagus]

"Baked in a buttery, flaky crust!" (If you know, you know.)

 

Steamy blackcurrant goop embedded with froot bits and encased in a classic golden pie crust. There's like 1/4 tsp cinnamon in this recipe. I don't get any cardamom, but perhaps that is where this "perfume-y" slant is coming from that I'm picking up on, too? It's almost (like, 97%) a literal pie interpretation but for that certain something that says, "I refuse to conform to your gastronomic standards!" 

 

In any (pie) case, this one is another contender for a backup bottle. It is strong and long-lasting. 

[Penance]

This sounds perfect except for the cardamom.  I'm starting to suspect it's the mystery note ruining my enjoyment of several otherwise great scents.  But I had to get it, because obviously I did.

 

It had to set until now because I came down with COVID and completely lost my sense of smell before I could even test it, so it's well settled now.  Which leads me to...

 

DISCLAIMER: My sense of smell is in no way normal at this point, but it's not distorting notes or adding things that aren't there, it just misses things a lot of the time.  Luckily, with BPAL, if I hold it right up against my nose, I can smell it enough to get the gist of it.

 

Now on top the review...

 

When I first sniff this, I get a soft, cooked down, sugary blackcurrant pie filling with a hint of crust, which is very nice.  Wet on my skin, it immediately amps up this buttery crust that reminds me of March Hare's pastry note and then after a short while, gives way back into a more balanced, but leaning towards berries, delicious pie scent.

I hope I'm not missing the cardamom note of doom thanks to my nasal technical difficulties, because I don't smell it here.

 

[astarinel]

This one is heavy on the pastry note for me, with soft cinnamon. I don't really smell cardamom but it might be in there.

 

This is a nice pastry note, but I was hoping for more blackcurrant. This is like a breakfast pastry with a smear of jam, rather than a juicy pie bursting with fruit. It's definitely reminiscent of the sufganiyot blends, but less sweet and fruity. Overall I wouldn't call this scent especially sweet; the jammy fruit is soft and tart and the pastry is more spiced than sugared.

[zankoku_zen]

Cinnamon, cardamom, and a whiff of blackcurrants. I am definitely amping up the cinnamon and cardamom in this. Spicy blackcurrant jam. Medium throw and wear length.

[bambi]

In the decant, I get a whiff of the blackcurrants, which seem both bitter and sweet. There's a hint of cinnamon, and a strong smell of buttery pie crust. On my skin, I get a brief moment of horrible chemical smell that cinnamon always does on me, but it's quickly beat back by the blackcurrant. The seem like a mix of fresh fruits with jam/pie filling, which is nice. The pie crust is still buttery and there, but the blackcurrant is definitely the star here. Toward the end, I barely get any of the spice (which is ok for me), and the pie crust is just giving the currants something to rest on.

[starbrow]

Yum! This has very little blackcurrant in it to me, which I am really thankful for because it can go DOOOOM note on me. I got tons of pie - sweet, doughy crust, but more savory than sugar-bomb the way the Sufganiyots can lean. The cinnamon and cardamom are gentle but also more present to me than the blackcurrant, and the spices are definitely what's making this little pie turn savory. The more it lingers, the more that becomes present on my skin, with the sweetness melting down and away, making this a lot less gourmand than the Sufganiyots. Like, compared with the Pomegranat Sufganiyot of 2020, Blackcurrant Pie is so much tamer and less sugary of a scent, and it has more complexity and depth to my nose.

 

I am surprising myself into needing more of this than the little sniffie I got. I think...this might even be a bottle for me? YUM!

[doomsday_disco]

This features a lightly spiced blackcurrant. It's more perfume-y than gourmand on me, as I don't even get much pie crust or even a pie filling type of vibe from this, and it is not sweet. I think it may contain one of the currants from Eat Me, but mixed with some light spices and no vanilla.

 

I'm glad I got to try this, but I wanted PIE.