Tom Ford Private Blends

Tom Ford, as we all know is the man who turned around Gucci from a loss making, almost bankrupt fashion house into one of the most profitable and respected Fashion house in the world today. Tom Ford ultimately left Gucci to form his own line (creative/corporate tussle/interferences). In his time with Gucci, one of the many things he did was, he revived two classics by Gucci and created one new scent. Scents created under the creative direction of Tom Ford were Gucci Ph, Rive Gauche Ph & M7. all hailed as classics already and are best sellers. So, when Tom Ford decides to do his own perfume line? We can expect the best and only the best.

So, i finally got to sample four offerings from the Tom Ford Private blends today. Each scent had the quality and theme to go with. However, some scents strongly reminded me of other scents, so in that perspective, i didnt smell something entirely new, but then, i found the quality of TF offerings excellent. Tom Ford Private blends sells for around $180 for a 50 ml and $500 for the 250 ml(pictured below are the 250 ml jugs)

Tuscan Leather: if there is any scent..and i mean any scent, which can compete with Knize 10, it's Tom Fords Tuscan Leather. straight out of spritzer, it has leather written all over it. With Knize ten, i always had this image of spanking new leather product, polished, toned and finished to perfection, at the same time, i used to get this vibe which is very green. With Tuscan Leather, i dont get any green notes. if i had to set a color to represent tuscan leather, it has to be deep brown. i get the smell of a newly tanned leather sheet. it's supple and soft, ready to be moulded into a wallet or a jacket... i tried hard to find other accords in this scent...but, all i could smell was leather, leather and "only" leather. made me wonder, is this one note frgrance..? coz if it is, then this has to be one of the best scents around which is linear. But, when i say linear, it doesnt mean it doesnt have any other tricks in it's bag. it probably has to do with the quality if ingredients that went into it... This one has a mesmerising sillage..and i mean "mesmerising". close to skin, one could smell the finest leather accord you could possibly sniff and away from skin, this scent swirls up in the air exuding different shades of brown and yes, a comforting warm halo of leather. by mids to base..a shiny tanner..almost tar like note appears and lingers on till the end. amazin scent to be worn in winters and or as one may please. a definite must have for anyone who is looking for a good quality, genuine leather based scent.

Noir de Noir: by now, everyone knows Noir de noir is a story abour Rose, saffron and Oudh...the recipe atypical of Montale offerings. i approached this scent with the same expectation, only to find it doesnt have the oudh bite of montale at all. i mean, there is oudh, but not the way Montale does it. I could draw parallels to Amouage's Lyric in terms of the beatiful accord of rose used in this. it also reminds me of L'Artisan's seminal offering Voleur du Roses. in other words, this one has a very enchanting take on rose. it's extremely pleasant yet has that dark bite of Oudh in it. There is a eerie chilly nature to this scent which makes one wonder whether this has frankincense in it's composition. what one gets in the end is a rose prominent scent sufficiently backed up by saffron and spices with the breath of Oudh and incense. im inclined to say Amoauges offering Lyric is far more suprior to this in many aspects and so are many of the Montale's offerings. yet, this is for someone, who isnt necessarily looking for a oudh promninent scent like montale and is ok to overlook the divine accord of rose in Lyric and settle for noir de noir only because this ones cheaper than the amouage. bottomline, it's not a must have, maybe a decant..im more of the Montale types and i love Voleur du roses as well...i wish i cud add Amouage Lyric to this list, but it is simply out of my budget. btw, this one stays pretty close to skin..disappears after couple of hours.

pictured above: 2 ml Samples coffret of the entire Tom Ford offering (2ml each). Rate: $180.

Moss Breches: whew..what a scent. it reminded me of (wet version) of Thundra in the opening notes followed by No.88 kinda accords (of course, minus the rose)...Today i happened to dab a lot more of Moss Breches and what struck me the most is the way patchouli is done here. very wet, sloggy patch i must add. not as dry as in thundra or Ingrant patchouli. this has a very wet forest floor kind of accord. it's clearly visible upon application, almost watery quality, within 5-7 minutes it slowly takes the backstage for other accords to follow in... i have stated elsewhere that i get this vibhuti accord in No. 88, which is white ash, it is very camphory sweet and dry in smell..and exudes a white incense like accord. i could also distantly relate it to an intense version of Chanels masterpiece, Coromandel(could be the patch playing tricks with me). it's pretty spicy in it's opening...but, where SL's Ambre Sultan exudes a color which is golden.. Moss Breches exudes the color white for me. so, it's spicy, but not in the spicy amber type scent we know of. maybe there is Angelica in there that gives it this "white" feel... that said, i dont get that image of Moss from it until i reach the mids to base section. whne someone mentons Moss, the firsts scent that springs to mind is Leonard Ph...however, the mossy nature of this scent is clearly expressed and it's not the smell of wet moss on stone after rain..it's more like dry, golden hued moss over stones...lovely! Patchouli indeed holds this scent and forms the core. but theres a lot of other things going on which doesnt make it a patch exclusive scent. this is a must try for anyone who appreciates C&S's No.88, Creed Angelique Incens & Chanel's Coromandel, and also Leonard ph to an extent (i dont mean to imply all these scents smell similar to each other, it;s just a reference, that im sure we all can relate to).Along with Tuscan Leather, this one has really enchanted me.

Amber Absolute: well, for those who say Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan doesnt have amber..should smell this one for reference. in it's openign accords it reminds one of mid notes of Ambre sultan minus the extreme spicy notes. within 10 minutes it morphs into another scent we adore so much, which is Parfums d'Empire's Ambre Russe. ofcourse minus the leather and herbal accords....so, what that leaves us with is a smoldering accord of glowing amber. it's so powerful, it has the capacity to turn someone warm by merely smelling it. no wonder it's called amber "absolute". this is a straight ahead, no-nonsense, smoldering amber based scent. a definite must have for someone who admires Ambre Sultan and Ambre Russe. isit worth ahaving all these three scents in one wardrobe...? depends. i do have amber sultan..so, i dont need this one. just for our info, this has more in common with Ambre Sultan than with Ambre Russe