The Odd Fellow Bouquet

The storied house of Atkinsons (London, 1799) has been reborn (Italy, 2013). What followed was an intriguing catalogue of fragrances in impeccably styled bottles. The Odd Fellow's Bouquet is a re-issue of a scent created to celebrate the return of Lawrence of Arabia. Atkinsons conjures up the appropriate imagery: "Lawrence of Arabia ensconced in the splendour of a St. James gentleman’s club, its weighty silence broken only by the occasional turning of a sheet of a newspaper, and the Oriental fragrance of Ottoman tobacco issuing from the depths of upholstered winged armchairs… This rarified ambience is conveyed with almondy heliotrope flowers and dark tobacco, heightened with ginger and fiery peppercorn and, finally, deepened with a rich ambery accord of benzoin and labdanum. A fragrance of immense leisure." The history of the firm and the Lawrence of Arabia story may be the best thing about this fragrance. Although the notes suggest Five O'Clock au Gingembre or Tobacco Vanille, The Odd Fellow's Bouquet is much closer to Chanel Pour Monsieur Concentree minus the vanilla, a less distinguished cousin of Bois du Portugal or De Nicolai's New York. This is a straight up woody oriental in the old school style. It could come across a bit dated and a bit feminine in the opening. Too much amber for my personal taste. Very pleasant at the end, however, mostly stark woods with slight smoke and sweetness, like the aroma of a sauna.

My first impression of Odd Fellow Bouquet was "Wow"- really pleasant and elegant. Tobacco and benzoin joined by labdanum and heliotrope in a really well-made homogeneous blend. I also think it's a great step to leave out the vanilla from the amber chord, it makes Odd Fellow Bouquet slightly darker compared to its relatives. e.g. TF Tobacco Vanille.   The very friendly smoothness of the blend is at the same time the strength and the weakness of Odd Fellow Bouquet. The first impression is wonderful probably, to a great deal, due to the very fine tuned balance. But, to me, after an hour or so the very same factors that provided this wonderful first impression become a problem. Over time nothing interesting is happening, there is no evolution and for me to be immersed in this soft scent for a whole day becomes a bit monotonous. But in total Odd Felow Bouquet is very well made and definitely worth trying.

Woohoo! Why am I cheering you ask? I have finally made a blind buy purchase from YOUR recommendations that I didn't instantly regret. First one was Nasomotto Pardon, which was essentially a watered down, weak version of Frederic Malle's Monsieur which I already had. Next was Naxos 1861 which to me just smelled like a lavender version of cheapie fragrance "Cigar". Still trying to understand the love for that one. But then there's this... Why did I take the chance? 1) I've had good luck with this house. Pirates Reserve is one of my favourite frags in my collection and I got a used bottle of Oud Save the King which both my wife and I like a lot, which is rare. 2) Atkinson fragrances are reasonable in cost. I got this and a back up bottle of Pirates online for just a bit more than ONE bottle would cost at Holt Renfrew in Toronto. 3) I loved the name, the notes and your reviews said all the things I look for in a fragrance. If I had to describe this to a fellow frag head, I'd say think of TF Tobacco Vanille with some florals thrown in. I'd have a hard time describing this to a non-frag head, this is one that needs to be sniffed to understand. Maybe, sour flowers? As someone else mentioned, this is a transitioning fragrance, which I like. There's a significant difference from first spray to the dry down. Of the three Atkinson's I own, this is the lightest in performance but this is not a scent you want to douse yourself in. The sourness might be a bit much, less is more with this one. I recently sampled Byredo's "Mixed Emotions", which is essentially a black current cough drop. Not really anything mixed about it. THIS would be a better example of mixed emotions, the floral with the smoke and sourness. However, I wouldn't change the name, it's probably the best name for a fragrance I've ever heard and it really says it all. I blind bought it... should you? If you like TF Tobacco Vanille, then yes go for it. If not or you haven't sampled it, sample first.

pipe tobacco and sweet woodiness, love this scent, a worthy addition to collection.

This smells better from the bottle cap. On skin it comes across overly sweet. If you like very sweet cherry tobacco you will like this. For me it is one I will persist with.