Tavern of Hell

[milo]

White gardenia, ambergris bouquet, lavender fougere, orange blossom, melissa, tobacco flower, coriander, ebony wood, ylang ylang, absinthe and aged whiskey.

Wet, this is a fresh, spicy, fruity floral. It kind of reminds me of mulled, spicy wine of the fruity variety. It dries to a spicy floral, kind of reminiscent of DBR. This also reminds me of a mainstream popular perfume, maybe Shalimar(?) It goes slightly powdery on me, as well. This is "OK" on me, but really reminds me of something an elderly woman would wear. Maybe because I've know older women that like Shalimar. Swaps pile, for association issues.

[Victory]

Yep, that's gardenia, but to my pleasure, it's a gardenia that doesn't make me want to scream. There are other indecipherable floral notes underneath the gardenia, but it's a gardenia perfume. As it dries, the woods come out and strike some sort of balance with the gardenia. The result is a dark, woody gardenia perfume that I like more than I ought to, given the gardenia. It's not a love, but I'd recommend this to others who have had troubles with gardenia.

[invisible iris]

In imp: Woah complex floral?

 

On skin: Gardenia blast.

 

Dry: Expensive-perfumey. A lot of booming heady florals swirl and waft around, the gardenia never recedes and has been joined by tobacco flower and lot of others that I can’t specifically id. I detect the ebony wood backing up all those florals, and maybe another woody note from the “aged” whiskey. I do really like the woodsy backdrop of this blend. I never get any boozyness, except perhaps as an alcoholic tinge contributing to the overall perfume feel.

 

I can see how this would be beautiful on the right person. I think someone who liked more heady, floral perfumes--someone who is used to a more elaborate “toilette” than I am--would like this. When testing I used my left hand to fan the scent up to my nose, and I could hear my rings clinking together, and the scent struck me as appropriate for a woman who likes to wear Jewelry. Jewelry with a capital J.

 

Verdict: Although I applied sparingly, the florals are far too intense for me. One or more of them are triggering allergies. DH says: “I’m glad you’re not that sort of lady. My nose would get… tired.” I have to agree.

[Balame]

In the Imp: Well isn't this an interesting sounding mix. It's certainly fiery at first, with the orange blossom and tobacco.

 

Wet: I thought this was going to be overwhelmingly heavy and spicy, but it's not at all. It's actually refreshing. I like the ambergris and lavender working together to produce a gentle sweetness that isn't cloying, and the gardenia blossom giving this an on-and-off juiciness. Not getting any of the wood yet but it's still nice.

 

Dry: For some reason boozy scents make me feel a little crazy, but in a good way! The whiskey comes out and grounds the other notes while still making this exciting and unique. It's very complex, and unlike some scents you can actually pick out all the notes but they still work well together. True to its name, I want to put this in an oil burner for an atmosphere scent rather than wearing it on me. It's not a "this suits my personality" scent, but I still like it. All sensual, but light, florals with whiskey.

 

Overall: Very unexpected and nice. It does indeed feel expensive, but it's both playful and mature. The wood never arrived but the whiskey did well enough balancing the gentler notes. A very intriguing scent.

[Eemia]

This is one of my all time favorites. It's a staple in my stash, something I hope I'll always have in rotation--just like Dorian and Ode on Melancholy. I feel more like myself whenever I wear it. On my skin it's very complex and beautiful. I gravitate towards floral fragrances, and the notes in this are what drew me to this originally. But while it has some of the floral aspects I love, I never think of it like that. It's just this mind blowing, artistic, stunning fragrance that I can never have enough of.

 

It's such a mysterious scent, constantly changing and giving off different impressions. It seems dark most of the time, luckily without anything that feels traditionally heavy with my chemistry, like certain resins and musks can sometimes. Those typically feel dark to me. But there's an airy, breathless quality in this that seems like it floats on my skin all the while still feeling dark. I always call this my "brooder" scent since I never know what the hell else suits it.

 

It's sexy though. The orange blossom is gorgeous and really stands out, making a sort of velvety impression with the other florals. The gardenia is only there in the beginning, and it's so fragile and quiet that I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't known it was a note. The ylang ylang is so smooth and understated. One of my favorite moments whenever I wear Dorian is that cologne bit that cuts through the sweetness, and I notice a similarity here. That little bit of unexpected fanciness that just makes this fantastic.

 

There's a touch of spiciness that lurks around but it's not at the forefront at any point. The wood is always present and keeps this from being too feminine. I don't necessarily choose this when I want to feel girly, so I appreciate that quality in here that toys with being unisex. Maybe it's the whiskey or the absinthe, the wood/spice/booze combo, I'm not sure, but there's a deep undercurrent that really rears its head as it wears on my skin. So it dries down in a way that's not musky or sweet or powdery. It just sort of burns out.

 

This is a special scent to me and I truly love it. I'm glad I found it so long ago and that it continues to be such a amazing experience every time I wear it.

[Maleficium]

IMP: herbal and sweet with a little bit of booze

 

WET ON SKIN: spicy and herbal, i don't really smell much floral aside from the lavender.

 

DRYDOWN: ooh I smell the absinthe now! Other than that it's not very boozy anymore.

[ziggystardust13]

This is one of the most intriguing bpals I've tried thus far. For some reason it smells so much like Dior's Jadore. It has a very perfumy quality. All that being said, I still really like it for some reason. I love the gardenia and boozy notes. Its beautifully blended so I can't detect much of the other notes in there. Fantastic!

Edited May 7, 2015 by ziggystardust13

[OctoberGwen]

Mmmmm...this smells gorgeous on me and I'm SO glad! Complex and unique, Tavern of Hell is a work of art.

 

 

Edited because the above review is terrible!

9/4/12

 

I love the florals in this (orange blossom and gardenia are two of my favorites), and they are offset beautifully by the non-floral notes. I don't get booze or woods per se, but they lend a balance that keeps this from going off into old-lady-floral boredom.

 

Tavern of Hell is sophisticated, feminine, and VERY wearable for me. I would reach for this on days when I wanted a reliable scent that wasn't Snake Oil.

Edited September 4, 2012 by OctoberGwen

[Honey]

Very masculine and cologney. String lavender, coriander and booze.

Interesting and different.. but so not for me!

[Mokiefraggle]

I was fully expecting and hoping that this would smell more...well, tavern-like. I was expecting a boozy, smoky, somewhat wicked scent that might even prove a bit off-putting. Heck, I initially wore it with intent to be off-putting, in protest of an abrupt change of holiday plans! Instead, my mum loved it on me, and while it wasn't the dark, naughty scent I was expecting, I'm still quite happy with it.

 

In the imp and wet, I get a lot of gardenia and a slightly more citrus scent that I'm assuming is the orange blossom, with possibly a little bit of the fougere, as it has a similar undertone to Dorian. I'm impressed at the fact that I sniff this and I immediately feel like I'm smelling actual gardenia flowers, like the ones I used to put in my hair at a luau, and that I'd hoard and stash in the fridge until they'd gone yellow just to hang on to that lovely scent a little while longer. It's so hard to find that smell in any perfume, soap, lotion or other product that claims to have it, so I just lovelovelove any time I actually find it!

 

On the dry-down, I finally start to get the scents that make me think I've walked into some dark, old-world tavern somewhere, with a tang of old oak barrels and the rich smell of a good whiskey. The gardenia and other flowery scents are still there, it's just that now they've got this solid base of wood and whiskey that makes it deeper and smoother, with just a bit of the bite of the absinthe to round it all out.

 

It's like a tavern with just the right amount of drunkeness and debauchery, that could fit right in with one of my D&D worlds. It's amazing how well this actually captures that image and feel, rounding it out with a near perfect scent.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Citrussy herbs with something dark in the background

 

Drydown: Clean citrus and herbs over a smoky, naughty base of whiskey and coriander. Smooth, smoky ylang ylang bounces between the foreground and background stitching the two together. The lavender fougere peaks out a bit and is quickly consumed by the tart and spicy cloud of smoke as it twists and twirls its way into the seedier parts of my mind. oh, this is a wicked scent indeed.

 

Dry Next: This tall dark stranger doesn’t fool me. Sure he’s presentable in his ebony suit and crisp white gardenia shirt. His smile is bright and citrussy and his manners are as proper as a gentlemanly fougere. But his eyes are stained with tobacco and his breath soaked in whiskey. He leans in to pour poisonous absinthe-spiked whispers into my ear with that deep and glowing ambergris voice that never fails him. Oh yes, I’m on to him. But that doesn’t mean I won’t let him get his way...

 

 

 

Final Thoughts: John Hamm lathered up and waiting for me in a clawfoot tub.

 

10 out of 10 bones

Edited June 21, 2013 by BoneBone24

[elinox]

First Sniff: Clean and fresh and I think I’m picking up on the ambergris.

 

Wet: Soft white flowers; gardenia and lily.

 

Dry: As it dried, the gardenia stuck around and was tamed a bit by something more musky in the background. It’s so very light on my skin though so I doubt it’ll have much staying power on me! Once it dried completely there was a new scent in the mix, something earthy which I’m guessing is either the orange peel or the ebony wood. It’s subtle and tames the light gardenia. It's still so very light though!

 

My Reaction: Based on the name, I was expecting booze and smoke as would be appropriate for any typical tavern. However this is light, feminine and airy and not dark at all. It’s pleasant, but I have other light scents I prefer.

 

Rating 1-5: 1.5

[Balaclava]

I'm another person whose body chemistry turns this into something light and delicate rather than dark and heavy. All that shows up on me are the florals and wood scents, none of the booze, and it fades away in a few hours. It might be my skin type (very dry).

 

EDIT: I tried this on a different pulse point (inner elbow instead of wrist) and it smells a lot stronger there. It takes on an almost chocolate-like quality. This scent really needs a little body heat to make a lot of the more complex notes come out and play. If you have warm skin with a more dewy texture, it'll smell deep and complex. If your skin is cold and dry, you won't get much from this.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Balaclava

[Zii]

Wet: I was right to be worried about all those florals... It smells exactly like airport hand soap...

 

Drying/Dry: it grows a lot more tolerable, with the orange blossom giving it a rounding citrus, but this is so not my thing. Off to swaps.

[Deliciousness]

In the vial: A man's cologne, heavy on the lavender and ambergris. It's makes my nose scrunch up when I smell it as it's pungent.

 

Wet on skin: The lavender starts to calm down a bit, while letting some of the other notes become detectable. I can smell a touch of the tobacco flower as well as the whiskey, which makes this blend quite masculine smelling combined with the lavender "cologne".

 

Dry down: This scent has morphed into sweet smelling gardenia blend, with a touch of the aforementioned scents. It's quite lovely! This isn't nearly as masculine smelling as it was on application, and I would considerate the dry down to lean more toward the feminine side. I really like this blend. It's a beautiful fresh floral which is grounded by the lavender and ambergris ... so good.

[mymymai]

• ITI: Wow, that smells good. Much better than I had anticipated. I was thinking I'd get a boozy wine scents with tones of sharp floral and pitched herbs. Instead, I get dewberry, fine whisky, subtle ambergris, and a gentleman's cologne when I inhale. It reminds me of a tavern that Manet would have visited.

Wet: It still reminds me of dewberries strongly laced with gardenias, ylang ylang, a gorgeously expensive lavender fougere, a touch of ebony wood, and very nice aged whisky. It reminds me of slipping a refreshing beverage on a cool spring evening, sitting within the confines on a floral be-speckled terraced balcony in New Orleans. Ahhh!

Dry: It's still wonderful - clearly floral (gardenia, ylang ylang), dewberry (I'm not sure what is giving me this not, but it's there), orange blossom, a touch of creaminess, and light splash of whiskey. This is a keeper!

[DiesMali]

In the imp: SPICES.

 

Wet on my skin: SPICES and woods, and a bit of tobacco.

 

Dry: Something in this scent makes it read to my nose in a similar manner as Red Lantern. Perhaps it's the coriander and tobacco. This is a sharp, spicy, rowdy scent. Not much in the way of flowers coming out on me. No, this is spicy wood, faint tobacco smoke, and ...whiskey. Yep. Apparently, my skin makes this smell how everyone who got flowers and soap hoped this would smell. Lucky me. Oh! As this continues to wear on my skin, one of the tavern tables gains a single gardenia in a little vase of water. No, nevermind, they're watering the gardenia with whiskey.

[Veronica]

Pleasantly surprised by this. As others have mentioned, this is a perfume-y floral, almost soapy and slightly spiced. The gardenia's sweet floral note is balanced out by the wood, booze and smoke without actually smelling at all like wood, booze, or smoke, just heavy and pleasantly warm an almost incense-y spice in the background of the floral.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

A generous frimp from the Lab, with so many notes I don't know what to expect!

 

In the vial: medium-gold color, the scent of well-blended spices

 

On my skin, wet: yum! Spicy, gardenia, and molasses (?!). Sweet-foody-floral all at once. Reminds me of Lady of Shalott but with spice instead of aquatic.

 

Drydown: Gardenia continues to dominate as the spice fades. I really like this; I don't know if I need a bottle but will use up the imp.

[Marla Moreau]

In the imp: slightly boozey, sweet, a bit citrus, not too floral, might work.

Wet on skin: instant gardenia amp I smell nothing but gardenia, very perfumey.

Dry down: gardenia and powdery gardenia, something musky in the background but mostly flowers. Strong women's perfume. As it dries an incense kind of note comes out eventually and makes it a bit darker, then it goes back to sweet flowers, some orange... not as offensive as the beginning, but definitely not something I'd wear.

Verdict: This is a big nope nope nope. Not for me.

[Malaena]

Oi, the flowers in this one come together in a melange of rot. Ay dios mio!

[LexieBlom]

The title Tavern of Hell is a bit misleading, honestly. When you hear it, I think of that last last sip of shitty whiskey, that you know you should have taken in one swig but chickened out. Sipping it slowly gives you the shivers as it burns your throat. I think of the fires of hell, nipping at your skin as they flicker off the ground, sure it’s annoying but you’ve gotten used to it over time. I think of a tavern so smokey, you can’t see your own hand in front of you, but that’s probably for the best since you don’t really want to see who or what are sitting around you anyway. I think of a 50/50 breed between a Tom Waits song and an incense shop owned by Lucifer himself.

This isn’t really Tavern of Hell to me. It’s more like Tavern of suburban southern California, which is almost hell but not quite there yet. It’s warm, with some spice to it, but there’s some sticky sweet underlying scents that give off the impression of “soccer mom out on the town for the first time in 7 years, after a rough divorce” kind of hell.

It’s really not a bad fragrance, it just doesn’t really hold up to it’s title.

Edited October 11, 2015 by LexieBlom

[d0gbones]

In the imp: Boozy tobacco-y mess

Wet: It's actualy quite leathery now, but it's mostly whiskey dregs

Dry: Yep, whiskey and weirdly, the coriander is pretty prominent on me. Definitely not a keeper.

[agirlnamedfury]

Oof, this is a nope for me. It's a heavy floral with a strong, bitter, almost smoky note (I think that's the aged whiskey?) and just doesn't play well with my skin. On me it smells like an old man wearing his wife's perfume. Not. Good.

[joopjoop]

When I sniffed the imp all I could smell was stale booze and cheap cologne and I was wondering what I was thinking when I included this one in my last order.

 

But once I worked up the courage to dab it on, the booze is gone immediately, quickly followed by the cologne and then WOW it is soooo beautiful! Gentlest gardenia, combined with ylang ylang and the other floral notes are backed by a sort of 'fizziness' - I think that must be the ambergris (maybe combined with the whiskey?) - and just a hint of wood. It's really gorgeous! As others have noted, it is complex and smells expensive - like a high-end French perfume. On me this is very feminine, bordering on sweet - not unisex at all - I guess this is one where skin chemistry leads to a lot of variation.

 

I really like it! I can see myself wearing it often.

Edited April 11, 2016 by joopjoop