Apothia Velvet Rope
Apothia Velvet Rope is the creative collaboration between perfumer Rayda Vega (thanks Robin!) and Gary McNatton, who says he drew inspiration for the scent thusly:
“I was sitting in a hotel in London having a vanilla martini. And looking at the icy glass, there was this brown speckled oil on top, which was the vanilla seeds. Then I smelled and tasted it, and it was wonderful.”
Velvet Rope is like a montage of all sorts of random aromas from a very classy bar. Dress up, head out to the swanky nightclub for a night of tasteful indulgence and intelligent conversation. It is not the smell of a sweaty danceclub crowded with people cresting on alcohol binges. Cocktails are poured into elegant barware, and the cigarette girl walks by holding her tray of wares.
The top layer of the fragrance is served with a twist of citrus. Grapefruit zest decorates the vanilla concoction in a nodding homage to Shalimar. As the citrus evaporates, the vanilla comes on stronger, while pushing foward a tumbler of gin and tonic. The gin note is smooth, delicate like Bombay Sapphire. Just as I start to think this is all that’s there, I begin to perceive a really enjoyable black peppery note. On me the black peppery note too quickly turns into what seems like a cigarette butt. But on my sister, the black peppery softens into an indistinct tobacco that is lovely on her. It wears as dark and a little smokey without being too strong. I really wish I wore it like she does.
On a seperate and (yet another) boozy note: My favorite gin is that made by the Bend Distillery. Now granted, I can be accused of heavy local bias, but their Cascade Mountain Gin is a real treasue. It is the gin equivalent of one of Jean Claude Ellena’s perfumes, stripped of unnecessary elements, and beautiful in its refined simplicity. The clarity of juniper in it is unparalleled by any other gin I’ve tried. If you spot a bottle of it at your own liquor store, or at your favorite bar, don’t just pass it by.
January 30th, 2006 at 8:28 am
Hey K, great review! The nose turns out to be Rayda Vega, who also did Ambra di Venezia for Montgomery Taylor.
January 30th, 2006 at 8:37 am
Oooh, thanks - the W magazine article I saw seemed to imply it was all the work of McNatton. Will correct the error in a sec, thanks!
January 30th, 2006 at 9:08 am
I was curious about this one because it was a jasmine vanilla combo. I must admit thought that the description of the inspiration of a chic bar, smokes and all, sounded banal and that put me off. The news that it is made by the same note as AdV piques my interest, though. Do you smell grapefruit in Shalimar? Interesting. Thanks for this different take on this one.
January 30th, 2006 at 9:18 am
This is anything but banal - I think it qualifies as one of the more interesting things to come out in 2005. Jasmine doesn’t play here as explicit, or insofar as how I perceive it at all, so I would not call it a jasmine scent overall, though it is actually there as a backdrop.
January 30th, 2006 at 9:53 am
K — no, it wasn’t an error at all! Gary McNatton worked on the scent, he just wasn’t the nose. He is like the Serge Lutens part of the equation, and Rayda Vega is the Christopher Sheldrake :-)
January 30th, 2006 at 11:32 am
Love this one! Fortunate for me I don’t get any ciggy note at all.
:O)
January 30th, 2006 at 11:56 am
Quite fortunate, as I did find it interesting, but due to the cig note that made itself known on my skin, I must acknowledge that it is unwearable for me. Your experience of it sounded so lovely, though, and I’m envious.
January 30th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
Great review! This was fun to read. I find that it turns into a bon bon on my skin. Nice, but too sweet for daily wear (for me).
January 30th, 2006 at 5:42 pm
I must try this!
And now, after reading this, I am longing for a (strong) drink :-)
January 30th, 2006 at 6:32 pm
I’d be afraid I’d take up smoking again if I wore this, and then I’d need all of that gin, which does sound yummy.
January 31st, 2006 at 9:07 am
This sounds so completely perfect. I keep trying it and, dangit, I just never get the good parts! Instead of the grapefruit and gin I get the vanilla and a weird fruity smell, then just the vanilla. It’s like I took Shalimar and turned it into something from Bath and Body works via sleight of hand. Sigh.
January 31st, 2006 at 9:58 am
V, thanks. It wasn’t overly sweet on me, nor particularly foody, but maybe I have the cigarette butt to thank for that? It was a little sweeter on my sis, but the way she wore the tobacco also tempered it into something darker and less gourmand.
M, yeah, sorry about that. The other day I’m making you crave a nice chocolately beer, and then I just turn around make you want to head straight for the bar, heh. I’m halfway tempted to keep a boozy theme going for the rest of the week.
Patty, hee! No, really, I don’t think everyone will get a ciggy smell from it. I’m just cursed, I think - certain types of molecules seem to cleave to my skin really strongly, which can be good or bad, but in this particular case its bad.
March, I’m glad someone else sees the wink VR makes at Shalimar, too. Well, at least we have each other to commiserate with about what weirdness happens the second VR hits our skin.