Moonlight in Chiangmai
Parfums Dusita (2020)

This fragrance is centered around vetiver, with a refreshing touch of yuzu in the opening. It evokes a reminiscent feel of Sycomore, complemented by a subtle sweetness derived from benzoin.

This is wonderful and magical! I don't exactly get moonlight in Chiang Mail (and I've been to Chiang Mai) from it, but I still love it. I get something in the pine family, and something almost pineapple-y, certainly fruity, with a lovely drydown of woods. It's wonderful and going on the to-buy list.

The nutmeg really amplified on my skin so for most of the wearing, Moonlight in Chiangmai was a warm, spicy, almost burnt praline creation with a fuzz of cinnamon Red Hots.The white floral and yuzu opening barely toned it down at best. Instead of a moonlit yin fragrance, it felt quite yang.
The woodier drydown wasn't able to counteract the nutmeg, so chemicals gone wrong or no, I couldn't get past this note. It's likely it skewed the fragrance in a direction the perfumer didn't intend to go. So I'll leave it at that.

(Genre: Floral Oriental)

On first acquaintance, Moonlight in Chiangmai strikes me as one of the less distinctive Dusita compositions I've experienced. Whether I've liked them or not, most previous Dusita compositions, including Oudh Infini, Mélodie de l'Amour, Erawan, Le Sillage Blanc, and Issara, have left me with a strong impression. This one, along with La Douceur de Siam, Le Pavillion d'Or, and Fleur de Lalita, doesn't really speak to me.

After a pleasantly holographic (though not necessarily identifiable as “yuzu,”) citrus top note, what I smell for the most part is a smooth and sanitized fruits-and-white flowers accord, decorated with the listed nutmeg note and underpinned by sweet benzoin. Any of the vetiver and synthetic woody base notes that I catch on paper disappear on my skin – at least until the far drydown, where they emerge as distant, muted, and scratchy, as if played on an old and badly-worn LP. Noticeably absent to my nose are any of the indolic accents common to many jasmine-centered fragrances. Hence, perhaps, the overall “clean” and unprovocative olfactory profile.

Not that I have any expectation that a fragrance reflect its name, but I find nothing that's particularly nocturnal or suggestive of moonlight here. Moonlight in Chiangmai may hold some appeal for those who seek a relatively bright, transparent, sweet white-floral oriental and are averse to indole, but I fear I'll have forgotten what it smells like by tomorrow.