Traversée du Bosphore
L'Artisan Parfumeur (2010)

Traversee du Bosphore is, in my humble opinion, the best perfume L'Artisan Parfumeur has ever put out, one of the best perfumes by Duchaufour, and one of the best gormand compositions ever, alongside something like Ambre Narguile. What makes this perfume such a triumphant success in my book, is how unique it smells, and how every single part of it is perfectly dosed in order to play its role in the bigger picture. I think the name is aptly chosen, as the scent profile would have you longing for the city of Istanbul with its beautiful aromas and for the Bosphorus breeze.
Opens up with a beautiful crisp, red, apple accord, blending with pistachio, honey, spices, and nougat. The heart reveals a powdery-creamy orris accord and a soft leather aroma. The dry down becomes more golden hued and ambery. Very clever and smooth development, exceptional blending and choice of accords. The orris accord in the heart almost creates a rice pudding sort of smell, so to me, it almost creates this rice pudding image, adorned with apple flakes, cinnamon, pistachio and nougat. It's incredibly beautiful and complex, and totally unique. Fear not, this is sweet, but never too much, it is gourmand, but never too jovial. It really walks that fine line that a sweet gourmand like Ambre Narguile does. It gives me a very similar vibe, although they smell nothing alike. Perfectly unisex, and could be worn all year round. This is what happens when you have a brilliant nose la Duchaufour, or Jean Claude Ellena work on a sweet-gourmand composition. You get something trully exceptional. For people who appreciate Ambre Narguile, this should be a must try.

It is true that there are varieties of tulip that have a vaguely green, somewhat waxy, round fragrance, and Traversee du Bosphore captures this in Technicolor; I recognize it immediately in its opening along with pomegranate arils, apple skin, and an undercurrent of iris and plush suede.

Soft spices fade into view as it begins to dry down. The saffron here is supple rather than punchy as it may seem to be in rose/oud fragrances: it's creamier qualities get to breathe here. Tobacco is a supporting note, lending shades of warmth. Then there is dry down of pistachio nougat, powdery, nutty, sweet, but not cloyingly so. It does indeed remind me of a Turkish Delight, starchy, gelatinous, flavored with rose water, and with just the lightest icing. The iris and suede that runs through the composition contribute to this effect. The tulips have faded into the distance but are still discernible, while the fruits and spices have faded out of view in the base. I am left with a haunting honeyed leather skin scent after several hours.

This is so soothing and beautiful on my skin and a masterfully composed creation. I am of the opinion that it doesn't get the proper attention that it deserves. The perfect comfort scent on this wintry, snowy February day, Traversee du Bosphore reminds me of the promise of spring that is now just beyond the horizon.

In the opening blast there is some
pomegranate, but I mainly get medium ripe apples and tulip - the later being quite weak though. What I get fairly soon after the first moments is a soft and light suede impression; a smooth leather without hand edges, smokiness, or any gasoline complement. Overall the opening is on the bright side.

The drydown introduces a sweet iris, very floral and with a discreet powdery accent. The is a candied sweet rose, and a saffron in the background - very much in the background and more a subtle dash of spice than a substantive addition to the main course of this olfactory menu.

The base is dominated by a vanilla impression that is sweet, quite creamy, and that at times is accompanied by what reminds me of the aroma of freshly baked pistachio muffins. A topping of white musks is increasingly evident toward the end.

I get moderate sillage, excellent projection, and a superb longevity of thirteen hours on my skin.

A spring scent that represents an interesting concept with some original twists. Unfortunately, on the whole it is too generic and too egregiously synthetic to impress or delight, even taken into consideration to splendid performance. On the bridge across the Bosphorus it is stuck in a generic traffic jam. 2.75/5

Scrubber. Headache generator. Effeminate in a bad way. Unbalanced. The notes that could save the perfume are completely overwhelmed by a persistent odor of synthetic fruit that could well serve to create a detergent to wash the floor.

I agree with Kain about the positive reviews.
Sweet, sour, medicinal floral effeminate mess of notes.
A scrubber.

Fragrance: 5.75/10
Projection: 7/10
Longevity: 7.5/10 -unfortunately