DSH Perfumes Le Sazerac Extrait photo by DSH Perfumes©
“Come on take a stroll down to Basin Street, Listen to the music with the Dixieland beat, yeah
I say, the magnolia blossoms fill the air, And you ain’t been to heaven if you ain’t been there.
Honeysuckle hanging from a hollow tree, Down in Mississippi down in New Orleans.” ~ written by Frank Guida and Joseph Royster for the film Blues Brothers 2000
Dawn Spencer Hurwitz of DSH Perfumes
Nearly all the men I’ve ever loved promised to take me to New Orleans; they were so fervently adamant – and I believed them. I’m still waiting. I grew up with a maiden aunt who adored Dixieland jazz; amassed most of the perfumes (if only in sample form) of Hové and Bourbon French perfumeries; I love hot and spicy cuisine and can make a mean gumbo and jambalaya, damnit. Any movie filmed in or about New Orleans is on my radar; my eldest had plans to be wed in the bayou, for heavens’ sake. I fell madly in love with Savannah – and I long to be smitten with The Big Easy. If any of this drivel makes sense to you, then you’re sure to be fond of one of award winning artisan perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz’ autumnal offerings, DSH Perfumes Le Sazerac – a blowsy, boozy all-natural fragrance inspired by (and named after) the famous Old New Orleans cocktail. Considering that this potent libation hails from the 1800’s (think Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Baudelaire, Rimbaud!), I can assure you that it’s chock-full of decadence – and decadence NEVER goes out of fashion.
photo via The Roosevelt New Orleans©
DSH Perfumes Le Sazerac is Dawn’s holiday offering this year: if we ever needed jollity, the time is now. Imagine being curled up by the fireside or by candlelight, swathed in louche luxury. Le Sazerac warms your innards with gorgeous piquancy, so over the top: it’s Prohibition-naughty and better than bathtub gin. This perfume makes you want to rouge your knees, bob your hair, wave your corset out the window like a flag. Thank goodness that you’re wearing it instead of drinking it in excess – it lessens the risk of going mad, blind, having seizures or hallucinating.
Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso completed in 1903
Portrait bleu de Angel Fernández de Soto) Pablo Picasso completed in 1903
That would be The Green Fairy talking; before regulation (and a more moderate intake), absinthe had quite the reputation – and our perfumer has summoned La Fée Verte via the employment of artemisia, aniseed, star anise and angelica. She has also created a rye whiskey accord – which is pivotal to the recipe, as it accounts for most of the liquor requirement; the smooth, chalorous tones of immortelle, oakwood, Siam wood, Peru and tolu balsam, birch tar, oakmoss and vanilla are very evocative. Siam benzoin, in addition, lends a delicately vanillic, woody/balsamic aspect common to rye whiskey.
“Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, rye whiskey, l cry
If you don’t give me rye whiskey, I surely will die
If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck
I’d dive to the bottom and never come up.” ~ Traditional American folk song
Sazerac via istock
If you’re going to make a sazerac and an authentic one, you’ll need Peychaud’s bitters, made in Louisiana. Peychaud’s is lighter, fruitier and less bitter than Angostura. A blend of herbs, fruits and spices – Dawn brings these components to life with bergamot, lemon (it’s present as both zest and garnish), sweet and bitter orange, notes of clove, pimento berry, angelica root and anise. While Tolu balsam complements a rye accord, it provides a touch of cinnamon and floralcy here. To complete the smoky boîte ambiance, a rich ambery tobacco wouldn’t go amiss, nor would a well-worn leather jacket, so they are participants in the nightclub atmosphere (birch tar, ciste absolute, labdanum, styrax). And the flowers? What about the roses, jasmine, orris? There are several possibilities, besides the fact that they play so well with others, enriching and rounding out any harsh edges: the indolic jasmine couples well with leather inferences, melds with wood in such a marvelous way. Roses travel anywhere (the universal playmate); orris bestows longevity, a satiny facet, even a hint of violet (and leather loves violet). Dawn utilizes these florals in a leitmotif manner; as you peruse her perfumes they appear and reappear in a broad variety of fragrances, because their quality and versatility is a marvel.
Le Sazerac is a celebratory, extravagant perfume, brimming with all the elements one needs to embrace warmth and light in the colder, darker seasons. Wear it for the Winter Solstice with gratitude and pleasure.
Notes: bergamot, lemon, sweet orange, bitter orange, star anise, aniseed, clove bud, clove leaf, pimento berry, artemisia, angelica root, absinthe, grandiflorum jasmine, Bulgarian rose absolute and otto, orris concrete, rye whiskey accord, immortelle, tobacco absolute, brown oakmoss, oakwood co2, ciste absolute, labdanum, styrax, Australian sandalwood, birch tar, Peru balsam, Tolu balsam, Siam benzoin, Siam wood, vanilla absolute
Sample provided by the perfumer – many thanks! My nose is my own…
~ Ida Meister, Deputy and Natural Perfumery Editor
Thanks to the generosity of perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, we are offering a 10 ml VdP rollerball pen of DSH Perfumes Le Sazerac for one registered reader worldwide. You must register or your comment will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what appeals to you about Ida’s review, and where you live. This perfume is a limited edition! Dawn is unbelievably prolific; do you have a favorite? Draw close November 1, 2021
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