M.Micallef Notorious XO by Olya Bar
There’s a rite of passage in the world of spirits, a moment when you trade the effervescent fizz of fruity cocktails for something deeper, more contemplative. For me, that elixir was cognac, a golden graduate from my college-era spritzes of pineapple and grenadine. As someone perpetually chasing sensory indulgences, I’ve always found taste and smell intertwined like lovers in a perfume lab. It’s a gustatory odyssey, one where the notes of liquor echo the facets of fragrance. Discovering cognac’s layered structure, its slow burn of oak, spice, and fruit has been nothing short of revelatory, a fun unraveling of why we sip, savor, and sigh.
Cognac demands patience: a post-dinner ritual, historically the domain of men in smoke-hazed cigar lounges, debating empires over amber pours. No gulps here, just deliberate exploration, letting the vapors unfurl on the tongue. It’s the same unhurried intimacy that defines M.Micallef’s latest olfactory gem from the brand’s Jewel collection, Notorious XO. If cognac is liquid legacy, this fragrance is its scented counterpart, a boozy fragrance that mirrors the spirit’s evolution from sharp spark to velvety embrace.
M.Micallef Notorious XO by Olya Bar
Composed with the house’s signature extravagance, M.Micallef Notorious XO was inspired by none other but the famous Cognac itself. It opens with a vivacious burst of spices and aromatics: think cardamom’s peppery snap and salty whisper, laced with a citrus zing that evokes the first sip of a well-aged VSOP. It’s invigorating, almost defiant like the initial heat of cognac hitting the palate before it softens. But give it time (and skin), and it settles into a gourmand base of cognac accord, vanilla, and tonka bean, wrapped in a cocoon of sandalwood and amber. What might read as masculine at first woody structures often pigeonholed in men’s wardrobes blooms softer, creamier on women, perhaps that praline accord playing its part, revealing a unisex tenderness that defies convention.
Hennessy XO via Unsplash.
I adore it most in this crisp fall interlude, stepping from the overheated hum of New York lofts into the wind-whipped streets. The scent catches the breeze, swirling around you like vapors rising from a snifter cradled in gloved hands, intimate yet expansive, a portable hearth against the chill. It’s for those who crave rain-soaked woods and spiced depths with a boozy backbone: complex, yes, but surprisingly delicate in its enveloping hug. Don’t be intimidated; let Notorious XO seduce you slowly. It might just be the scent you’ve been waiting for.
Notes: Cognac, Pepper, Marine Notes, Cardamom, Leather, Oak, Tonka Bean, Cinnamon, Sandalwood, Amber, Vanilla, Musk, Praline.
Olya Bar, Editor.
Disclaimer: A bottle of Notorious XO was kindly gifted to me but opinions are always my own.
Michelyn’s Note: M.Micallef Notorious XO was composed by Daniela Marty a Senior Perfumer at Luzi A.G as per the CEO Roland Altenburger
M. Micallef Notorious XO via the brand
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