Aedes de VenustasCafé TabacEau de Parfum

A lavish celebration that goes on for days. Endless dinners and a merengue danced all night under a sky as black as coal. Smoke meets the flower, then blends with spices. This is CAFÉ TABAC. Before the creation of the new Aedes de Venustas perfume, the name had already been decided: CAFÉ TABAC, the iconic bar of the ’90s in New York’s East Village. Upstairs in this establishment, Kate Moss met Johnny Depp for the first time, Madonna answered the phone, Leonardo DiCaprio courted top models, and the founders of Aedes de Venustas, Robert Gerstner and Karl Bradl, spent many nights there. A place where stars stripped away their glamorous aura, living in a pre-cellular era now so distant that one might desire it again. “It’s the deep mood of a cult place that creates its legend,” says perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour. “The intense blue smoke of cigarettes, cigars, weed… anything. We are always in search of multiple paradises: laughter, desires, pleasures, again and again.” This spirit was also present when, last year, Duchaufour and Gerstner were exploring the Dominican Republic for another olfactory project. “It was an explosion of lively and chic people from Mexico, France, Rio, New York; different cultures, conversations, ideas, and opinions,” says Gerstner. “We traveled together from a tropical forest to the coast, but it was only when we found ourselves in a cigar factory that I looked at Bertrand and asked him, ‘Can you encapsulate all of this in a bottle?'”

The result is dazzling, sexy, and as complex as their journey: it opens with sparkling notes of bergamot and unexpected fruits such as apple and tamarind, but the perfume is a tribute to tobacco in its various forms. Dry leaves, moist flowers, and a cigar lit by fire are represented through Clary Sage and Davana, a hint of Mango with dried Fig and Date, and a rough smokiness of Absolute Tobacco, Tar, Cade, and Cedarwood. An amber accord of Labdanum and Cistus secretions, Gray Amber, Oakmoss, Vanilla, Cocoa Accord, and Peru Balsam in the heart gives way to a dark, rich, and resinous base. The distinctive scent of Burnt Sugar, fresh Cloves, and Cardamom are infused with vapors that keep CAFÉ TABAC multifaceted rather than perfectly round. Blended at a 20% concentration, created following the old-school style of high perfumery, including a one-month maceration in France. CAFÉ TABAC expresses wild sensuality, like a touch of orange atop an espresso cup, an intense fragrance with a hint of freshness. Wearing it means maintaining a state of intense emotions that leave an indelible mark in the memory of those around you.

Notes: Absolute Tobacco, Peru Balsam, Cardamom, Cloves, Bergamot, Tamarind, Tar, Dried Date, dried Fig, Cocoa Accord, Burnt Sugar, Mango, Beeswax Absolute, Apple, Davana, Clary Sage, Vanilla, Oakmoss, Labdanum-Cistus Absolute, Tonka Bean, Cedarwood, Gray Amber, Cade.

Bertrand Duchaufour