Bryant Park By Bond No 9

Bryant Park is the 28th fragrance launched by Bond no 9 and will debut on March 1st 2007. The scent pays homage to yet another area of New York city after which it is named. The jus was created by perfumer Michel Almairac and includes top notes of lily of the valley, rhubarb, pink pepper; heart notes are rose and patchouli; base notes are raspberry and amber.

Bryant Park is a slightly sharp aquatic floral rose-patchouli based scent that easily evokes spring and summer.  It is a very fresh and refreshing scent with a thirst-quenching quality about it. Thinking of Bryant Park, one can readily imagine oneself being transported under the shadows of ample trees, feeling a cooling breeze caressing one's cheeks and even the delicate mist from the nearby Shaw Lowell Memorial Foutain vaporising into the air.....

Bryant Park dries down to a mellow vanillic finish with woodsy undertones suggestive of rosewood, the whole made transparent by its retaining the character of the preceding aquatic and juicy fruity notes. It is light but persistent. It reveals tea-like facets as the drydown develops further. The sillage is superb, clean-smelling, and radiates, projecting itself extremely well into space. Like the preceding creations by Michel Almairac for Bond no 9 (see our reviews of Fire Island and West Side), the scent is well-balanced, clearly defined, and of high quality.A mischievous raspberry is immediately perceptible softened further by the soft glow of the amber. The heart of the fragrance is based on a traditional accord of rose and patchouli that is a little different in this case in that the rose offers a marked aquatic, juicy character seemingly borrowed in part from the watery facets of the lily of the valley and which is clearly contrasted with the palpable earthiness and dryness of patchouli. Hints of pink pepper reinforce the intial sharpness of the scent counterbalancing the pretty "pink" feminine notes of rose, rhubarb, and raspberry. The rhubard and raspberry bring a pleasant tartness to the concoction whithout making it feel gourmand one least bit. There are also solar citronella nuances to the perfume that evoke summer and the singing of cicadas.

The fragrance is reminiscent of Kisu by Tann Rokka but as in a flirtier and more European-style rendition of it. When I smelled it the first time, rather than thinking straightaway about contemporary fashionistas crowding Bryant Park, it made me think of a scent that could have been worn by May Welland in The Age of Innocence by Martin Scorcese (who adapted Edith Wharton's novel) had she been transported through time to the contemporary scene. It is the scent of things and women in bloom in the spring and summer and of the enduring seductive appeal of innocence.

"Besides being sold in its 3.4 oz. artist-designed superstar bottle and box presentation ($185), 1.7oz travel size ($125) and by the ounce ($45), either in a 2-ounce basic spray flacon with gilt honeycomb cap ($40-$150) or in our unique vintage or art bottles, featured in a wide variety of designs ($60 - $200)."

Bryant Park is available for pre-orders on the Bond no 9 website. Orders will ship on March the 1st 2007. It is also available on Fragrances & More with a 10% discount for the readers of The Scented Salamander (including on any other purchases you might want to make). Just type in Salamander10 at checkout.

Photos are from Bond no 9 and cuboidal.org.