NAVA Black Santalum Cider

Brand: Nocturne Alchemy/NAVA
Availability: Limited Edition Halloween 2015
Notes: Rich Black Sandalwood drizzled into an old oak barrel found just outside deserted castle and filled with sticks of cinnamon, tart apple slices, cardamom and nutmeg.

First impression out of bottle: Beautiful dark cloudy apple cider, like the fresh-pressed cider you can buy from the farmer's market.

Mmmm, fresh apple cider

Freshly applied: Something a little more resinous and perfumey is peeking out to complement the bold apple cider scent. Love that the spice in this isn’t your generic Autumn Spice blend. It’s infused in the murky brown apple cider. I can tell my beloved Santalum is in here somewhere, but it’s not a woodsy scent right now. There’s a hint, like I said, of gorgeous resin that’s swelling and making the apple cider more interesting, but it’s not reading as WOOD at the moment. 

Drydown: Simply gorgeous, resinous apple cider scent with some deep blackened-brown notes lurking under the dark gorgeous apple. The Santalum note is coming out now, drier and more golden than the resiny note alone. At first it smelled like just straight apple cider from a mug, and now it smells like the cider plus the barrel it was brewed in.

Dark, resinous woodsy cider

After several hours: Resinous, a hint of cool murky apple cider, and a very blackened feel. This is resin-woodsy but not plain-woodsy. 

Longevity: High
Sillage: Medium

Would an [X] lover love this? Apple lovers NEED THIS. The apple cider scent is perfectly complemented by the wood and resin notes, so it's not a fleeting shower-gel apple, but a real murky juicy apple that lasts and lasts.

Would an [X] hater love this? This is a definite realistic apple cider scent, but it smells wet and juicy and earthy, not like a generic apple spice perfume. If you have a grudge against fall perfumes because they smell like a Yankee Candle store to you, this one might surprise you.

Where am I? I'm sitting in a cider house, smelling the pressed apple juice and old wooden beams. I’m perched on an oak barrel getting drunk off of spiced cider.

Where would I wear this? Work, weekend, autumn, winter. It's surprisingly elegant, but definitely not a sexy/girly perfume. Probably wouldn't wear for a date.