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One of the most underrated of Creed's top fragrances is the Tabarome Millesime. A 'must have' in my rotation of autmn and winter fragrances for men!
There are two Creed Tabarome fragrances. The first was created in 1875 by the third generation Henry Creed and is part of the Creed Private Collection.
Now, tastes in fragrance were very different in the 19th century and the Tabarome Prive, as it's known, is described as a robust chypre. There was a limited re-release of this fragrance in 2010 and the entry on Fragrantica describes the Prive as smelling of 'England's House of Lords'. So far, I've not been fortunate enough to get my nose on the Tabarome Prive although I have visited the House of Lords of the United Kingdom on a couple of occasions. And do you know what the House of Lords smells like? Well, I'll tell you at the end of the video!
This review is on the Tabarome Millesime launched in 2000 by Olivier Creed. For those interested in batch numbers, the bottle I'm reviewing has been bought retail, for obvious reasons, and is a 2018 batch. The retail price for a 100 ml bottle is around £215 in the UK, I have seen it advertised for £199 on discounter websites but they had no stock.
The word 'Millesime' features on many Creed fragrances and is borrowed from the wine industry meaning that the contents of the bottle was created using the very best, the cream of the crop, from a particular year's harvest. Just like good wine, a Creed fragrance is bottled and then matures in the bottle over time.
The name Tabarome pays homage to the tobacco notes you would expect from a fragrance that Creed tell us is 'Inspired by the British heritage of fine brandy and cigars'. Creed never made any direct reference to Winston Churchill in their promotional materials, but the inference to the very much bygone age of the British statesman is still there and is carried through to the fragrance itself.
Given the nod and wink to Churchill, heritage and tobacco, you would think that Tabarome would have a deep, sonorous, dark, tobacco note. You might think that, but you'd be wrong! It is a masculine fragrance for a man who's 'suited and booted'. Very much at home in the boardroom or gentleman's club or as I enjoy wearing Tabarome, paired with my Barbour tweed cap and wax jacket, when I'm out walking the 'hounds' through the countryside.
Although a fragrance best suited to the autumn and winter, Tabarome has that fresh twist that Creed put into all of their fragrances. It opens with a sharp but light citrus from bergamot, lemon and mandarin in the top notes. Mandarin is the dominant note, slightly sweet, almost jammy, but sour like a breakfast marmalade.
This is an intricate fragrance. As it begins to dry down the mandarin becomes muted and the fresh, green tobacco begins to swell from the base. It smells of the interior of the humidor at my favourite tobacconist by Clifford's Tower in York. This is a bright, crisp, tobacco, with that hint of a spicy tingle you get from a fresh, quality cigar. Something like a Montecristo No2. The spice of the tobacco is further enhanced with ginger, before the fragrance begins to elegantly soften with sandalwood, musk, leather and ambergris. But the show is not over just yet. There's a hint of tea in there too. Step outside into the cooler air and up pops the mandarin again, to remind you it never really left the first time around and Tabarome will then cycle through it's notes again, this time warmer and smoother.
Silage, for the first couple of hours, I would say is moderate on my skin before it becomes a more personal, intimate scent. Longevity...I get between 7 and 8 hours, sometimes longer in cooler temperatures.
A word of warning! Tabarome is a more mature scent and for all it's fresh quirkiness still has a vintage vibe. As much as I love this fragrance it is not a fragrance to blind buy. As you should do with all fragrances 'try it before you buy it' but please, do try it! For me, it has become an essential part of my winter fragrance rotation.
So what did the House of Lords smell like? Leather, old books, beeswax and the faint smell of urine used to fix the dye of the Harris Tweed worn by the countryfied coffin dodgers, that frequent the palace.