Sutton Place. The glamorous era of New York that no longer exists. People dressed. Drinks poured. Someone always at the piano. Blonde tobacco, wet and fresh. A signature floral scent woven through every room. Creamy nutmeg and vanilla holding it all together. A smoking room, a glass of whiskey, the unmistakable smell of old money.Â
-----
MY MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS WERE RUSSIAN ÉMIGRÉS WHO CAME TO NEW YORK CITY DURING THE REVOLUTION. I KNEW THEM AS WILLIAM AND MARIE. HE WAS AN ARCHITECT. SHE SPENT HER CAREER IN FRAGRANCE AND COSMETICS. THEIR APARTMENT IN NEW YORK CITY WAS REFINED, ELEGANT, A LITTLE OLD WORLD.
MARIE WORE DIORISSIMO. WILLIAM SMOKED A PIPE. THOSE TWO THINGS SHOULD NOT HAVE WORKED TOGETHER — AND YET, IN THAT APARTMENT, THEY DID.
FLEURS DE TABAC IS THAT MEMORY. THE DELICATE FLORAL OF HER PERFUME, THE WARM EARTHINESS OF HIS TOBACCO, HELD TOGETHER IN ONE SCENT. IT IS AN HOMAGE TO THEIR TASTE, THEIR LIFE, AND THE WAY CERTAIN SMELLS CAN TAKE YOU STRAIGHT BACK TO A PLACE YOU LOVED.
WITH EACH INHALE, I AM TAKEN BACK TO LOVE, HERITAGE, AND A TIME WHEN REFINEMENT WAS SIMPLY HOW LIFE WAS LIVED. WHEN MEN DRESSED. WHEN WOMEN WERE ELEGANT. WHEN THERE WAS GREAT PRIDE IN WHERE YOU CAME FROM — AND DEEP RESPECT FOR WHERE YOU HAD ARRIVED. FLEURS DE TABAC CAPTURES THAT ERA. IT IS SOPHISTICATED, WARM, AND UNDENIABLY RICH — A FRAGRANCE THAT SMELLS LIKE MONEY.
