Ginsation: Gin Perfumes at Pickwick's

Last week we received a devastating duo of scents at the Mercantile. From the imaginations and sensitive noses of the renegades behind EastWest Bottlers come Moonshine for men and Speakeasy for women, prohibition inspired scents with a touch of rebellious gin at their hearts. Moonshine is clean and bright, a perfect scent for dapper breakers of rules. It opens with smoky confidence, the pop of black pepper seduced down to a whisper by warm tobacco and leather. Gin opens up the heart with a clean profile that brings to mind cool wind through juniper branches, and patchouli runs deep roots into dark earth, bringing it all together. It isn't hard to imagine Moonshine and Speakeasy dancing across a well-worn dance hall floor together. 

Maverick Theater as a speakeasy

Speakeasy is an ode to that new generation of women, gin-slinging, short hair wearing, and unlikely to wait for the man to ask for the dance. It opens as a feminized mirror to Moonshine with pink peppercorn on a bed of white moss, intoxicates with sapphire gin, and then turns the lights down a little bit with patchouli and nutmeg notes that pull no punches. Both are incredible and the Pickwickians are besotted. You will have to come in and sniff.

This new arrival got us to thinking. What other Pickwick's picks have this note, fresh and bright, but heavy with implications?

Tokyomilk's "Gin & Rosewater"

This little bottle packs some serious zing. With a composition of citrus zest, rosewood, mimosa, and mandarin, it goes on fresh and stays fresh throughout its wear life, rosewood sweet and gentle beneath a wave of green. It's a perfect scent to welcome Spring or love through the summer. ($32)

Arquiste's "Architect's Club"

Arquiste came at gin with a sophisticated angle for "The Architect's Club", setting the scene that inspired this concoction as follows:

Cocktail time, March 1930, London.A group of architects gather for cocktails at Mayfair’s smartest Art Deco smoking room. As they settle in the warm interior of dark woods, leather and velvet, London’s bright young things burst in, frosted martinis in hand, surrounded by a cloud of laughter, white smoke and fine vanilla.

Romanced? I am. This scent brought to mind the luxe and naive world of Evelyn Waugh's "Brideshead Revisited". Sebastian would live in this scent and it would suit him absolutely. This scent features notes such as juniper berry oil, bitter orange peel, the sweet resins of oakwood and vanilla absolute and it is as clean and warm as it sounds. ($190)

Penhaligon's "Juniper Sling"

If beer is German and vodka goes to Russia, then perhaps the Gin & Tonic is the spirited drink of  choice for staid Britannia. Penhaligon's of London, fine perfumers from 1870, pay homage to this idea with Juniper Sling, a men's scent that is at once both bald-faced and mysterious. Spicy with notes of cinnamon, brandy, and juniper, it surprises with sultry brown sugar and black cherry on the dry down. Intoxicating is the right word. ($ 180 )

Tocca's "Colette"

 

And back to the ladies! Tocca's Colette is a classical women's fragrance, with bergamot, lemon, juniper berry, as well as seductive notes of incense, sandalwood, and cedar. It wears close to the skin and is enticing, but keeps its secrets. Colette would have appreciated it, I think. It is a perfume that says much, but reveals nothing. ($68)

Come in and sample some of these delectable choices for yourself! Take a seat at the perfume bar and we'll serve you a cocktail of fine scents to enjoy- perhaps you will find your seduction of choice among the offerings. And if that doesn't suit you, we have some wonderful new lines for Spring that are approaching as quickly as the season itself (19 days, but we aren't counting). In the meantime, a touch of gin in your tonic is a time-honored New England way of surviving what remains of winter. Stay warm (and smell amazing).