De Bachmakov is the latest from the The Different Company. It celebrates artistic director Thierry de Baschmakoff’s Russian origins and the Année France-Russie; if you go to the dedicated website, you can read (or download) a sort of travelogue that explains some of the inspirations for the unisex fragrance.

De Bachmakov was developed by perfumer Celine Ellena, and the notes include bergamot, shiso leaves, coriander leaves, freesia, jasmine, nutmeg, cedar and craie douce.¹ It is supposed to evoke the winds of Asia and the sun hitting the forests of Siberia and buds pushing through the snow in the spring.

De Bachmakov starts bright and zingy and cold…

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Oriental Lounge. What an evocative name for The Different Company‘s latest fragrance, an Eau de Parfum by perfumer Celine Ellena. When I think of an “oriental lounge”, I picture a Tretchikoff painting come to life: black enameled wood, cocktail glasses, candles in red glass casting flickering light, sultry women parting beaded doorways.

My first impression on trying Oriental Lounge was that it was Guerlain Shalimar without the best parts. I smelled Oriental Lounge’s citrusy top folded into a tonka-tinged amber, and it felt flat and linear. After trying it a few more times, I figured out Oriental Lounge shouldn’t be experienced by the drop, but that a good half tube of a sample vial — or ideally a spray — is needed to get a full impression of the fragrance. It turns out I was wrong. Oriental Lounge may not be a slenderized Shalimar, but it isn’t exactly the dreamy, complex 1940s Chinese restaurant cocktail lounge of a scent I had hoped, either…

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