I recently acquired the Ormonde Jayne discovery set, not by any endeavour on my part, but thanks yet again to the generosity of a good friend and perfume fanatic. Thank you so much!
I have tried a few from the OJ line in the past, including Ta'if, Isfarkand, Ormonde Woman and Champaca. Having tried Orris Noir now too, I can quite easily recognise a very distinct house note. It's an elegant, slightly peppery, slightly woody, slightly floral accord. If that seems strange, its because I can't really pin it down and describe it. Those of you familiar with the OJ line may know what I mean by this.
Orris Noir is very good. It strikes me, like all the OJs I've tried, as cool, sophisticated and elegant. I can't claim to detect a massive and distinctive iris note here, but it smells great. I wouldn't describe Orris Noir as a dark or black fragrance, but it does feel like a smell of the night, rather than the day.
Tolu is interesting, because along with Ta'if, it doesn't seem to have as much of that house note that the others in the line do. Tolu is all about balsams and resins and it is fairly sweet too, but balanced. I like it a lot. It stands out in the line as one of the more irreverent of the bunch, the one who likes to let their proverbial hair down. In a line of sophistication and restraint, this is refreshing.
