1890 La Dame de Pique
Histoires de Parfums (2014)

This is surely where historicism descends into pastiche.
La Dame de Pique (The Queen of Spades) is a baroque floral of monumental richness, but it has little relevance to the practice of modern perfumery.
The obvious reference here is Femme be Rochas (1944), a great work by the perfume grandmaster Edmond Roudnitska, which comes from the time of the Second World War.
One hopes we don't need a replay of that.

Ultra dark and brooding. Spices and flowers are smashed together. Incense lurks about, like its smoke is wafting to and fro. I get a kind of booze-soaked leather like an overstuffed lounge chair, in a smoky club, of which its leather has seen better days. The patchouli is perfume-y. As usual, I'm the odd "man" out here - I think this perfume is great! Faint hints of skank underneath. Something, some combo, gives me a thought of chocolate or cocoa powder.

Leather goes away later. I'm left with an amber / patchouli accord. 1890 reminds me of something I've smelled before. I definitely love the top and middle, more than the base, which seems somewhat ordinary.

Rather offensive ginger and smokey leather opening. The floral notes are not enough to redeem 1890 and it clashes hard with the incense. Hard to wear and even harder to smell after a time. The leather and patchouli dry down are old and haggard, worn out, unwashed, and unbearable.

While the average consumer may not know the plot of the opera Queen of Spades, I wonder if Histoires de Parfums did their research on the opera itself. 1890 is advertised as 'the perfume of the Slavic soul and of the all-consuming passion for the Queen of Spades. In this opera, the Queen of Spades is not a person, but literally a card from a playing deck and not even the winning card at that. Perhaps the idea was to capture the scent of a gambling table? As the opera takes place during Catherine the Great's reign, I wonder why HdP didn't choose to focus around roses as Catherine the Great was extremely fond of them and even had special guards watch over/protect them. Chances are the royal court would have followed a similar scent choice as Catherine the Great or would have worn perfumes imported from France.

There are two operas known by the name 'Queen of Spades': Tchaikovsky's and Franz von Suppe's Pique Dame. Both operas are based on the Pushkin novel the of the same name and this particular perfume is based on Tchaikovsky's Russian opera which premiered in 1890.

Queen of Spades is a thoroughly Russian opera that takes place in St. Petersburg during the time of Catherine the Great and showcases Russian aristocracy.

The story centers around Herman who is in love with Liza, a women way above his station. Liza has been raised by her grandmother, a Countess, who is well known for her vast wealth. Herman is told a story about the Countess from Tomski and how she obtained her wealth. During the Countesses youth she lived in France for a time and learned the secret of the 'three cards' of which she used and abused for her own interests. Legend has it that the Countess will die if she reveals the secrets of the three cards. Herman finds a way to improve his fortunes and be able to marry Liza, even though she is engaged to Prince Yeletsky.

Herman sneaks into Liza's room and declares his love for her. Liza in turn confesses her feeling to Herman. Later on Prince Yeletsky notices that Liza is sad and assures her that he still loves her (one of the most beautiful arias Ya vas lyublyu 'Yeletsky's aria'). Liza later slips Herman the key to her grandmothers room and Herman sneaks in attempting to discover the secret of the three cards. As the Countess falls asleep she sings in French and reminisces about her youth in France. Herman jumps out of hiding and brandishes a pistol at the Countess and demands to know the secret of the three cards. The Countess refuses to tell Herman and dies of fright.

In the final Act, the ghost of the Countess comes to Herman and reveals the secret of the three cards to him. Herman runs off to find Liza who is ready to run away with him, but decides to brush her off and test the secret first. Liza, distraught, throws herself into the Neva and Herman goes off gambling. The secret seems to work as Herman keeps winning and going wild and distracted with the card game. Prince Yeletsky challenges Herman and Herman bets on the ace, assured he will win. When it is revealed the final card is the Queen of Spades Herman sees the ghost of the old Countess, whose smile seems to be mocking at him, and kills himself. With his dying breath he asks for the Prince's pardon and sees Lisa's ghost, who forgives him.

A leather perked up with ginger and resinous (rather than smoky) incense, 1890 reminds me a bit of strong liqueurs like Chartreuse in its opening; it has a kick and herbal tang, but it draws me in for another little sip.
Having established this strong and sinewy accord, the rest of the composition plays it safe bringing in syrupy florals, rice powder and an ambery base to round things out in a classical manner. However, the florals don't really integrate with the leather and at times give the distinct impression of having turned it a bit mouldy. This saturated sweet phase is short-lived, but what is left is a rather tired leather with some powdery resinous dust in its creases and amber in its pocket. The PR talks about ‘all-consuming passion' but the perfume conveys to me something more akin to a jaded ‘can I be bothered?' look in a late night bar.
There is a final twist, when 1890 finally decides to shrug off its leather jacket and lie down as a somewhat lipsticky with a touch of fruit amber. I alternate between finding this pleasant and then cloying; hours and hours of this tries my patience.