Eau de Hongrie
Viktoria Minya (2014)

I rarely like sweet perfumes, but this one really grew on me. It's quite linear, and you get the honey and jasmine all the way through. It gets just a bit of almond/play dough in the dry down. Lovely for winter and fall. I don't want 100 mL of this, but having finished my decant, I'd be on the lookout for another 20 or so mL.

A tall "drink" of honey, jasmine, and sandalwood. Cool and warm at the same time. Floral sweet. Not too earthy. Vanilla tones. Dessert accord without extreme sugariness. Holiday scent. Very lovely.

I got the chance to try all the perfumes of Victoria Minya due to the sample kit that comes with all full bottle purchases. I enjoyed a lot this scent, but I think you have to be aware of Wines from Tokaj to really enjoy it, because it's such an incredible interpretation of that region! The perfume makes a reference to Eau de Hongrie only sharing it's name, it is NOT an aromatic scent, but a warm, boozy rich jasminy-sandalwoody, very longlasting fragrance.

I never thought there is any similarity about this perfume and Hedonist, but I see that it is often compared to it. In my opinion, it is only the honey part that is remarkable in both, and of course the signature of the perfumer.

In all cases, it's quite a good deal ( 120 EUR/ 100 ml ) if you are looking for a unique and authetic gem AND if you know about the famous Tokaji Aszu.

I've run across a few honey scents as of late, as this is one more to add to the pile. Eau de Hongrie's sweet, but not overly so. It's a buttery, somewhat floral, somewhat citric scent that's steeped in a dry, woody-honey, but there's not much else to look at. The company blurb declares this to be a “modern version of ‘Eau de la Reine de Hongrie'” but I don't get the connection. I wrote a piece on the Osmothèque a while back where I sniffed their holding of the original “Eau de Hongrie" and I recall it being camphorous and quite herbal. This is neither camphorous nor herbal, and I'm having a tough time differentiating between it and the myriad of other honey scents I've smelled, some of which were celebuscent cheapies. It's pleasant enough, but it reminds me too much of a muted Ginestet Botrytis–a better, more interesting scent overall.

Minya's debut Hedonist was a grower for me – a perfume that I was initially not completely convinced by but which drew me slowly under its spell with each subsequent wearing. So my hopes were raised by the follow up – three perfumes released simultaneously, of which Eau de Hongrie promised an evocation of the delicious Tokaji Aszu wine.
I mention Hedonist for a reason, as Eau de Hongrie is definitely its more honeyed but also plainer and lighter sibling. The honey is so upfront that the chorus of backing notes are far receded behind it. It is no doubt a lovely honey – deep but not cloying, frisky on the palate, but the mystery of a creation like Hedonist is missing. There are touches of a delicate sweet booziness (saying it's a recreation of Tokaji is a stretch, though) and meaty immortelle. The tarter tones, which made Hedonist the strange jewel that it is, are also present but so timid they are almost an afterthought.
All in all, the result is a perfume which, while pleasing enough in terms of its smell, has little tonal variation. That it is so obviously derivative – it could be a lighter flanker of Hedonist – doesn't help much either.