Notturno
Meo Fusciuni (2012)

Notturno is bad, but doesn’t even have the grace to be memorably bad. It is just bad in a ‘thin, doesn’t smell great, and definitely doesn’t belong in the catalogue of an artisan perfumer’ kind of way. Unlike my other Meo Fusciuni samples, which I use to the last drop either to make sure I fully understand them or because I enjoy smelling them, Notturno is the only one that lolls around on my dresser, half full, until I inevitably spot it, wonder if I’ll like that, spray some on and instantly remember that not only do I not like it at all, but I clearly can’t remember a single thing about it, hence the cycle.

Here’s why it’s bad – not why I think it’s bad but why it’s objectively bad – it is really nothing more than a single rum ether stuck on top of a burnt sugar, Maltol-sticky wood aromachemical that smells like a section excised from By the Fireplace and spread out in a thin schmear on your skin. I hate this note, primarily because it is a grandstanding gesture rather than an idea, but also because rum itself is cringe beyond the age of 19. For all of the 30 seconds it lasts, 5 seconds of it smells impressively like real rum (though we’ve established that that’s not the plus anyone thinks it is) and 25 seconds like the little bottles of rum flavoring you buy to put in cakes.

And that’s it, that’s the best part of this scent, done and dusted in under half a minute. What follows this damp squib of an opening is the chemical litany of whatever molecules people are stringing together these days to suggest leather, wood, or tobacco to an increasingly gullible (or nose blind) audience. Notturno means nocturnal, and from the reviews on Fragrantica, it seems that most people are buying into a fantasy of whatever nocturnal means to them rather than smelling the scent for what it truly is. For once, the perfume isn’t the one with projection issues.

Just when I was beginning to routinely expect interesting things from the Meo Fusciuni line along comes this dog (with the necessary apologies to our canine companions). Spirito was a fougère with descended gonads; Narcotico, a kohl-eyed patchouli seduction that had me parting with hard cash for a bottle. But, alas, Notturno is the greasy-haired, uninvited guest drinking up all the booze and boring rigid anyone who gets within their radius.
A frowsy, veiny-nosed thing that reeks first of cheap fruity rum and then of stale leather and licorice, Notturno is a perfume I gladly choose not to remember.

This has a strange opening with the scent of ink (somewhat like Encre Noire) and wine combined. The drydown smells weird like honey and glue together with leather. Longevity isn't that great. Overall not impressed.

3/5

This is lousy. The perfumer is using the notorious rum ether – a distinctive, immediately recognizable raw material that's rich and boozy but dissipates in (I'm not kidding) 30 seconds. For as lovely as that material smells, it's worthless in perfume and is clearly intended for use in flavoring. Anyhow, once Notturno's rum has burned off, you're left with a ghastly charred caramel that's slammed against something licorice-like to produce “ink.” It is inky (think glossy magazine smell), but it's the olfactory equivalent of a thousand paper cuts.

Notturno opens with a waxy/glue feel of vetiver, quite peculiar and "ink-y" in fact, sticky and tar-like, black but with some nice, aromatic nuances, mostly floral and fresh/fruity, and with an incense vibe – the usual Iso E breeze, on a cozy cashmeran woody base which then evolves on a more dry path. On my skin it feels quite much delicate and elusive, I had to reapply to feel it a bit more clearly and boldly. To be honest, although I appreciate the gracefulness and the meditative, cozy nocturnal vibe – not in a gloomy or decadent manner, more simply a chilling and quiet night out – I am really not impressed, there is too much of a conventional feel. It's basically a light woody/incense/aromatic vetiver scent like many others (and although I don't know the price for this, being a niche scent I assume it's probably overpriced for the quality).

6/10

interesting incense/rose combo..sillage and duration moderate!