Rivertown Road / Absolute Pour Homme
Soivohle (Liz Zorn) (2011)

Updated review. This fragrance has grown on me. I have started to enjoy it. It's still very busy, but I've started to identify some of the individual notes and I'm enjoying it much more. Has some of the same feeling as Christopher Street with the alcoholic lime vibe, but with heavy bay leaf. A unique and strangely satisfying wear for me today...


A powerful fragrance that starts as do all the Soivohle fragrances I've tried except for Twelve Keys, with a strong alcoholic presence that I don't care for. There are many fragrances I love with alcohol notes in them. The difference to me with this particular accord is that it smells like boozy breath, which I don't care for. That vibe carries on throughout the wear and kind of ruined it for me overall. By the end of 9 hours, (and it was still going strong), I was worn out with it and scrubbed it off. To be fair, there are several notes blended into this myriad of notes that I love, and there were wafts of a nice note here and there, but it's an extremely busy fragrance and it was just the overall house vibe that did me in.

A truckload of frankincense up top merged with some lime and camphorous notes lend this scent a brisk tonic-y feel. Shrewd florals keep it from going too clinical, and while the opening is bracing, it won't make your eyes explode as the lavender notes steer it toward an old school aromatic path but without becoming overly herbal. But really this is a frankincense fragrance at its core–it's just top-loaded with items that hint at a traditional composition. The notes play well together–especially the triad of lavender, frankincense, and mint–but I find it to be a more pleasant composition fifteen or so minutes in once everything has calmed down and taken a seat. At that point it's more of a straightforward camphor-incense affair that retains just enough of that opening sharpness to keep it feeling crispy clean. Very well done, quite unique, and it should be on the radar of anyone into chilly, tonic-style scents. It's very strong, so make sure your seatbelt is fastened tightly.

Strong lavender open, then sunny and slightly herbal. Masculine, mellow, spicym and very slightly sweet. Smells like a golden yellow mythical fruit.

Complex...I like it, but this frag is a commitment as it evolves through a lot of notes from green florals to spices that manage to be flat then sharp and back again or so it seems. I don't get the softer masculine lines of incense, tobacco, patchouli... Too much going on for a pure read on many of the points in the pyramid. But it's a thumbs up just the same! Lasts approximately 5-7 hrs.

Extraordinary and complex bay rum and spices; classic and masculine. It's what Bret Maverick in the old TV series would have worn while gambling on the riverboats. Good sillage, very good longevity. One of my favorite indie frags.

I purchased a small sample of it after reading about it on Liz Zorn's website. I wasn't sure of this scent at first spray.
I moved on with my Saturday afternoon of reading. I took a cat nap and woke up a half hour later wondering what the glorious smell was? After the fog of sleep went away I realized it was me- err, it was the Rivertown Road I had on. The smell reminds me of honey & incense. In no way is it over-bearing like some incense colognes I've smelled. It's warm, and amazing on my skin. I ordered the biggest bottle of it I could find.

It makes me want to try more indie perfumers works.