Winter Palace
Memo (2019)

Bubblegum and face powder over a rosy boot polish with a bright, fresh start that seems to have been created from tannins rather than citrus. Later on, a true tea note pushes through, an earthy rooibos, I think, with a slice of orange cooling in the glass. Though this central accord smells more like an orange-tea-flavoured candy or packet of aspartame than an actual tea and fruit infusion, I love that it smells both warm and fresh.

By the way, the more I wear it, the more I understand that certain resins – or resins set inside a certain accord – can smell like the firm candy coating on a tic tac or bubblegum, and not just straightforwardly of incense or of cola. (This treatment of resins is something I also pick up in Le Régent by Oriza L. Legrand and Rouge Smoking by BDK). Though I am not overly fond of this facet of resins in perfumery, I admit that it works beautifully here, set against that almost medicinal tea note and that orangey amber-vanilla backdrop. It smells incredibly jaunty, as if all the notes are doing little whirligigs on the skin – a sort of Theorema for the Gen Z crowd, high on life, THC gummies and Aperol Spritz.

Another beautiful fragrance that is a flash in the pan. The opening of Winter Palace is delicious. The orange and the tea notes mix really well and have me constantly coming back for another sniff. If I could smell just like that all the time I would.

Which makes it a shame that the beautiful scent of the opening only lasts a couple hours on my skin. Afterward there is a subtle ambery drydown that lingers very close to the skin, but without any of the addictive qualities it had before. Citrus scents are bound to leap off the skin quickly, so this should be somewhat expected. Nonetheless I can't see myself paying $300 for something I only like the first 2 hours of. Still absolutely worth a sample.

Wife said this reminded her of a spa smell which is probably the tea/mate. I think it has a citrusy, candy sweet (think Sweet tarts) opening that becomes more powdery into the drydown, which is also more subdued on the sweetness. By the end of it, you're left with a pleasant but basic warm vanilla. I didn't get much herbal green or tea note. Still a nice scent with some uniqueness.

Very good projection without being heavy during the opening few hours. The longevity is in the 6-7 hour range.

I love Winter Palace. I find it to be warm and rich but there's also a lightness to it that makes it wearable in any weather. The opening has that orange creamsicle vibe, but it's met with some spice and earthy notes, as well as the wonderful red tea that gives it body and a unique profile. There are gourmand elements to it but it's not a gourmand fragrance, if that makes sense.

Performance is perfect for me. Excellent longevity (12 hours) but moderate, even soft projection which makes it a great office scent. The bottle and art work are also very unique. The entirety of the fragrance is just really stunning to me, unique, different, but still pleasing. It's become a 1x a week staple of my wardrobe. Big thumbs up from me.

A fine orange spice fragrance built upon a base of red woody spiced tea mulled in oranges and settling down into a warm amber base. The red tea is either rooibos tea or chinese red tea which becomes black tea when roasted. I am betting the spices come from the dry bark like woody rooibos tea that has a spiced sarsaparilla tea and I pick up this in the scent. The result is a good, not great, simple and satisfying orange spiced woody amber tea fragrance. The bottle design of coiled dragon and named Winter Palace playfully refers to Game of Thrones Winterfell palace - a beautiful presentation and reason enough to purchase this one for me. As Game of Thrones is now over and fading from thought - I suggest to test it before you buy. It's worth it to me, but I like spice scents very much.

Memo Winter Palace is the Paris house's most recent and only 2019 release, to date, of which I'm aware. I'd immediately describe it as a sort of spicy orange cream. Its mix of citruses (grapefruit, bergamot, lemon), vanilla, benzoin, labdanum, balsam, and musk facilitates such a feeling, though I'm guessing it's the mate and red tea that give the fragrance its certain kick.

I own a couple of fragrances that I'd describe as being orange cream-like (Profumum Roma Mergina and Lili Bermuda SunKiss) but Winter Palace is darker and especially spicier than either. I still think it's fair to call Winter Palace a gourmand–and a fairly indulgent one, at that–but it's not as sweet or bright as either of the two aforementioned fragrances, so it's refreshing that it deviates a bit and goes into different territory. I quite like it, even if I prefer the other two, overall.

It feels versatile, like it's serious and dark enough for going out and winter, respectively, but still sweet and playful and somewhat fresh enough to be worn casually or in summer.

Winter Palace is priced at $295-300 for the standard 75ml Memo bottle size is available at Luckyscent, Neiman Marcus, and its house site, though I suspect, like most other entries in the house, it'll be available on the grey market at a discount, which is the case for Tiger's Nest, only released last year.

7 out of 10