Tom Ford - Black Orchid Reserve · Brotherhood Of Scent

Tom Ford - Black Orchid Reserve

I was able to check out Neiman Marcus today and test the new Tom Ford Black Orchid Reserve. I was hoping for a sample, but the counter was all out of the little decant bottles, and they didn't have any official samples. But I got to do the next best thing and spray it on my arm.

So far, I'm noticing that the opening is a lot darker than the original, but it's still got that truffle edge and the orchid in the dry down. The EDP has a ton of notes, and the Reserve only lists a few, but the biggest differences I see are that Reserve takes out a lot of the brighter citrus and white florals, leaving just the darker orchid, truffle, ylang-ylang, and chocolate notes.

I'm about 3 hours into it, and I genuinely like it. Is it better than the EDP? I don't know. I'm going to go back later in the week and see if I can get a sample so I can give it a few wears before I make a statement on that. But for now, I think it's got the potential to be a very good flanker for the line.

That price, though, may keep it out of reach. It retails for $345, but they have it on sale in store today and tomorrow for $262 and online for $293. I'll be keeping an eye out for discounters and for it to pop up at decanters as well.

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