Item Description
This time of year I really like to go through my sandalwood stock. The creams, aftershaves, and of course colognes come out. As you all know "sandalwood" is a scent that is interpreted very differently depending on who does it, but what I like are dry, woody scents that are as close to the (very expensive) essential oil as possible.
Diptyque's Tam Dao shares a lot of similarities with Floris Sandalwood, my previously favorite sandalwood cologne. The dry down of both is dry, spicy, and woody, not the in-your-face sweetness of something like Trumper sandalwood.
Tam Dao starts off with a riot of scents. There is a strong cypress opening mixed with the sandalwood that I like a lot. The scent swirls around for the first few minutes in a quite exciting fashion. It reminds me of what a market in Goa or somewhere else in India might be like. After 10 minutes or so, the cypress recedes and you are left with a very complex, spicy, and dry sandalwood scent that lingers for most of the day.
Where this differs from the Floris offering is that when you spray on Floris, you smell essentially nothing (see my Floris Sandalwood review). Over time it develops, and stays quite close to the skln. The Tam Dao is a bit more intense and outward-facing. You wear Floris for yourself (or someone you are snuggling with), while Tam Dao will be appreciated by those around you (without being overpowering).
I really like this scent, and it has jumped to the top of my favorite sandalwood products. If I had to find one flaw, it is that it is on the pricey side at $65 or so for 50mL.
If you would like to discuss this review without providing numeric scores, please refer to this thread.
Diptyque's Tam Dao shares a lot of similarities with Floris Sandalwood, my previously favorite sandalwood cologne. The dry down of both is dry, spicy, and woody, not the in-your-face sweetness of something like Trumper sandalwood.
Tam Dao starts off with a riot of scents. There is a strong cypress opening mixed with the sandalwood that I like a lot. The scent swirls around for the first few minutes in a quite exciting fashion. It reminds me of what a market in Goa or somewhere else in India might be like. After 10 minutes or so, the cypress recedes and you are left with a very complex, spicy, and dry sandalwood scent that lingers for most of the day.
Where this differs from the Floris offering is that when you spray on Floris, you smell essentially nothing (see my Floris Sandalwood review). Over time it develops, and stays quite close to the skln. The Tam Dao is a bit more intense and outward-facing. You wear Floris for yourself (or someone you are snuggling with), while Tam Dao will be appreciated by those around you (without being overpowering).
I really like this scent, and it has jumped to the top of my favorite sandalwood products. If I had to find one flaw, it is that it is on the pricey side at $65 or so for 50mL.
If you would like to discuss this review without providing numeric scores, please refer to this thread.