PENHALIGON'S Clandestine Clara

A vanilla-drenched opening with a distinct element of booziness greets me in the opening blast.  It is not very dark and on the brighter side, as if a white rum had been added.  The vanilla is not very intense and certainly never cloying on me.  

The drydown adds a distinct cinnamon flavour and the base includes a soft white musk mix with touches of a light infection of patchouli.  It is a restrained patchouli, with lacks any significant harshness and sharpness: this is no Purple Patchouli.  

I get moderate sillage, very good projection and six hours of longevity on my skin.  

Quite a pleasant scent for winter days, but a bit too generic and synthetic to win me over such as to give it a positive score.   

The weird background pastiches, stories and descriptions of the portraits and persons related to the associated scents are very arbitrary and ineffable twaddle to me.  And I thought Creed’s embellishments were strange at times!

Overall 2.75/5.