So there's some very good things and some very bad things about this release from CD & Demachy, but it's far from a simple story or boring, so I guess it deserves some props for that. I feel duty bound to preface this review with some thoughts on the background and my pre exposure to this fragrance. As part of the 'fragrance community' whether I like it or not I'm exposed to other people's perceptions and opinions on a regular basis and let's just say some of the circles I've been mixing in recently are not fans of Demachy, in fact the vitriol is borderline disrespectful. So I'd heard bad things but even the most ardent critic actually had a few positive things to say about Tobacolor and in honesty this is how I feel about it....mixed. Firstly the SA at the Dior counter was lovely and she sprayed the card for me, I felt a palpable sense of trepidation at smelling it due to the preconceived notions I had from others talking about it (something I really hate to have when sampling a new perfume) and at 12" or so away I was like "oh no!!! it's that god awful played to death, fruity, sweet, insipid, 'tobacco' bullshit which I could forgive way back when Mugler did it for a fraction of the price, but I just really didn't want tobacolor to be that!!! Thankfully it isn't! Let it settle for a moment and engage your secondary 'slower' more reasoned brain functions and Tobacolor is a triumph in some senses. The first that the fruity top is not cherries or 'dried fruit' and although equally amorphous, is actually really well done, giving what I perceive as a berry like, resinous, sprakle to proceedings, giving respite from what is a big hefty, lumpen, perfume. Another being that it actually smells of tobacco absolute, which most tobacco fragrances don't in my experience, I've no idea if this is natural or an accord? It matters not. I'm not even saying it's good to smell like tobacco absolute (personally I love it) because I guarantee most people probably prefer the impressions a perfumer creates of tobacco, than necessarily what it actually smells of. Who's to say that a tobacco fragrance should smell like the absolute or natural material? That might not be the vibe you're going for, a bit like oud or amber, anything goes and that's all fine. What I am saying however is that it's a fine accomplishment to use probably a tiny amount of a natural material (inevitably it would be) and get the most out of it as a perfumer. (If indeed this is what has happened here) or equally worthy of merit would be creating an accord which to me is one of the most reminiscent I've smelled of the real McCoy.(Kudos to Demachy) Natural perfumers and artisans might use the stuff in their potions but they are not as long lived and well handled as they are here, and that's just facts. However.... (and this is a BIG however) They are not long lived enough, and a big crime of this perfume is that it smells great on paper but not so good on my skin. On skin the 'gourmand' qualities just sort of splat it out into this murky, grim, sweet, caramelised base, therefore a bad perfume. (Fuck Demachy!!! LOL) no it's actually 'dark' ish and reasonably okay to wear after the top notes and tobacco have all but gone. No, I think the worst crime is that after a time, it really starts to smell of the two materials which make up the majority of the accord in Baccarat Rouge 540. Ambrox Super and Ethyl maltol. I'm not one to willy nilly accuse fragrances of copying or smelling the same as BR540 (which I find annoying if they don't really) or whatever, please I hope you know me by now. Neither do I dislike or moan about the smell of ambroxan in it's various guises, but here it just feels like all the interesting and perhaps 'should be' heaviness of woody, tobacco base, just sort of lifts off after a few hours, to reveal a mothership structure holding the whole thing together, which is essentially, light weight, balsa wood, hollow plastic tubes, and sticky back plastic, it's kinda odd. This makes for a tenacious drydown and the sensation of looking around for spilled ambroxide because that's what I can smell. Perhaps credit should be given for veiling this undercarriage so well? I don't know. The upshot of all this is that I like elements of the fragrance and for these it should be praised but for the tropes of gourmand sweetness and perhaps not as well finessed experience as it could be. I've also got to take into account the high standards and expectations I have of Dior and especially this prive line which is hit n miss to say the least, with a definite trajectory towards the gutter rather than the stars.