Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before...
In late 2014, niche line Frapin launched Nevermore, a new fragrance inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven." I love any reference to Poe, and Frapin's characterization of Nevermore as a "spicy woody metallic rose" appealed to me, so I looked forward to trying it and writing about it here.
Nevermore was developed for Frapin by perfumer Anne-Sophie Behaghel, and its composition includes notes of black pepper, nutmeg, floralozone and aldehydes; rose oxide, rose de mai, rose damascena and "bonded wine"; saffron, Atlas cedar and amber wood. Its concept is inspired by the legendary "Poe toaster," a mysterious figure who for several decades visited Poe's Baltimore resting place annually on the writer's birthday (January 19) and left a bottle of Cognac and three roses. (You can read a history of the grave and this occurrence here.)
Frapin (primarily known as a producer of fine Cognac, hence the tie-in to the Poe story!) describes Nevermore this way: "Dark and metallic, rose oxide opens the door to the garden of the soul. Pale flowers of the air, aldehydes veil the stones and their epitaphs with an icy vapour connecting earth and sky. With its thorns, the rose keeps visitor at bay, and yet its wine-coloured petals streaked with saffron sparks invite them close." That's a fairly purple description, yet it's appropriate for Poe and "The Raven" and this particular fragrance. Nevermore might include some rose notes, but it's certainly not one of the clean, fresh soliflores that I've been smelling and reviewing this spring.
I always enjoy fragrances that unfold like narratives, and Nevermore is one of them: it's dusky and evocative, and it can easily be matched with the idea of visiting Poe's grave on a winter night. It opens with a sharp cedar note and a touch of pepper. Keeping the description of Nevermore in mind, the rest of the fragrance's "landscape" really can be imagined as a combination of graveyard and garden: there's a mineral note that suggests gravestones, an airiness from the aldehydes and ozonic notes (don't worry, the ozones feel chilly and green rather than beachy!), and the oak-y note that appears in several Frapin fragrances. The rose at Nevermore's heart is a deep, wine-y rose, and in the fragrance's dry down it turns muskier and is supported by a shadowy amber base.
Overall, Nevermore has an intriguing balance of coolness and warmth — coolness from the notes of air and stone and damp soil, and warmth from the underlying woods. It may appeal to anyone who loves earthy, wine-y rose fragrances like L'Artisan Parfumeur Voleur de Roses or Sonoma Scent Studio Vintage Rose, and it has excellent staying power.
Nevermore leans more masculine than the fragrances I typically wear, but it feels more androgynous as it dries down, and I think I could carry it off in cool weather. I only wish it were available in a smaller bottle, but I'm enjoying it, and throughout the day I find it "still beguiling all my fancy into smiling," as Poe wrote in his famous poem.
Frapin Nevermore is available as 100 ml ($195) Eau de Parfum. For buying information, see the listing for Frapin under Perfume Houses.
Note: top left image is Poe Grave at Westminster via Wikimedia Commons.
A bonded winery or warehouse is one which has secured a surety bond to ensure payment of public liquor taxes.
The phrase does not relate to scent.
Since we are talking about a POE inspired scent, why not say it has notes of a cask of Amontadillo, or black cat civet?
Ah! Thank you. I”m not enough of an oenophile to know that! I guess it’s part of the Frapin legacy somehow.
There could be a whole line of Poe scents…I’d definitely wear “The Black Cat” or “The Gold Bug” or “The Purloined Letter!” I suppose this one is more of an homage to the Poe legacy…
Oddly enough I am a bonding expert.
The great Dick Francis wrote a mystery built around bonded liquor and truck hijacking, called Proof.
I learn something new here every day — often unrelated to perfume!
A great idea! A ‘Poe’ scent would evoke a melancholic sense of impending doom and insanity.
‘Tuberculeuse criminelle’ perhaps?
It’d smell medicinal, of course, and it’d smell of death. Hospital ward mixed with cough syrup and indoles for bad breath. Then a wee bit of sickly sweet ketchup and metal for the blood to splurt out.
Paddywax offers a Poe candle… see here:
https://nstperfume.com/2010/10/24/paddywax-library-collection-edgar-allan-poe-candle-home-fragrance-review/
What a wonderful piece of writing this is, Jessica. Thank-you for bringing my attention to this fascinating story and the work that Frapin has done to evoke the spirit of Poe in a fragrance. Art!
I’m glad you enjoyed it, because I certainly enjoyed the fragrance!
I do love the story behind this and you’ve renewed my interest in wanting to try it.
If you do happen to be anywhere near Barneys, pop in and give it a sniff! I wish they offered it in a smaller bottle…I really like it, and I think it’s very well done, but it’s not the sort of fragrance I wear on a regular basis.
Oh, this sounds like I would like it but I think I’ll just release it from my mind. Smell not, want want.
Jessica, I was in Lush the other day and I picked up an ultraviolet bubble bar. It smells wonderful. I’m sure you would love it. The girl in the shop told me that it has the same scent as Kerbside Violet so I can’t wait for that to be released here. I completely forgot to check out the shampoo bars though so I’ll have to head back soon.
Oh boy! I need to get one, I think. And I really, really want to try Kerbside Violet.
Some of the shampoo bars smell great, but I’m waiting for Jason & the Argan Oil, which has reportedly been held up due to production difficulties.
I noticed that Jason and the Argan Oil is finally in stock online. Hopefully it gets out to the shops soon.
Sounds fab’
Before you even mentioned it I thought of Voleur de Roses from the 1st part of your review. I always had a strange fascination with that scent. It smells like dead roses which is just sort of cool.
Mikeperez, I’ve had a long romance with Voleur de Roses! I don’t wear it as often as Drole de Rose or Traversee du Bosphore, but when I’m in the mood for it, it’s perfect.
Thank you for the review Jessica..it does sound like an interesting perfume. For me, it seems to be more of a fall/winter perfume, no? Unfortunately I haven’t smelled it yet, but hopefully I will soon
The rose oxide note, sounds like an interesting note
It feels more fall/winter to me, too. It would be perfect on a gusty, rainy day!
I like the rose oxide note more than I expected to.
Gusty, rainy days seems to be my faves…al though, I do love that spring is around with a lot of sunny days (at least here in Denmark)
I have to try this! Love the guy! Have visited his home in Baltimore. (Hit my forehead on the turret stairway. Left a mark.) Stalked the apartment in Greenwich Village where he read The Raven for the first time. Am I almost as creepy as he was? You bet! The ingredients sound good. And, what a name!
I’ve been to his Philadelphia house, and I’ve seen some of his papers at the Morgan Library in NYC. He is always fascinating! I think he’d like to know that people are still reading his work and trying to peep into his life.
Me too!
This sounds like it’s worth seeking out because of the Poe reference. Just like De Profundis was with Oscar Wilde.
So true — even if I don’t think I’m going to like a fragrance for my own use, a literary reference will draw me in to try it at least once!
I LOVE Edgar Allan Poe. Like, Jessica, I saw his papers at the Morgan Library. The guy just simply fascinates me. I once went to a venue in New Jersey where for an entire evening, person after person got up to read / recite Annabel Lee. Yes, I was a dork as I once had this poem memorized and it was not even required for school.
But back to perfume, i was just at Barneys and did not think to sniff this or ask for a sample. Oh well, there’s always a next time! I could see myself liking this based on your description!
I don’t think that’s dorky at all!
I love that so many scentophiles are also passionate about literature. Yes, do put Nevermore on your Barneys to-smell list!
The Barneys Love Yourself Bag Event Handsome Dopp Kit included a sample of Nevermore! So I tried it today. Unfortunately, it turned all synthetic woody on me. More for the ones who love it
and money saved for me!
The fragrance description had my purple alarm going off too! But reading your review it certainly sounds fitting (How rare is that nowadays right? They mostly feel like compensations to the bland juice in the bottles!)
I would certainly not mind sampling this but I think it may very likely be too heavy (read: masculine) a scent for me. But then again, skin chemistry is an unpredictable thing!
Happy888cat, I went back and forth for a while — is it too masculine for me, or not? For the first hour, it does feel quite masculine (in a good, old-fashioned way, not a mainstream “sport” way!), but then the rose and the earth make it more shared-gender. I think I could get away with it in fall and winter!
Thank you!
Oh, if it is a “sporty” masculine or “man sweat” masculine, it will truly be a Nevermore for me!
Neverfear.
The most anticipated release to me personally!!Cannot wait to sniff this one!It’s been on top of my wishlist since word got out!Lol.This one and Misia(tick!)Lol.The sounds sounds really right up my ally.I must say that Frapin does some excellent fragrances,I’m particularly fond of Passion Boiseé and L’Humaniste.1270 and 1697 are right up there as well.Great review.MUST SMELL.xo
*the NOTES sound right….
Hooray! I hope you’ll be able to try it soon. I need to make a stop in Saks or Bergdorf *soon* in order to try Misia!
I like Frapin’s Paradis Perdu quite a bit, too.
Haha!Cannot believe we talked about NEVERMORE this long ago!I FINALLY got around to test it today!LOVE AT FIRST SNIFF!Isaw,I tested,I bought.Fabulous perfume!
So glad you finally had a chance to try it! One of my favorites of 2015, I think!!
Nevermore did something that hardly happens to me with new releases nowadays. I fell head over heels for this long-dead-dried-rose-pressed-in-a-crumbly-old-book-at-a-sorrow-dampened- haunted-library kind of a rose.
Thank You Jessica dear,for reviewing this! I long for praises about Nevermore.
Oh, exactly! We had similar experiences. Isn’t it wonderful when something like that happens, especially after smelling so many disappointing fragrances in a row?
I LOVE YOUR DESCRIPTION OF THISS!!:-))
Me too!