The early exploration writing of Philip Sava bent the limits of post-modern fiction, revealing fantastical worlds that fooled many into believing they were, in fact, real. Sava’s kaleidoscopic collections, of which Memoirs of a Trespasser is the undeniable centerpiece, drew upon true experiences from his exotic travels but were infused with a hallucinatory inventiveness that set his work apart from others in the genre.
Though Sava had associates all over the world, he spent most of his time living in solitude on a ranch in southern Madagascar. When interrogated by the press on his cloistered lifestyle he notoriously answered, “Who needs love when you have cognac?”
When I reviewed two fragrances (An Air of Despair and A City On Fire) from indie niche line Imaginary Authors back in June, I asked people to name their own favorites from the brand in the comments. Memoirs of a Trespasser garnered the most mentions, and now that I've smelled it, I can see why.
As with the other fragrances from Imaginary Authors, the back story is essentially an imaginary blurb from an imaginary book written by an imaginary author (in this case, Philip Sava; see above). And it's a reasonably good one, but like many book blurbs, somewhat misleading. If you're wanting to bend the limits of post-modern anything, or reveal fantastical worlds and so on and so forth, you might be better served by the offbeat A City On Fire, or the even more offbeat (and demanding) Bull's Blood. Memoirs of a Trespasser is more easy-going than either: it's a just-slightly-offbeat vanilla comfort scent for grown ups, and perhaps more reflective of the emphasis on creature comforts found in the line about cognac.
The opening is, admittedly, awfully sweet and fruity, and closer to overindulgence at a fairground than any sort of exotic travels. For a few unhappy seconds I was dismayed that I'd blithely put three sprays on my arm instead of one judicious spritz on a blotter — when will I ever learn? Memoirs calms quickly enough, though, and then it's a reasonably dry and smooth vanilla over a bed of resinous amber-y woods, with hints of spice and allusions to tobacco and leather. It's oak-y but not overtly boozy, and there's a little thread of smoke running through the base. It isn't creamy,1 or cake-like, or even foody, and it's more sheer than the notes (vanilla, guaiacwood, myrrh, benzoin, ambrette and oak barrels) might suggest, lying somewhere in the middle of the continuum between Diptyque Eau Duelle and Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille. It has reasonable heft and sillage, though, and the lasting power is quite good.
Verdict: A winner, and I'm glad I procrastinated and did not try it in really hot and humid weather. If it came in a travel size, it would go on my buy list (regular readers might remember that I am determined not to buy more than 30 ml of anything, given that I already own more perfume than I'll use in my lifetime). Memoirs, along with Yesterday's Haze (nutty creamy fig) and Cape Heartache (strawberry and pine), would make a perfect quirky-but-wearable indie fall / winter trio.
Imaginary Authors Memoirs of a Trespasser is $95 for 50 ml Eau de Parfum. For buying information, see the listing for Imaginary Authors under Perfume Houses.
1. Although I should note that I'd totally forgotten that Kevin included Memoirs in his Top 10 Winter Fragrances of 2014. He says it is creamy, so your mileage may vary. He also says "This is how I wish my sweaters smelled when taken out in autumn after summer storage", and I'll second that.
This is my one and only Imaginary Authors bottle. I seem to recall buying it for the tonka bean vibe I got from it. I am looking forward to wearing it when it’s colder. Grrrr, I think we’re in for some oppressive weather later this week!
It looks like it — but I’ll take as much summer as I can get! But admittedly it is really too hot for me to want to wear MOAT very much.
Agree with hajusuuri, the was the only one in the line I found wearable – just my preference, of course.
I like a few of them. No way I am buying any in 50 ml, but if they were in much smaller bottles I’d want several of them.
Josh is a very nice fella–I wonder if we can persuade him to look into making mix-and-match traveler’s sets? . . . I will make a mental note for the next time we cross paths!
As a general rule, I want travel sizes. But I do totally understand that it’s out of the question for many smaller brands — just too expensive to maintain multiple bottle sizes and find distribution for them, etc. So, do tell him but I won’t hold my breath
Oh I’m glad you liked this one, Robin, it’s one of my very favorite chilly fall night scents. Or cold winter afternoons. Our neighbor uses his wood burner to heat his house and I just love that smell, combined with cold fresh air…MoaT reminds me of that smell. Of course it was 93 degrees today and sticky as all get out so my perfume ennui continues, I’m trying to keep in mind that next February I really will miss this weather.
I love that smell too. If it were a good 10 degrees cooler, I might have tried layering MoaT with City on Fire, but I have a feeling City on Fire would eat MoaT up and spit it right out
City on Fire would eat anything up and spit it right out!
I think that’s true.
I love how this fragrance turns into different things for different people. To me it’s primarily smoky and woody, with a nice toasted marshmallow vibe from the vanilla. It smells like a campfire!
FYI, Imaginary Authors has 30 ml sizes on their Etsy page, etsy.com/shop/ImaginaryAuthors
A travel set option would be nice though…
I did not know that, thank you!
I met Josh at the Wicker Park art fair yesterday, I bought a sample of this and I love the myrrh in it, with the vanilla creaminess it’s just a wonderful autumn fragrance. This will probably be my daily fragrance for a while!
This fragrance was an acquired taste for me.It took some time to fully appreciate it after wearing lighter gourmand vanillas.It has wonderful staying power and is a perfect winter fragrance for the Pacific NW when it is cold and raining.