With a repertory of 80 scents and counting, Bond No. 9 is taking fragrance into a whole new direction and building a New York-centric empire of eau de parfum with a distinct urban edge - sophisticated, elegant, up-to-date, ahead of the curve. After all, our scents are designed right here in NoHo and every one of them is imbued with city smarts. Most Bond No. 9 perfumes capture the spirit of, and are named for, specific locales, from Riverside Drive to Coney Island. But we've also embarked on a New York Notes series, created for the many fragrance connoisseurs who are our customers. In this collection, we name each scent for its key ingredient, in order to explore and expand the blending possibilities. First came New York Oud, followed by New York Amber.
New York Musk, a shared male-female scent. Of course musk comes with a longstanding reputation for being animalic, perhaps even an aphrodisiac or pheromone. Indeed, this costly ingredient was originally derived from the nocturnal male musk
deer that dwells in the upper reaches of the Himalayas and produces this powerful, pungent aroma to mark its territory during mating season. Highly diluted, musk can be quite versatile, sometimes evoking the honeyed aroma of freshly bathed skin, or a garden being tended in springtime, or chocolate, spicy curry, or intense passion. That chameleon quality is one of several reasons it is universally used in perfumes. Another is the balance, warmth, and sensuality it brings to the mix. In fact, musk is a uniquely able fixative, relied on to hold a scent together—particularly the volatile top-notes—and keep it from fleeing. For that reason, it typically operates as a base note.
In a virtuoso performance, New York Musk displays its versatility when surrounded by contemporary fruit and spice accents. It opens with lightness and buoyancy: a blend of sparkling grapefruit flower, tart and tangy blackcurrant and galbaum - a pine-like aromatic gum resin from Persia. Then come the mid-notes, reinforcing that theme: Asian osmanthus flower, recalling peaches and apricots, combined with lemony-green-lilies - yes, flowers that smell like fruits - while spiking this mix is spicy nutmeg. Musk comes into play in the base notes, as it usually does, surrounded by its lingering cohorts, those willing conspirators in seduction, patchouli, sandalwood and vetiver.
