New York City is a crazy quilt made up of its neighborhoods. Bond No. 9 is going to eventually make a fragrant statement about every one of these neighborhoods before Laurice Rahme is done. The most recent piece of NYC real estate to get the Bond No. 9 interpretation is one of my favorites in the entire city, Central Park West.

If you have ever walked the 51 blocks up Eighth Avenue, from Columbus Circle to Frederick Douglass Circle, along the west side of Central Park you will see a section of the city where every building hews to a similar architecture from the newest address at 15 Central Park West to the twin towers of The Majestic built in the 1930’s. Besides the architecture there is also the Museum of Natural History to further feed your brain. When the Spring has finally sprung this walk is among my favorite things to do as Central Park is full of newly returning life and the buildings on the other side of the street seem like they have been there since the beginning of civilized life in Manhattan. This is the mental landscape perfumer Laurent Le Guernec had to get right for me.

I had high expectations because M Le Guernec in one of his previous creations for Bond No. 9, High Line, captured this Spring vitality crossed with an urban theme so very well. He does complete that task again but the Meatpacking District, where you find the High Line, is a little grittier than CPW and M Le Guernec knows that and creates a more refined Spring fragrance in Central Park West full of some of my favorite vernal blooms.

Right from the opening narcissus M Le Guernec signals Central Park West is going to be a floral rocket ride. Narcissus is one of my very favorite notes in perfumery. When it is used well it adds a floral intensity that appeals to me very much. The narcissus on display in Central Park West is used to beckon you into the fragrance and soon enough ylang ylang adds to the narcissus. A pinch of black pepper is added to supply only a hint of the urban landscape under the opening. The heart is dominated by a very green gardenia freshly blooming on the bush. Jasmine and orrris are also present in the heart but instead of taking their more usual forward positions they lay back and allow the gardenia to carry the day. The great majority of Central Park West is spent in that gardenia-centric heart and your tolerance for gardenia will likely determine your feelings for this fragrance. The base notes almost whiz by with the speed of an Eighth Avenue Subway as vetiver, oak, and moss form this quickly developing phase.

Central Park West has outstanding overnight longevity and above average sillage.

If you are looking for a fragrance to rouse you from your winter blues Central Park West is likely to be the fragrant wake-up call you’ve been waiting for.

Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Bond No. 9.

Courtesy of Bond No. 9 we have a draw for a 5mL sample of Central Park West. To be eligible you’re going to have to work a tiny bit. Any comment which can leave any bit of trivia about the failed CBS series called Central Park West, and later named CPW, will be entered. So leave a comment naming a star, a character, an episode title, the industry that was spotlighted, the name of the fictional company….anything. It will probably require a search engine for most of you. For those who can do this without assistance of the Internet consider yourself gold starred. We will draw one winner on February 21, 2012 via random.org.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilt perfume.

–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor