Maison Tahité Vicious Cacao collage Brenda Godinez via unsplash, edit by Nicoleta
After exploring the richness and complexity of vanilla in their debut collection*, Maison Tahité – Officine Creative Profumi has returned with a new temptation for gourmand lovers everywhere: the brand new cocoa collection:
There are four new fragrances in the Maison Tahité Cacao Collection:
Cacao2: a spicy woody take on cacao that feels like an indulgent trip to the sweet section of the local bio raw vegan shop, created by David Maruitte, featuring notes of cinnamon, labdanum, toasted notes of cacao, vanilla, and amber;
Carnal Cacao: Anita Ekberg in the famous Trevi Fountain scene, re-enacted with a tuberose diva dipped into a fountain of chocolate. Gourmand and tuberose lovers will swoon at this creation of Paul Guerlain, with notes including tangerine, pink pepper, tuberose, neroli, and musk;
Cacao Libertine: a carefree yet complex mix of sensual ambers and deep atmospheric florals created by David Maruitte with notes of bergamot, tangerines, cardamom, rose, and patchouli;
Maison Tahité Vicious Cacao – a salty, sweet dessert cake, prepared by Luca Maffei, that we shall feast on in this review.
Maison Tahite Vicious Cacao, official brand photo
Known as “the food of gods”, Cocoa is responsible for firing a series of mood-lifting chemicals into our brains. Scientists** have discovered that eating chocolate is responsible for putting us in a good mood, but some research also shows that the mere smell of chocolate is enough to alter your disposition, as it was found to reduce the levels of stress and made the participants in the study more relaxed. More so, using electroencephalography to track the subject’s brain waves as they sniffed chocolate, yielded a surprising result: a reduction in a particular type of brain activity called theta, which is thought to be an index of attentiveness. To put it simply, the researchers’ finding could be summed up as: eating a bar of chocolate might cheer you up, but sniffing it calms you down. (** Info taken from a study published in National Center for Biotechnology Information article). I have often quoted the following Larry David quote from the movie “Whatever Works” and lately, I have also interpreted it in a perfume-related context: “That’s why I can’t say enough times, whatever love you can get and give, whatever happiness you can filch or provide, every temporary measure of grace, whatever works.”. Sugar does work, and there is also a scientific explanation: our brains, although being under two percent of our body mass, consume around twenty of our total energy and half of our daily carbohydrate requirements, glucose being the most important one. In times of stressful conditions, our brains require up to twelve percent more energy, and this is why, when we are feeling overwhelmed and anxious – one of the first things that come into our minds is sugar.
That would explain why we have been all craving sweets and comfort like never before, given the overwhelming anxiety source that the pandemic has been – and still is. Most of us, at one point in our lives, had our experiments of trying to make “healthy” variants of our favorite meals, and if you are gluten intolerant and/or follow a low carb diet, then you know the daily struggles of trying to enjoy a cauliflower pizza, sighing in front of a bell pepper “sandwich” and, saddest of all, the Frankenstein gluten-free experiments of almond-flower, stevia-sweetened cakes that might trick your taste buds for a second, but will never feel just right. But, for us, fume – heads, there is an alternative route we can take, to make things easier. Whatever works, right?. The gourmand category is the one genre of perfumery I have actively avoided all my early “parfumista life”, up until about 4 years ago, when, down the rabbit hole I went – and am still falling. And with more and more niche houses expanding their portfolio with creative, complex, and scrumptious unapologetically gourmand lines, I don’t think I will stop too soon.
Collage made using images from foodlove dot com and hintofvanilla dot com
Let’s take out our dessert fork and dig in. The first bite of Maison Tahité Vicious Cacao is exhilaratingly bright, with its slightly tart and fresh raspberry jam and crushed pink peppercorns, added in both for décor and crunchy kick and texture. Fresh, spicy, with an undercurrent of rosy floral-fruity richness, we are eased into what would be led to believe to be a light, guilt-free type of dessert experience. But hold on!
Collage made using images from Unsplash (Jessica Loiaza, Lindsay Cotter, Evie S, Yulia Khlebnikova)
Soon enough, things get serious. Eye-closing in delight level of seriousness, I’m talking here. We are in the presence of the most viciously indulgent, sensually textured, rich buttery goodness version of a chocolate cake that I have encountered lately in scented form. The thing that makes Maison Tahité Vicious Cacao so good is the almost photorealistic level of detail and the nuances and textures that add up for a completely pampering experience. As an eastern European, the taste of chocolate cake is synonymous with the taste of rum essence, and we have it all here, mixed in the cake batter for the familiar deep, bittersweet scrumptious taste. We take a different turn on the culinary-scented map and the sponge-like texture of the cake has now also absorbed flower-infused water and the delicate aroma of saffron and elevated the experience to 5 stars dessert, the Persian cake edition. Just when you thought your taste buds could not take any more surprises, in comes the star: sharp crystals of clear salt, mixing in the texture of the thick Carmel cream.
Collage made using images from Unsplash: Brenda Godinez, Heather Barnes, Irene Kredenets, Kristina Pinne, Taylor Kiser
The dry-down plays between contrasts: creamy and dry woody notes and a deep, warm, and balsamic vanilla that acts as a weighted blanket of comfortable darkness, in which you want to crawl up. Maison Tahité Vicious Cocoa is the kind of perfume I would gift a decant of to a “gourmand nihilist” perfumista friend (insert a Steve Buscemi in the ”Big Lebowski” smirk here) and slowly watch him cave into temptation. Intelligently balanced, playing between spicy and floral accords, on the backdrop of the most epicurean chocolate experience, this pulse-raising Vicious Cacao is to be indulged in, time after time, guilt-free.
*Also see my reviews for Maison Tahité Vanilla2 and Sel_Vanille
Notes: Raspberry – Rose Pepper – Rum; Amber – Narcissus – Cocoa Absolute – Jasmine; Salty Caramel – Sandal wood – Saffron – Oak Moss – Benzoin
Nicoleta Tomsa, Senior Editor
Disclosure: Bottle and samples kindly provided by Maison Tahite, opinions are my own
Maison Tahite Vicious Cacao, photo by Nicoleta
Thanks to the generosity of Maison Tahité we have a 100 ml of Vicious Cacao for one registered reader in the US, or EU You must register or your entry will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what sparks your interest based on Nicoleta’s review of Maison Tahité Vicious Cacao and where you live. Draw closes 11/17/2021
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