Needle In A Haystack: Habanita Parfum by Molinard
April 19th, 2007
It’s Needle In A Haystack time! Please note the image on the left: every week Marina provides me with an image for our joint project. I don’t know how she does it but she’s clearly a genius. Today’s sample drawing looked liked this (Mr.Aromascope can attest, if necessary): container with samples was dumped on the bed, vigorously shuffled around, head looked up at the ceiling, hand was stretched in the general direction of samples, and a sample picked out in slow motion. “An easy one!” was what followed. Molinard Habanita in parfum!
Writing about Habanita proved to be simple and complicated at the same time. Simple because the scent instantly transports me back to my childhood. I’m sitting in the kindergarten cafeteria, it’s lunch or dinner time, with about 20 kids around me, all starving and equally ready to throw a tantrum and dump the food about to be served (not another kasha!) when all of a sudden we all behold The Drink. Dried fruit compote! Oh the fuss that occurs (mixed with utter adoration) - the hysteria, practically. That’s what Habanita is to me - the much loved and cherished and never allowed to be shared dried fruit compote. The complicated part consists of actually not getting any associations the scent was inspired by. Havana? Cigars? 1921? I give it complete credit, of course, but to me it’s akin to detachedly admiring an old painting (much like I admire the bottle). Habanita is gutsy, savory, beguiling, charming, and decidedly old-fashioned. Originally created as an accessory to cigarettes, it’s a fleshy mix of pipe tobacco and baby powder. It’s a bit more complex than that (especially in parfum) - a sultry, dusky fruity-floral in top notes with smoky, resinous powder in the drydown. Habanita should be worn with caution - it is potent. I love Habanita as much as I loved my compote, and that’s what it will always be to me.
Habanita features the notes of bergamot, peach, strawberry, orange blossom, rose, ylang-ylang, orris, lilac, heliotrope, leather, vanilla, cedar, benzoin. I highly recommend trying the parfum concentration which is much smoother and more dense. It can be found at various perfume etailers as well as directly from the Molinard online shop.
Please be sure to check Marina’s draw of the day.
Image source: molinard.com
Entry Filed under: Needle In A Haystack, Perfume Reviews
18 Comments Add your own
1. Elle | April 20th, 2007 at 6:41 am
LOL about not sharing the precious dried fruit compote!
Habanita is such a gorgeous, opulent scent - *why* did I wear it in Atlanta? Will never be able to shake that association.
2. Marina | April 20th, 2007 at 7:03 am
Loved the sample-choosing vignette!
Don’t love, but respect Habanita. It should theoretically be something I’d adore, but it leaves me strangely cold. 
3. newproducts | April 20th, 2007 at 9:37 am
I wish I got the wonderful things you get from Habanita. I haven’t tried the parfum, but the edt was awful–stale cigarettes, ashes, and candy–on me.
4. Maria B. | April 20th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Habanita is one of my favorite scents. I first tried it because it was named after my native city, but fell in love with it for itself. I think the link with Havana is tobacco leaf, which is produced in Cuba in quantity, but not in Havana.
Legend has it that the fragrance was first created to perfume cigarettes. I agree with you that the parfum version is superior to the others. I recently tried the EdP, and it didn’t smell like the Habanita I know.
5. Judith | April 20th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
This is one of my all-time favorites–and it smells very sexy on me–but I have experienced it smelling awful on others. It’s a scent that varies a lot with chemistry.
6. Ina | April 20th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Elle, too bad the association ruins it for you. I sure know what it’s like.
7. Ina | April 20th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Marina, if it wasn’t for the compote, I doubt I’d like it as much.
8. Ina | April 20th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Minsun, the parfum might be the answer, although it’s still tobaccoey.
9. Ina | April 20th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Maria, I envy you for getting the associations I’m missing out on.
10. Ina | April 20th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Judith, definitely! Love or hate.
11. Solander | April 20th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Habanita is one of the must-tries I’ve never come around to trying… Thanks for reminding me! I didn’t know the bottle was so old-fashionedly pretty.
12. Ina | April 20th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Tove, for a leather lover like you, it is indeed a must try.
13. Elena Singh | April 20th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Oh, the dried fruit compote (kompot iz suhofruktov) - a staple in my house, my grandma made it all the time! I should make some today! Great review of Habanita and you are right - careful with application!
14. Ina | April 20th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Elena, ah, I knew you’d relate.
I so miss it. I’ve never actually made it myself for fear of ruining such precious juice. 
15. hausvonstone | April 21st, 2007 at 1:27 am
I really liked the smell of this one, but it made me sneeze, so I had to give it away! It was a little tough parting with it. It seemed so golden. But, I can’t go around sneezing. I wonder if I smelled it on others if it would still trigger such a reaction?
16. Flora | April 21st, 2007 at 1:43 am
I love this one, and the Parfum is the way to go, never mind the EDT. This is a whopping great STRONG perfume so just go with the flow. When I first tried it years ago it was too much, but I recently got a Parfum sample and I just love it - I am now old enough to wear it! It is not for ingenues, trust me. This is truly a perfume for grown women. Sweet but very deep and mysterious, and it just gets better the longer it’s on the skin, for me anyway.
17. Ina | April 21st, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Hausvonstone, how unfortunate! Maybe you should try the parfum.
18. Ina | April 21st, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Flora, perfect description! Yes, a little goes a looong way.
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