It seems that everyone is talking about Cuba, but for now, a visit still requires plum connections, a state-approved reason, or a last name like Carter or Knowles. For a scent journey to the country, Demeter offers Cuba, a new scent in the brand’s inaugural Destination Collection, which is spicy, savory, and sweet all at once. If you can imagine the unlikely event of a fresh cigar burning inside of a cupcake bakery, then you’re on your way to the crux of the fragrance. Falling in line with the brand’s top-note-heavy scent composition, Cuba’s tobacco leaves, sugarcane, and what CEO Mark Crames calls “Latin spices,” instantly hit your nose at first whiff, and remain stagnant, no matter how long it sits on your skin. The sweetness in the unisex Cuba is from actual sugar, not syrupy fruit, so the scent is smooth and firmly mature. It’s kind of sexy, too. It was inspired, after all, by what the brand calls “warm and sensual Havana nights,” though Crames admits this is only what he imagines, having never experienced a Havana night himself. I for one, will be pairing it with a mojito on a very sensual island, named Manhattan. Not quite the same, but good enough.
Demeter’s Cuba, $20 at Demeter.
