Description
Sonnet XVII was inspired by the famous poem by Pablo Neruda. This is an earthy but soft and ethereal fragrance that almost turns in upon itself—a fragrance that breathes in as it breathes out. The heart of the perfume starts with an accord that represents the archetype of a Chilean mountain orchid that blooms quietly without the showy flowers of its more tropical relatives. Not sweet and fruity, the aroma is instead subtle, primitive and introverted. The orchid is complemented by a generous amount of dark and voluptuous osmanthus absolute, with a peachy, leathery, almost animal-like scent, as well as mastic, which lends a unique bitter quality. The result is a fragrance that is floral but not floral, the scent of the flower that does not bloom but sends its fragrance up from the earth to be sensed unconsciously.
Top notes of Sonnet XVII include citron, cubeb, white champa flower, and mastic. The earthy base includes spikenard (Nard), oakmoss, Haitian vetiver, Bourbon vanilla, woods and musks, with a touch of natural ambergris.
Sonnet XVII was created by nose Ellen Covey and released in 2012. Available as 5 ml parfum spray, 25 ml parfum screw-top bottle and 30 ml EDP spray.
untofeste – :
I see a lot of people saying the opening smells like manure. I get it, but what I smell there is wool and lanolin. I do wool preparation and spinning as a hobby, so this really brings me some fond memories.
After that starts to fade, it turns more floral and fresh-earthy. I am not a big fan of floral, but this is growing on me fast. I love how well it mirrors its namesake sonnet. Who knows how long I will feel the need to read it every time I put this on.
klipaeodogkhfq – :
Oh my gosh—pop my balloons if you must—but this smells like manure mixed with Desitin diaper rash cream. It is disgusting, and I cannot believe people want to leave the house and go out into public smelling like a cow pasture. I had to scrub really hard to get this off, and then I sprayed something floral and pleasant over it. Everything I’ve tried by this brand thus far has been a total scrubber, and I am done with it.
shapka13 – :
The opening does smell a bit like manure, but this goes away after 15-30 minutes. Then the osmanthus comes out with its peach, tea-like smell and slight leather-like facet. The perfume moves back and forth between the osmanthus and the ambergris. The vetiver and nard give an earthy, herbal vibe.
Overall, this scent leans slightly towards the feminine end of the spectrum. I think this would be beautiful on a bride at an outdoor wedding. It smells like lovers frolicking outdoors surrounded by flowers and fruits, very romantic.
Sillage is moderate, longevity is excellent 6+hours. It can be worn year-round, but I think it would be interesting to retest this in warmer weather.
sergey_zybko – :
Holy cats this smells like cow manure when first applied (at least horse manure smells good, cow not so much). It is beginning to smell like mostly dirty hay after a few minutes. And from there, it just had to be scrubbed. UGH.
o24ronecycle – :
This is an incredibly beautiful fragrance that I’ve sampled many, many times. A strong, heady, opening of sweet earthy fetidness, indolic; almost but not quite animalic, though I can easily see how the comparisons are made. The opening which I find beautiful, yields rather quickly to a deepened heart of sweet, earthy yet floral fruity richness, a lush melange of osmanthus and ambergris, both beautifully prominent without being overwhelming. It offers a beautiful contrast in the use of those notes being incredibly subtle, drawing to an almost bare awareness as wear time goes on. Theres no cloying factor here, sillage is low, moderate wear time, and this can easily be worn in the heat.
I would probably recommend a sample purchase or two and at least a few wears, the opening may take a bit to fully appreciate. A beautifully composed, complex and delightfully understated fragrance.
mefestofel26 – :
It is a beautiful fragrance, I would agree with a breath in and breath out comment. It is champa and spikenyard, and osmanthus that play it together, interchanging with each breath.
It is a sweet fragrance, spicy, outwordly, it is extroverted in nature.
I loved the concept, and wanted to try it.
I love Ellen’s ambergis, and each component ofthis perfume is something I would look forward. Spikenard is one of my favorite oils, calming in nature, and strangely familiar in smell.
No farm smell here to me, and i would not call it animalistic, strangely it is more heavy honey rich flower smell just right before they are getting ready to fully bloom.
I love Patou 1000, so I am in. I might even consider getting a full bottle. I just need to wear it more.
Another perfume I am thinking here is Memo Inle, probably because of osmanthus note, and musky and woody accords.
troy789159 – :
When first tested you immediately get an almost manure or indolic note but you must wait. This quickly disappears and then its gorgeous. I get the the jatamansi then the osmanthus and ambergris. Its fresh and zingy from the jatamansi, mastic and vetiver. Its sweetened and rounded by the osmanthus, champaca and musk. For a fresh and herbally juice this has a decent sillage and longevity. A great warm weather fragrance.
IHWilmopoliv – :
Little did I know this fragrance was crafted as an inspiration from Pablo Neruda’s Sonnet XVII. Neruda is my all-time favorite poet and love his minimalistic yet deeply moving words. His work never needed any adornments since the images he painted with his words were enough to conjure absolute beauty. As is this perfume. What an absolute stroke of luck to find it.
On my skin it opened in a herbaceous way more like a fougere. The subtle orchid started to come through and it is pleasantly aromatic without overwhelming…a flower that is not cloying but simple and fresh and sweet. I get notes of damp earth as well.
sedou55 – :
I found it absolutely repugnant. Sickly sweet manure. Immediate scrubber. Made me feel nauseated.
Feappibeinson – :
Looking at the previous reviews and comments, I’m glad of the way Sonnet XVII develops, or rather blooms, on my skin.
On me it starts with a very heavy helping of recently-dried cow dung (once a country bumpkin, always a country bumpkin…) and upturned roots. I see how it would present a challenge for many people. However, something fruity soon starts snaking its way across, until it unfolds into gloriously dry, apricot-y, leathery osmanthus. This stage lasts for hours and radiates moderately around me. At the end of the day I still get tea and apricot whiffs, along with roots and mosses.
Wearing this is like making a journey from soil to flower to soil again, and this is probably why I keep being drawn to it.
I think you can still get a 3ml spray sample from the Olympic Orchids website if you fancy trying it out. If you are after a comparison, perhaps think Patou’s 1000 on steroids, less perfum-y and more natural.
gio_kiborg – :
Sonnet XVII on application is incredibly dry on my skin. Spikenard introduces itself as earthy, rooty, papery, parched, like potted soil left out in the sun too long. Then the union with cubeb and mastic gives rise to some harsh acridity on my skin and for whatever reason, reminds me of superglue. Perhaps because mastic is an aromatic gum resin used in varnish.
I detect ample dry, woody vetiver and even some leathery notes and oakmoss. Patiently I wait to experience the same “violently beautiful” transformation that lovingthealien below reports.
Eventually as the acridity subsides somewhat, a little apricot-like osmanthus peeks through but she is devastatingly reclusive. Her little friend, champaca is equally shy and both refuse to leave their shadowy refuge.
Sonnet XVII remains dry and earthy on my skin and hauntingly penetrating. For me, I find this fascinatingly unwearable and one that I want to revisit while the sun is shining to see if maybe the flowers might want to come out and play.
serega1978 – :
this is indolic, fetid, powdery, woody and floral to my nose. it is reminiscent of manure/decay/earthiness. I’d prefer the proportions to be a little more wood, resin or floral to the powder. I actually have no problem with the fetidness of it. I like it. but I cannot stand powdery scents at all. and this on my skin is a powder puff practically! I like it. I will have to try this many more times. Will get back to you fragranticans!
Edit: tried and sadly this animalic offering does not work on my skin. I think it’s the spikenard, it turns powdery and bitter. the lovely fetidness does not stay and play sadly.
hdk110Diobtetty – :
I was expecting manure. I actually wanted manure! But on me this smells like generic body lotion… a fruity floral body lotion. No indolics, no manure. I guess this clashes with my skin chemistry somehow…
AlekcandrZ – :
Many of the ingredients in this are so far out of the realm of my experience that I really have no idea what I’m smelling. It does open with a strong whiff of dairy farm on a warm day and then I get a very rich, unusual floral. This lasted over 9 hours for me and might have gone longer had I not showered it off. The far drydown is what I’m guessing is the ambergris (still a bit fecal), spikenard and a musk I can actually live with, not liking ‘white laundry’ musks. The drydown is very reminiscent of some high end Tibetan incenses I have. This perfume is very earthy, animalic and yet fresh at the same time. A very strange and very beautiful perfume. This is going straight to my want list!
edit: I have got it bad for this one. If you can wait out that super indolic opening (which I happen to love), you will be rewarded with a stunningly beautiful fruity-floral heart.
gerasgood – :
Too indolic for me, smells like horse stables.
I have the 5ml version if anyone wants to swap.
fumama – :
There is a reason that this brilliant, wonderful fragrance has far more fans than it does reviews. It’s a difficult to make real criticism of something that’s stylistically an outlier in any particular artform. It is like seeing The Holy Mountain as a teenager. Without a point of reference it is difficult to make any substantial criticisms and even more difficult to convey its characteristics in a review without any real point of reference. How does one explain the art of Adolf Wölfli to someone who is totally unfamiliar with his art? One can only either attempt at great lengths to explain minute details that will miss the big picture or use overly simplistic language that can only describe the experience of seeing his art without actually describing it.
Sonnet XVII is just like that. Extremely nontraditional and violently beautiful. I strongly recommend anyone sample this fragrance and not assume my review is enough. To offer a very simplistic impression of the fragrance: It’s dry and fruity with leathery floral characteristics underpinned by a strong fizzy-fresh and overtly moldy foundation with a heft of upturned damp earth and lichen.
Comparisons are quite useless, but Mitsouko and 1000 certainly share an ethereal something with Sonnet XVII.
The cherry on top is that it’s quite wearable in any weather.