Manhattan Bond No 9 for women and men

Bleah. A throw-uppy gourmand.

This is the second Bond No. 9 scent I have smelled. There might not be a third. I suspect that they are trying to sell mediocre scents with flamboyant bottles and politically correct themes at Tom Ford prices.

I really enjoy this scent, though admittedly I did not at first. I don't know what made me change my opinion of it but after a few wearings it really started working for me. It's so lovely and different. Definitely a fall/winter scent but I also enjoy wearing it to bed.

This is one of the perfumes that will surely get "thumbs up" on first sniff. :) I am so in love with Manhattan... and i say LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! It contains all the notes that I draws me to a certain perfume in the first place - citrus, sweet, spicy, warm, woody, smokey- all mixed in one perfect juice that is rich, velvety and luxurious. I love Elixir des Merveilles and Manhattan shares the same spirit as EdM.

I Love this Wintry scent by the House of Bond no 9 in NYC.

The scent is made of a warm olfactory seductive cocktail of gourmand notes: nutmeg, saffron, coriander, peach, plum, gingerbread and vanilla.

The scent is very comforting and potent and will keep you interested and wrapped up for hours; the bottle is also beautiful.

If you would like to try the candle and the body silk, you will also fall in love with them in an instant.

Great longevity and sillage!

Thumbs up!

My absolute favorite gourmand. Ever. It smells positively lovely on me and my husband goes wild for it. But, I'm also a TM Angel and Tom Ford Black Orchid fan, so I guess strange frags compliment me.

At first, I definitely get that cigarette/smokiness, but it dries down nicely to a warm and toasty chocolate gingerbread oud. The suede also stands out to me in this one. I find this to be a very sexy and complex fragrance.

I reviewed Harrods OUD PATCHOULI a while ago, and I had worn the Bond no 9 perfume launched around the same time, MANHATTAN, but it was not until today that I noticed how much they overlap. Or should I say how my direct experience of MANHATTAN overlaps with my memory of HARRODS OUD PATCHOULI? Here are the notes of that perfume, which seem rather pared down, next to this one:

Amber, Davana, Leather, Musk, Myrrh, Oud, Patchouli, Saffron, Sandalwood

The similarity between the two lies evidently in the intersection of a good portion of what should be their base notes:

Saffron, Oud, Patchouli, Sandalwood, and then leather or suede? What's your pleasure? The former is listed for HARRODS OUD PATCHOULI while the latter is listed for MANHATTAN. I apparently prefer suede to leather, but there's more to the story than that.

Why else do I prefer MANHATTAN? It must be because of all of the weird foody notes which end up imparting a personality not at all unlike the strangely foody chypre of Hermès ELIXIR DES MERVEILLES. Don't get me wrong: these two perfumes smell nothing alike. But they convey the same general spirit, it seems to me.

The foody notes abound in MANHATTAN: chocolate, coriander, nutmeg, peach, plum, gingerbread, honeycomb, vanilla and, of course, saffron.

It sounds like a chaotic mess, but somehow the proportions work together to produce a quite likeable oriental perfume.

So why do I like MANHATTAN, when I do not really like HARRODS OUD PATCHOULI? I find the blend complex and appealing, and I do not find it too sweet. In fact, in wafts it reminds me of cigarette smoke! This is an original oriental perfume, like none of the others out there, and I do believe that Claude Dir has created something wonderful in MANHATTAN. The foody notes do a good job of tempering the suede note, where I found the leather in HARRODS OUD PATCHOULI a bit too dark and strong. In fact, I would recommend that perfume for testing by people who love heavy leather.

Given the panoply of potentially problematic notes in MANHATTAN, this one really needs to be worn a few times to have an idea of whether it will work or not. Fortunately, I have a purse spray, so this was possible in my case. I've seen a wide range of reactions from reviewers, which no doubt reflects our variable sensitivities to all of the various components. I do not personally see much similarity between MANHATTAN and Dior ADDICT, but everything will turn on one's peculiar sensibilities.

HARRODS OUD PATCHOULI did not work very well for me, but MANHATTAN works quite well, despite the apparent contradiction that I was reminded of the former while wearing the latter!

WTH, what gingerbread and oud? This smells like nothing but a syrupy-sweet fruit juice on me, like peach or white grape. There is certainly no oud here and no gingerbread, not after hours of wearing it and about 8 sprays to my pulse points. There is no sillage at all. I have two samples from Bond. I had to open the second one because I couldn't believe how watery, bland, and uninspired the first one was, so I though there was some kind of mix-up...but the second one smelled identical. So after 2-3 more sprays from the second sample, I just have to chalk it up to this perfume being crap. If you love woods, spice, and perfumes with any personality at all, don't blind-buy Manhattan.

This scent was great from the first spray, all of these fabulous notes mingling and swirling together. It ended to soon....on my skin, after 10 minutes or so, I just get a very strong jasmine scent...that's it...just jasmine. Maybe I will give it another try and see what happens...

Update:

Absolutely **adore** my bottle of Manhattan. I'm telling you guys/gals, I was very on-the-fence about this when the sales associate at Saks sprayed me. I still remember, I had New York Oud on one arm, and Manhattan on the other. Even the sales associate said something about the Oud was horrific on my skin, but the Manhattan, as she said, smelled "Amaaaazing!"

At first sniff, it smells almost similar to a bar where too many people have on a ton of scents smoking cigarettes. So much for first impressions! But I was intruiged, it definitely smelled good, sweet, woody and spicy... but I wasn't sure if I could adopt this with the powerful tobacco/smokiness factor I have described. I went back a couple of times, sprayed a few others, but kept coming back to Manhattan. Until I got a sample kept spraying myself. Smelling myself. If you constantly want to sniff it, it's gotta be good. Plus I always get compliments.

So I guess the long and short of it is, give it a try, try try! It does grow on you, but it's such a different scent, it takes some time to grow on you. But I see this as such the perfect, different fragrance. Awesome stuff. Definetely a colder weather fragrance or nighttime. Very reminiscent of christmas spicyness, almost a gingerbread feel.

I usually love Bond No 9 scents, but this one was a bit overwhelming even for me. There seems to be too much going on in this fragrance and all the notes bombard you at once stampeding you to an early death by suffocation. All the florals and gourmand accords are over the top which makes this scent unwearable. I think the gingerbread and some of the floral notes should have been scaled back just a tad. Wearing Manhattan gave me a massive headache and I dont plan on wearing it again. Final verdict . Not a good one Definately PASS on this fragrance

This is Niche quality Dior Addict. I'm not into the girly girl sweet, sugary fragrances but this one in quite pleasantly sweet. Not over the top, not sugar in a bottle, just smooth richness with a cherry on top!

Bond 9 Manhattan is the first fragrance I have worn for two days in a row in many many months and I can honestly say that I was not bored by it. There is a nice bite to it's quiet elegance and just enough warmness to create an aura of serenity.

I can pull this one off because it separates me from Candy Girl bandwagon and puts me in the "I'm cool like that" groupies status. I can be a grown up and party like a rock star at the same time. I 'll have to find myself some glad rags and hooker heels because in Manhattan, rumor has it, these people Never Sleep!

I was perplexed and intrigued by this fragrance, and that's usually a good thing. Having bought a full bottle of the stuff, I feel now is a good time for a review.

Bond No. 9 Manhattan opens very sweet and dark-fruity, and you instantly get a tobacco, almost smokey note. The sweet (honey, plum) flavors subside gently, and you're left with a dark fruit, smokey, and woody fragrance that leaves you wondering whether you like it or not. Five seconds later you're sniffing your arm again. Is it spice you smell? Gingerbread? I hesitate to continue naming notes, there are so many; it's a sophisticated scent.

After several hours, or days - if you have a sample - you'll give in and go ahead and treat yourself to this magical fragrance. It's very mysterious, without a doubt a nighttime scent. It's playful, and it's complexity (and ingredients, incidentally) are what I look for when purchasing a good bottle of red wine. Probably another reason I enjoy the scent so much.

And the bottle is totally cool-looking.

Probably one of the better buys in the scent world. It's a truly unique fragrance.

I read the reviews and got my hopes up, I disliked this one, Unfortunately... Smelled cheap... Like cheap hooker, i duno... Definitely not like a classy couple hundred bucks tho

I went on my lunch hour yesterday and sampled the bonds, I loved this one on first smell, got a sample, sprayed some on, one of the stongest scents in the top note is deep red wine, its boozy, unfortunately, the plum in the middle turns rotten and funky. the dry down is nice, but overall the sum of the experience is disappointing.

Hmm very interesting fragrance! It's very warm and "toasty" but also fresh with some spices, it doesn't scream "spice", but there's definitely a kick. The gingerbread is what sticks out the most on me, it's very unusual. I like it. Theres a lot of seductive sensual honey in the mix. Very nutmeg-y. Theres some thick jasmine lying beneath but mostly the fragrance smells spicy and edible (but not in a young way- in a sophisticated "manhattanite" way). Theres that luxurious suede.. It has a vibe of a sexy thanksgiving past midnight..It's woody and deep.

Citrusy, sweet, warm, spicy, woody - in that order. Not my cup of tea but seems perfect for Christmas time, it's not boring, little bit different, yet not too much. There Is something that bothers me about it though, can't figure out what ..

My SA at the BNo9 counter at Nordy's called and said that they had a small tester available if I wanted to give it a try. Pictures of the bottle looked so cool.

When I got there, she sadly said she couldn't make a sample vial for me, but would let me try it on skin. First impressions was that it smelled much like Andy Warhol but with more gourmand notes in the beginning. Afterwards it lightened up a bit and it smelled more woody, greener, more masculine. This is the first time I would say that it needed more agarwood in the mix, though I would say it is just fine because it left more of a greener footprint with an afterthought of incense. Then there's the price which is at the crazy end of $190 for a small bottle. It leaves me to think that New York Amber smells much more appealing to me if I had to spend that much on a bottle of something.

Nonetheless, she coaxed me into reserving a bottle, though I'm still at a crossroad if I'm to purchase it.

Upon the first sniff, I know this is Bond No.9 because it has its distinctive richness in it, which is good and bad for me because I do prefer a lighter and fresher type of scent, but I do appreciate rich perfume every once in a while.

Manhattan is definitely sweet oudy, dense and dark chocolate, honey, and plum. Oriental, it is but not vanilla. I find it also similar to Bond No.9 Lexington Ave that I love, and of course, few other Bonds as well. The plum note is similar to Bond No.9 Andy Warhol and NY Oud. Anyway, I am not a big fan of the plum note, but it doesn't bother me much here.

Two little spritz is just enough without making me nauseating because I find it's really rich and rather heavy to enjoy. But when the weather gets colder, I'll be sure to re-visit this again and I am sure it'd be a much better choice (and time) to wear then.

Nothing big, but it is wearable. Combined with the body cream, it smells delicious. A gourmand feel combined with oud. The oud is not loud, rather it adds to the spiciness of the scent.

Just because it is nothing extraordinary, it could become a go-to scent.

I am using a handful of samples, otherwise I would not pay the high price.

I love the magazine strip of this sooo much. The wood, patchouli, chocolate and nutmeg make it so cozy yet grounded. Can't wait to test drive.

Ok after wearing a few times I enjoy it immensely for the interesting notes: lots of vivid plum and some dusty spices (saffron, coriander), chocolate, gingerbread and an excellent wood drydown accented by oud. Not going to be my new fall scent but it did help me remember how wonderful Bond's "I Love NY For All" is, since there are some similarities between them.

This is a lovely scent!! Very sensual. Give it another chance.

Not good, you guys.
Not good.

This smells like the inside of a traditional chinese herbal pharmacy shop. If you've ever been inside one you know that I'm right.

this smelled like coney island to me but what do I know :)

Maybe its me but these latest Bond releases are starting to get a little blase.