What does Chocolate smell like?
A good chocolate accord first smells of cocoa powder: dry, slightly earthy, almost woody. Butter and sugar follow, pulling it towards a bar. Patchouli smells oddly similar, which is why the two get along. Too sweet and it turns into candy. Held in check it keeps an elegant bitterness. On skin it lasts a long time and rounds into a soft warmth.
Origin and production
Cocoa comes from the beans of Theobroma cacao, fermented then roasted. They can yield an absolute or CO2 extract that smells of dry cocoa. Most chocolate accords are built from synthetics instead: vanillin and ethyl maltol, plus roasted pyrazines. Patchouli often completes the picture, since it shares an earthy side with cocoa.
How perfumers use it
Mugler Angel paved the way in 1992. Olivier Cresp combined chocolate, caramel and a huge dose of patchouli, and the gourmand family was born. Valentino Uomo (2014) pairs chocolate with soft leather for men. Kilian Black Phantom darkens it with rum and coffee. Cacharel Yes I Am Delicious takes a sweeter, almost bakery route.
How to wear it
Chocolate is for winter evenings and weekends. Angel is very strong, so one spray will do. Valentino Uomo can take two on a roll-neck.