Kourabiedes

[TheIceMaiden]

No description available.

I'm not familiar with this type of cookie, but its scent reminds me of a Lithuanian cookie my family gets for special occasions. This is a light cookie note (not buttery like Shortbread Snowflakes) with spices - lots of clove and maybe anise and ginger too? - and a touch of sweetness, like powdered sugar. The throw and wearlength is pretty decent too. If this came in large bottles, I'd buy quite a few, its that good!

[filigree_shadow]

TheIceMaiden described exactly what I'm smelling: Light cookie with anise and clove. That's exactly what it smells like to me. Plus sugar, and some kind of nut.

 

Strangely (because these notes tend to be long-lasting on me) I can really only smell the spices at the beginning. Then it's a sweet nutty cookie scent that smells yummy, but oddly a little bit like it's on fire. Possibly that's the clove engaging in some unauthorized activity on my skin.

[Champagne]

we have delicious cookies here, with clove, the anise is faint on me, with a lot of icing sugar that mellows the spices. Perfect!!

[Gwydion]

In bottle: This is somewhere between egg nog and pfeffernusse cookies, closer to egg nog. By this I mean the actual food items. I haven’t tested BPAL’s egg nog, and I’m too lazy to scent check with the Pfeffernusse bottle in the other room. It is closer to egg nog, I think, mostly because of the eggy richness and the spicing. I’m guessing it’s heavy on the nutmeg and clove and contains some anise, along with other christmassy spices. I’m already wishing I had a bottle, because this is complex and heady. Wet: It’s not as creamy or eggy on the skin. The spices really come out. It is flatter, with less depth and complexity. It’s like my skin has mostly eaten the baked goods part. Dry: Mmmmmm…. I do love the spice combination here. It’s now clove dominant, with plenty of support and complexity. The egg cookie fragrance reemerges a bit, but remains understated. I do love a good clove scent and this is an excellent one.

[bheansidhe]

What, no one's quoted Wikipedia yet? Okay, I'll be the bad guy.

 

Kourabiedes are Greek butter cookies that resemble light and airy shortbread, but are typically made with the addition of almonds. Kourabiedes are sometimes made with brandy for flavoring, though vanilla, mastika or rose water are also popular.In some regions of Greece, the Christmas kourabiedes are adorned with a single whole spice clove embedded in each biscuit.

 

The base here is pure delicious spice cookie. When I open the vial I get a blast of booze that could easily be rum or brandy. It's got the usual delicious melange of baking spices - I get clove, LOTS of powdered ginger, nutmeg, allspice, a hint of cinnamon - but they're so well blended that no spice dominates. There's a rich buttery undertone carrying the spice along. Best of all, it's actually behaving on my skin, instead of going Single Note Clove or Plastic butter.

 

You might be thinking "Oh, another spice cookie blend," but this one is dry and snappy and complex and maybe the best one yet.

[edenssixthday]

Kourabiedes - Keep in mind I can rarely wear bakery/gourmand scents. On me, this is tons and tons of spices -- mostly clove and nutmeg. And when I say tons of spices, I mean TONS of spices. I also smell a really bitter alcohol, but can't place it for the life of me. With the exception of whiskey, most alcohol scent notes smell somewhere between fairly decant and amazingly awesome on me...but this one doesn't. It reminds me of something that goes wrong on me in one of the Tiki Lounge scents...maybe it's brandy that's not working. After it dries down, I can smell the faintest hint of cookie or baked goods in the background, but really, it's still mostly rancid booze and heavy spices. Bummer.

[zankoku_zen]

Anise, clove, powdered sugar and a hint of cinnamon. This smells like a spice cookie.

 

Warm, spicy, comforting.

[Invidiana]

My review is going to be a bit different from everyone else's because I'm Greek and this scent has really strong memory asociations. Somehow we always manage to have these things on the cookie plate every Christmas, and not just Christmas but Easter as well. I'm actually surprised they didn't make an appearance this year. Anyway, this is really sugary wet but after a minute of letting it dry down it was like holy crap I'm sticking my nose in a pile of kourabiedes! The second thought was holy crap annual Greek festival baked goods table! I think because I got sick of kourabiedes as a kid I won't exactly be wearing this every day but there's no doubt it's delicious, and the fact that it's so dead on is a testament to Beth's talent. She totally nailed the buttery cookies with hints of spice, and the powdered sugar avalanche they usually get showered on them without making the fragrance too sugary.

That said, I won't be surprised if a tower of kourabiedes comes waltzing through the door sometime today, because it is two days before Christmas.

[angelicruin]

A spicy holiday bread with clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Very gourmand.

[AnArtfuldodger]

On me, this is a twin to Bedbug. I get cinnamon, clove and nutmeg spiced cookies, sort of like snickerdoodles, but not heavy on the bakery aspect....I just get spices, no cookie. It's got a good throw and it really is quite tasty.

[Little Bird]

I'm not getting much of a cookie or cakey smell from Kourabiedes, sadly . I get a whiff of something clove-like every once in a while, but this is mostly sweet, sugared cinnamon on me. Spices amp up like crazy on my skin, and that's all I'm getting here...

[VioletChaos]

In the Imp: all spiced eggnog, all the time. Not the BPAL eggnog scent. No. Real, actual eggnog. With cinnamon and clove and maybe a wee nit of rum to keep gramma quiet

 

Wet On Skin: yeah, the clove is coming out proud at this stage. The clove note tends to amp a bit on my skin, but I don't mind- it's the reason I got a bottle of Smiling Spider, in fact! I'm also getting a bit of an eggnog-cookie thing going on, but it's hiding behind the intensity of the clove right about now.

 

 

Dry Down: Spice cookies. I get cinnamon and clove as the strongest notes still, but there's also powdered sugar and stiff cake, like pfeffernoose in there.

 

In All: this may well be the holiday food scent I've been waiting for. usually the yulr foodstuffs, like Eggnog and Gingerbread Poppet, wind up going strangely floral on me in the drydown. I think the addition of the spices keeps the whole thing in check. Light to medium throw and super yummy, this is an imp I'll treasure- until Beth releases a bottle size, then I'll stock up!

[fairestrocza]

This was the Bag of Coal scent that worried me most based on the descriptions...

 

In the Imp: Sweet booze, maybe a creamy schnapps of some sort.

 

Wet on Skin: Sweet booze, and a light ground clove (like sniffing the spice jar, not like clove oil).

 

While Drying: Smells like making cookies! This is more the scent of the shortbread dough, before it is cooked. There is a very light butter scent (like slightly chilled butter, in chunks, ready to be incorporated into the batter), and a hint of vanilla extract.

 

After a Little While: Delicious shortbread with a faint breath of baking spices.

 

Later: A delicate shortbread scent with surprising throw for all its delicacy.

 

Final Thoughts: This is such a fantastic scent. I wish it was available in 5ml bottles.

 

Kourabiedes earns a 4.5/5 on my skin.

[Venneh]

Spicy cookies in the imp! On my skin, spices, can't place exactly what, really.

[tailoredshirt]

This went on like a sweet vanilla cream with powdered sugar - other reviews have mentioned rum and liquor, and I can see that. I'm not sure my nose can tell if it's liquor or a cream note. Anyway, that doesn't last long because my skim amped the spices, and for the rest of the day I smelled like a cinnamon candle. Disappointing, because I love the cookies.

[thekittenkat]

In the imp: Almond shortbread, with a hint of spice, perhaps clove.

 

Wet: Very dry almond shortbread now.

 

The dry-down: The clove is more obvious now, but not too much so. The somewhat sweet cookie part is rather dry. This doesn't really morph, from imp to dry-down.

[Gin]

I have no idea what Kourabiedes is, so I have no preconceived notions. On my skin, it's almost pure Sweet Clove SN. I love (LOVE!) sweet clove, so that's great, but it's also a little disappointing because I expected more.

[PurringPulsar]

Kourabiedes

 

In the imp: a buttery sweet cookie scent-I smell a bit of booze too?

Wet on skin: whoa, clove coming through!

Dry on skin: interesting. The main scent I get here is a buttery clove with a bit of nutty almond (not almond extract, this is the scent of the nuts) and floury biscuit. There is a tiny hint of brandy or some kind of sweet, vaguely fruity booze, but it’s not the dominant scent. I really like the clove here-it has a smoky undertone that is seductive and earthy and stops it smelling too foody. I’m still undecided about the buttery scent, but the sweet nutty biscuity scent mixed with clove is very nice and smells extremely festive.

After a while: clove and floury biscuits. This is really nice. The clove is dry and a little dusty, but here it gives a floury impression, and the clove note is now a lot sweeter (just like the Sweet Clove SN actually), and I smell some more of the biscuit note. No more booze, but I smell more ground almonds here. It may be a little too sweet for me overall.

Verdict: I have a Greek friend who told me about these traditional Christmas treats (sadly she didn’t bring any over for me to try!) and the perfume inspired by those is a fun scent! It smells like buttery nutty clove biscuits with a shot of something alcoholic. The clove is the main player here, with the sweet floury, buttery and sugary base underneath and hints of almonds and brandy too. Overall this is a very festive scent. I think it’s a little too sweet for me, even though I love the clove here; the sugary and buttery notes (and maybe the booze) make this a little too rich for my tastes. Having said that I’d love to eat something that smells like this, I want to try real kourabeides now!

Is it a keeper? probably not but it smells delicious!

If you like this, try: Three Witches, March Hare (if you can find it), Copulating Mice, Sugar Cookie (any), Butter Rum Cookie

Edited March 26, 2011 by yeahbutnobut

[Schmoozy]

Hmmm, this one confuses me. It's definitely spicy - perhaps a combination of clove and cinnamon. But it isn't very foody. I do get a hint of buttery booze, perhaps butterscotch schnapps. It's' not a bad scent, it just doesn't do much for me!

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Slightly vinegary cloves

 

Wet on me - Warmer and more bakery smelling, but still mostly cloves

 

Dry on me - Yum, fruity, cakey, spices

 

Overall - Really very nommy, but also wearable and not omfg sweet

[sunlitgarden]

Lovely almond buttery cookie (light and sugary, not a heavy butter), with a bit of fruitiness, I think maybe apricot? As it dries, the apricot comes out more. Apricot cookie with warm spice. Other reviews mention clove and that does seem to be the dominant spice here. I love this - it warms my foodie heart without going sour or weird (which, for my skin, is an accomplishment.) I so wish this was available to buy in bottle form, but at least I've managed to get two imps so far...

Edited June 27, 2012 by sunlitgarden

[JTobias]

Exactly like the cookie, which if you havent had is similar to a Mexican Wedding cookie, which if you havent had is a almond/shortbread cookie covered in powdered sugar.