Maison Margiela Replica Jazz Club Eau de Toilette is primarily a tobacco, rum, and vanilla fragrance that kicks off with a brighter, zesty lemon and pepper opening with orange blossoms but the tobacco showed up within the first 15 minutes with vanilla getting amplified within the first hour through the drydown. It’s supposed to reflect the “cozy atmosphere of a private club” with “honey and woody notes of cigar boxes.” These are the notes:
- top notes: Primofiore lemon, pink pepper, neroli oil
- heart notes: clary sage oil, rum absolute, java vetiver oil
- base notes: styrax resin, tobacco leaf absolute, vanilla bean
There was a dash of pepper, quickly followed by bright, zesty lemon that gave way to a vanillic cloud of fresh orange blossoms for the first two minutes. There was a coolness to the feel of the scent from the vetiver as rum was poured over ice. The notes felt vague, less defined, which may have been a symptom of the fragrance having less projection than other eau de toilettes in the Replica collection (see more under Longevity).
Sweet, smoky tobacco wafted over rum on the rocks after 15 minutes of development, and then the vanilla started to amplify over the next hour. It also seemed the fragrance itself intensified overall, too, after an hour compared to the first hour-particularly the tobacco and rum, now only accented by vanillic sweetness.
Two hours into development, the Jazz Club was filled with sweet tobacco, subtle, boozy rum, and sweet vanilla. It navigated this space for the next several hours until the drydown that was mostly tobacco and vanilla.
Application
For testing, I used 1/3 of a 1ml sample vial dabbed to the underside and topside of my wrist area on my left arm. I used an unscented moisturizer prior to applying the scent as this is also my swatching arm (aka, incredibly parched at any given moment) as I found scent did not hold well here otherwise.
I purchased my sample in January 2022; fragrances are known to be reformulated over their lifetime, so be mindful of when a review was made, e.g. a review from 2010 may not reflect what the same-named perfume smells like in 2022.
Longevity
I was surprised to find that this scent had little projection for me; I could hardly detect it the first time I tested it, so I went back and applied a larger amount. I haven’t had issues with projection on past tests of the brand’s fragrances. There was little sillage and projection from the get-go, and it was a skin scent within five hours of wear and was difficult to detect after eight hours.
Personal Thoughts
I don’t mind a closer-wearing fragrance, but if I feel like it’s subtle even with my nose nearly against my wrist, it is too subtle for my taste, especially if that’s how it is early on, since perfume typically weakens over time!
Available Sizes
- 100ml for $135
- 30ml for $72
- 10ml for $30
Where to Buy
- Nordstrom
- Sephora
- Selfridges
