Maison Margiela Replica Jazz Club Perfume Review
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.Â
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
I love this scent but I have similar troubles with its throw and longevity. Once I use up my 30 ml I think I will look for something similar.
Wow, I have the travel size of this that I bought maybe two years ago. It’s very strong and it lasts all day. It’s actually less strong then when I originally bought it. It was so strong one spritz used to make me ill. That’s a disappointment that they toned it down that much.
5 hours? Uh, no. I need my fragrance to last quite a bit longer than that!
I love this scent, but find Viktor + Rolf Spicebomb to have more projection with a similar vibe (it is definitely unisex although advertised for men).
Now Spicebomb is a scent I really love!
I may have to give this another “sniff” the next time I’m at Sephora. I’d tried it before and really wasn’t wild about it, compared to my over the moon reaction to By the Fireplace. I treated myself to a bottle quite a few years ago and then was thrilled when my daughter asked for it for Xmas a short time later (I was always under the impression that mothers and daughters never liked or wore the same fragrance).
Interesting that the scent did not last on you. This is my winter go-to scent and everyone always comments well into the night how good it smells.
I have Jazz Club and agree that the overall imipression becomes tobacco, rum, and vanilla. It’s nice for some occasions like at the coffeehouse, bar, club, out to dinner, parties, home gatherings to view sports.
Another owner of Jazz Club, totally agree rum, tobacco fragrance. Now I haven’t worn in a while, but I think I got longer than 5 hours but by that time is would have been a skin scent
I love reading your fragrance descriptions. You paint olfactory pictures with your words.
This is one that I would love to try. I added it to my list.
Thank you, Judie!
I recently got the Replica discovery set and this is one of only 3 of them I liked enough to wear but I don’t think enough to actually purchase. I hope you review their Autumn Walk fragrance and your review can shed some light on why it smells like something dead and decaying under a pile of rotting leaves in the forest because wow.
Holy shit your experience is so wildly different than mine!! I find Jazz Club to be LOUD on me with just one spray. Also my second bottle is all tuberose – so, you know, I’d happily take the tobacco and vanilla from your bottle.
Sephora’s access to my order history is………….frustrating to say the least. I purchased my fullsize Jazz Club maybe three years ago? Prior to that I’d purchased two of the travel sizes going back ten years? Can that be right?
My first travel size smelled gorgeously smoky, leathery, tobacco-y like you describe. My second was less deep and substantive. And finally my third (this time full size) is quite flat with its tuberose and some gentle softening notes around that.
I understand different years produce different formulations based on the different crops the perfumes are sourced from BUT that’s why these large houses have teams of formulators. You need quality control to step up and at least attempt to make each year some kind of standard. Unless, of course, you only care about the bottom dollar and will do anything within your power to cut all expenses beyond manufacturing products for profit and coasting on the name you built up over the years.
I can’t be the only one to notice that where once MM Replica perfumes had depth and smelled “rich”, they now smell “less.” Less depth, less quality, less interesting scent experience.