Nuit d’Issey was released in 2014, a woody, leathery masculine from Issey Miyaké, which the house announces as an ode to wood. Dominique Ropion and Loc Dong built it on a contrast: grapefruit and bergamot in the opening, a leather accord backed by black pepper and vetiver, and a base of incense and ebony softened with tonka bean and patchouli.
The critics consider the fragrance well made and safe, and dispute the nocturnal promise of its name.
Olfastory’s review
Kevin, Now Smell This, August 2014
Kevin describes an opening of green citrus, grapefruit above all, over an accord of sweet spices, with a moment of cumin that may come from the sweat facets of grapefruit and black pepper. The fragrance quickly turns to talc, a talc of woody vetiver and fresh, unburnt incense.
The drydown becomes soapy, light cedar, tonka bean, vetiver still tinted with incense. He judges the extreme base dull, dominated by a synthetic woody musk, and notes solid longevity and sillage.
His verdict places it within department store perfumery: clean, contemporary, without rough edges, no ingredient that is bothersome or overly powerful. He recommends it as a beginner's incense rather than as a nighttime fragrance.
Victoria, Bois de Jasmin, May 2015
Victoria considers it a safe fragrance, well made enough to be worth trying. She describes a dry woody accord folded into a supple leather softened with cooked apple, running throughout with a dry musk and amber.
She judges it acceptable in a boardroom without finding it boring, and sees it first as a daytime fragrance. The nocturnal part of the name strikes her as forced, as does the story of dark woods and leather that accompanies it.