Adi Ale Van Decembrie 89: The Perfume Where Freedom Smells Like an Orange

A cold orange, peeled beside a stove. Then hazelnut roasted to the edge of chocolate, three vanillas and a splash of dark rum, and it stays on skin for 8 to 10 hours. That is Adi Ale Van Decembrie 89 Freedom Elixir. The memory under it is the artist's own: December 1989, a schoolboy on his first school holiday, back home in his childhood village with his grandparents, and the first year he saw and ate oranges and chocolate. Hand-poured from a genuine bottle, from 2 ml.

What Decembrie 89 smells like

Adi Ale Van Decembrie 89 Freedom Elixir is a boozy vanilla gourmand with a cold citrus opening. Orange, lemon and apple flash for a few minutes. Hazelnut toasts into vanilla bean. Then Madagascar vanilla, vanilla absolute and rum settle in for the rest of the day. It reads as orange and praline over dark vanilla, and it fills a room.

On our Longevity & Sillage Index it wears 8 to 10 hours with Enormous sillage. It is a 32% extrait de parfum macerated for 12 months, with Jimmy Bodin as the nose. Our Beast Mode list has the spray count: "one to two fills a room; three overwhelms a small office". It starts from 2 ml.

The December behind the name

The house's own story has no crowd in it. He was a schoolboy on his first school holiday, back home in the village where he grew up, with his grandparents: frost, snow, the family around the stove, and an old radio on the wall carrying news of the street fighting across the country. That is as close as the story gets to the street.

It was also the first year he saw and ate oranges and chocolate. He kept them on the old dresser and, in his words, they were worth their weight in gold. Those are the smells he says stayed with him, and they are the perfume.

Put the name and the memory side by side and freedom smelled like an orange. That is our reading, not a line of his. The perfume simply follows the memory: cold citrus, then the chocolate side of hazelnut, then vanilla and rum for the rest of the night.

The arc on skin, and who it is for

On skin the fruit flashes and gives way fast. What stays for the evening is hazelnut toasted until it is nearly praline, over a custardy, boozy vanilla, with the rum keeping it adult. It runs long and loud. Two honest lines from the product page: the hazelnut is rebuilt from aroma-chemicals, since the smell only exists after roasting, and the rum is an accord, since there is no rum oil.

Where to wear it, in the product page's own words: winter nights and celebrations, casual or dressed, when the occasion calls for warmth and presence rather than restraint. It is not an office perfume; our Adi Ale Van house guide says that of the whole line. If you must, one spray, and keep our office-safe picks for the days that matter.

No gender is listed, the notes carry none, and we pour it for anyone. It is for the vanilla wearer who finds most vanillas sweet and flat, for anyone who likes rum and praline, and for anyone who wants a perfume with a true story under it.

The object: a box painted by hand

Each bottle, lid, decoration and box is painted and handmade by the artist, unique and unable to be reproduced, and every piece bears the inscription Hand made In Romania. Opened, the box is a hand-painted wooden case, raffia packing and an engraved plaque. The artist comes from Grojdibodu (Hotaru), a small village in the Danube plain; the house is in Ramnicu Valcea.

At the house the 50 ml is listed sold out and manufactured exclusively upon order. At Gouttes Rares the 50 ml is made to order. Nobody needs to start there.

If Decembrie 89 is too loud: the rest of the house

Adi Ale Van Coliva Gourmand Potion is the quieter gourmand, named for the wheat-and-honey dish served at Romanian memorials. Coffee and cacao open it, and warm bread carries the heart. Vanilla, tonka and butter close it: a dessert that remembers the funeral table. 8 to 10 hours, Strong sillage.

For daylight there is Adi Ale Van Hai Hui, named for the Romanian sense of wandering with nowhere to be. Mint and pineapple up top, fig and almond under them. It dries down to papyrus and vetiver, 8 to 10 hours with Strong sillage.

The gentlest door into the house is Adi Ale Van Diamonitirion Elixir Atonit, the house guide's "if you only try one". A monk's cell on Mount Athos: candle wax, then opoponax, olibanum and myrrh burning low, 6 to 8 hours with Strong sillage. The whole shelf is in Adi Ale Van decants.

Decembrie 89 price: start with the 2 ml at $28

Start with the 2 ml at $28, hand-poured from a genuine bottle and shipped worldwide by DHL, free over $250: enough for more than one winter night, and this is a perfume that needs a whole night on skin.

Frequently asked questions

What does Decembrie 89 smell like?

Adi Ale Van Decembrie 89 Freedom Elixir opens with a cold flash of orange, lemon and apple that lasts minutes. Then toasted hazelnut folds into vanilla bean. The base is Madagascar vanilla, vanilla absolute and dark rum, and it stays for the rest of the day. It reads as boozy orange and praline over dark vanilla, and it fills a room.

How long does Decembrie 89 last?

On our Longevity & Sillage Index it wears 8 to 10 hours with Enormous sillage. It is a 32% extrait de parfum macerated for 12 months. One or two sprays is plenty.

Where can I buy Decembrie 89 and what does it cost?

At the house the 50 ml is listed sold out and manufactured exclusively upon order. At Gouttes Rares it is hand-poured from a genuine bottle into 2 ml at $28, 5 ml at $63 and 10 ml at $116, with the full 50 ml at $430 made to order.

Is Decembrie 89 unisex?

Yes. No gender is listed for it, the notes carry none, and we pour it for anyone. Its own occasion line is winter nights and celebrations, for anyone who does not mind being noticed.

Who made Decembrie 89?

The nose is Jimmy Bodin. The concept, the December 1989 memory and the hand-painted bottle, lid and box are the work of the Romanian artist Adi Ale Van, and each piece bears the inscription Hand made In Romania.