Umé Keiko Mecheri

Source: www.supermama.lt

 Keiko Mercheri Umé is incredibly yummy and realistic especially if you enjoy the taste of small Japanese pickled plums known as umeboshi. Being Asian and exposed to all sorts of pickled fruit and vegetables from an early age, umeboshi posed no problem for the palate no matter how salty (the level of sweet/saltiness can vary quite a bit) and although I don't like eating it on its own, it adds a lovely salty and sweet tartness to whatever you choose to eat it with, be it plain rice or in a salad. 

Even without knowing what Umé or umeboshi is, it is easy to recognise the plums in Keiko Mercheri's Umé immediately that are sweet with a piquant edge to their taste. As the scent settles down, there appears a very light boozy note reminiscent of Umeshu or Japanese plum liqueur but the scent remains quite sheer despite the booze. In the dry down it becomes more balmy with earthy and woody notes but the tartly sweet and salted plum remains front and center of the scent.  

Source: shizuokagourmet.com

Having met Umé I much prefer its delicate freshness over Tom Ford's syrupy and boozy Plum Japonais. If you wish to try your hand at making Umeboshi at home, I found what is possibly the most detailed and helpful recipe at Just Hungry.

Plum Japonais Tom Ford

Source: Luckyscent

Plum Japonais bears some relation to how CHOYA Umeshu tastes, the delicious Japanese liquor with its unique flavour, a thick almost syrupy plum booze that's assuredly potent despite its sweetness. The scent is a recipe calling for succulent plums that are so ripe they have a lightly fermented booziness and a scoop of dried plum preserves with its rich jammy character. Then a light dash of mixed spices in a sauce made up of sweet woods and warm resins, with immortelle adding a dribble of maple syrup and then letting it simmer in its juices and thicken.

This baby of mixed parentage (Oriental and Fruity minus floral) doesn't evolve much on me but has a nuclear strength projection and longevity.  Both luxurious and luscious, Plum Japonais smells like its price tag, expensive plum booze.