Christopher Street is the type of fragrance that is designed to grab you from that first spray. It’s olfactive story begins with that first blast of mist cast off into the air. Alcohol isn’t simply used as the carrier, but is incorporated into the first accord of the fragrance.
The sharpness of the alcohol is balanced through the use of lime and other citrus top notes, taking full advantage of their lightness and volatility to temper the initial alcoholic effect. This produces an aromatic crispness similar to a gin and tonic. In essence, the ingredients feel as if they are “reaching up” through the fragrance, before following you down into the heart.
How, how, how did they do it? A drunken lime that doesn’t ever fall down– it just keeps on trolling one bar after another. @cm_fragrance
— Carrie Meredith (@eyelineronacat_) January 9, 2013
In those beginning moments of Christopher Street, lime takes center stage. Lime has this wonderful brashness; it’s greener than other citrus notes, yet without feeling too harsh or bitter. It also has wonderful sillage. A perfect complement to the alcohol.
Christopher Street and A Dirty Lime
Throughout its history, there is an ever present theme of alcohol and drinking on Christopher Street. Stories of Underground Distilleries and Greenwich Village speakeasies of the 1920’s and 30’s. Mafia-backed secret clubs and bars of the 1950’s and 60’s… Christopher Street has always been a place to meet, drink, and socialize.
“…[S]o much of the foundation of the riots lay in music, and dance and how they created community. If the Stonewall had not been a dance bar, I don’t know that the riots would have happened.” – David Carter (June 8, 2004 via www.gothamgazette.com)
One of my favorite Christopher Street stories involves life inside The Stonewall Inn (51–53 Christopher Street) during the late 1960’s. Stonewall first opened in 1967 as a gay private club. It quickly became popular for two reasons: It had a great jukebox and it allowed slow dancing (a big no-no during a time when simply serving a known homosexual could get you in trouble with the law). Because of this, it attracted a very mixed crowd.
Past visitors to Stonewall described life inside as sweaty, sticky, and smoky. There was no running water and the air conditioning worked intermittently at best. Behind the bar were still tubs of murky water used to quickly rinse empty glasses for reuse. Stonewall was definitely a Dive Bar with a capital D. And yet, it was the place to be.
“I liked that the scent needn’t be pretty, [could] even be slightly dirty. References to the bars and shops on the street were plenty. I thought it definitely had to be a sensual fragrance. I imagined somebody letting it all hang out and showing a lot of skin.” – Ralf Schwieger
Together, Ralf and I honed in on this idea of a dirty lime cocktail. The fragrance has this jubilance and freshness that represents the energy felt inside Stonewall, coupled with this rawness, this dirtiness of the actual physical space. A sentiment, that itself, harkens back to a past era of bath tub gin and prohibition. A perfect metaphor for the ineffable beauty of Christopher Street.
