The Dark Heart of Old Havana

  The scent The artist The inspiration Try a sample first! Sometimes we envy perfumers' ability to capture memories in scent. That's what perfumer UK Sarah McCartney has done with The Dark Heart of Old Havana, in which she recreates an evening walk through Cuba's Old Havana from the Hotel Sevilla to the Caseon del Tango for a dance lesson. "Wafts of coffee and tobacco, sweet, sugary desserts cooked with baskets of oranges and mangoes," Sarah remembers. "The scent of peaches beginning to turn overripe, and citrus peel going squishy in the gutter. From a dark doorway a handsome man in white whispers, 'Do you want a Cuban boyfriend?' and I speed up a little, squeaking 'No! Thank you very much for asking all the same!' And then the old Cubanos at the tango club greet us with smiles, songs, rum, and kisses." Notes include orange, peach, grapefruit, sugar, tobacco, bergamot, tonka, jasmine, vanilla, musk, and black pepper.  We've met a lot of people in the perfume world, and Sarah McCar