We need escape. Turin and Sanchez do for the universe of 
fragrance what Robert Parker did for wine. They divide it; they classify it; they make it easy to understand by comparing bottled aromas to elements outside the purview of aromas. As a bonus, Turin is more wickedly funny than anyone holding a doctorate in biophysics deserves to be.
For the reader seeking further evidence that the authors know of what they speak, consider this: Certain perfume companies refuse to send them samples of their wares, so fearfully do they cower from the withering pen of condemnation that Turin and Sanchez can wield. If a reviewer wrote this about your product “fragrance equivalent of a Motel 6†would you send along any more free samples.
The book is dedicated to “the perfumers†i.e., not to the perfume industry and not to the marketing machinery that propels it. Nor does the price of a given perfume determine its worth. Some extremely expensive numbers come in for a sound tongue-lashing, while other quite affordable ones earn high starrage.
“The Guide,†after introductory essays by each author, is set up alphabetically according to fragrance name, with each fragrance receiving a star rating from 1-5, followed by a description whose length depends upon what the perfume under consideration merits.
The average entry is a single, easy-to-read paragraph telling you exactly what you need to know, including key ingredients and whether the scent will make others want to run and hide, throttle you or jump your bones. At the back of the book are handy Top 10 lists for each of the main scent categories in the reviews (florals, chypres, orientals, best feminines for men, best masculines for women, etc.).
Although in the authors’ judgment there are far more three-star perfumes than anything else, they insist that the one indisputable best five-star perfume of all time is Mitsouko by Guerlain, first released in 1919. It is, for Turin, “a masterpiece whose richness brings to my mind the mature chamber music of Johannes Brahms.â€
A complex, heady perfume such as this one has, respectively, top notes, heart notes and base notes. Its true nature will not reveal itself all at once, but gradually, sometimes over a period of hours. Think of the way the best Bordeaux ages in the bottle and then releases its properties when decanted.
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