Cacao2 Maison Tahité – Officine Creative Profumi for women and men

Smells like the medicine section in an Asian grocery store

Sharp cacao, some faint sweetness in there, but it's definitely not gourmand, less sweet than say Angels Share. I'm not loving the sharpness, I was looking for a smooth dry cacao note, like in Blue Agava and Cacao, or creamy chocolate like Chocolate Greedy
This is more like Akro Dark.

Smells like straight up cocoa powder. Very dry and dusty. First spray it registers to my nose like I was smelling dust but after that the cocoa shines

This smells like lavender with a hint of cinnamon in the background. Not what I was expecting and glad I only have a small sample.

Something about this makes me thing of chocolate covered cherries and a little booze.

On me it is very similar to Sarah Baker Gold Spot. That one has lot if choco with oud.. Cacao2 is so deep, dark and earthy, almost like oudish. However they are similar to me, GS is a nicer blend I would say.

A strong dark chocolate, chocolate liqueur. Rich and realistic, but too boozy for my taste.

Dry dark chocolate with cinnamon. Really nice actually.
Reminds me of Mexican Hot Chocolate.

This one is quite interesting and fascinating. The cacao mixed with lots of spices to create a somewhat savory experience instead of sweet/chocolaty smell that many fragrances centered around this note aim for.

The drydown reminds me of the drydown of Borneo 1834 from Serge Lutens but this feels a bit less thick and less bitter.

Gorgeous cacao as i was hoping Dark (Akro) would be.
An everlasting 70% cacao chocolate who melt on your skin and divulg some animalic effluvia
very bold as it should be

Dry, animalic, spicy. To me this is less about the chocolate and more about the benzoin and incense.

Akro Dark and Cacao Cacao share a delicious chocolate opening. Thankfully that’s where it ends. Dark devolves into a persistent aromachemical base, whereas Cacao Cacao journeys into naturalistic, dry, incense-laden, amber.

This is very comforting...in the drydown. The base is a warm dark chocolate with cinnamon and benzoin. Lovely.
I had difficulty with the opening notes...somehow the cacao notes in the beginning had a dirty/mouldy undertone, and also something too animalic and raunchy that I can't describe. If you can survive these first 20 minutes you will be able to enjoy a beautiful dark cacao scent. I don't know if I should get a full bottle. The price is ok. Decisions decisions...
Good projection and longevity...

I was thinking it could be a pass for me because everyone kept saying that there're a lot of cinnamon in this fragrance, but no, it's vetiver, cedar, and benzoin were too much for me. I liked the initial blast for ~ 5 seconds, but then chocolate and cocoa went way back for me. I can appreciate this fragrance, and glad I tried it, but it's not a FB for me, not even a decant.

Sampling Maison Tahite Cacao2 (stylized with the “2” as a superscript), a delicious, dry cocoa blend with various hints in the background, namely of coffee, woods, and resins. It’s not an overly sweet blend, with a bit of the sharp, dry cocoa powder concept, and it frankly smells a little floral or patchouli-laden, even, with something bright and a little feminine in the mix, but that could just be the effects of the resins. Overall, I quite like it as a mostly-gourmand that’s not too over the top.

Performance is moderate but the price is great, at $120 for 100ml in EDP concentration , on par with the rest of the line, and it’s fairly rare for a non-designer company to be around $1/ml.

7 out of 10

I like it! I was dubious about the cinnamon...but it is a top note, and it more ushers in the chocolate note and supports it, rather than fighting for dominance. I think this is different than other cacao perfumes I own or have smelled, and this definitely fills its own space.

I'm not gonna lie when I say I absolutely HATE this fragrance. I was hoping for a warm, cocoa with cinnamon scent that will brighten up my winter days. I got cognac, mouldy cocoa and something animalistic almost. Still don't know what it is but this note and it combined with the rest made me nauseous and I ran to the bathroom to scrub it off me. Good longevity tho, soap and water couldn't get it off me. Out of cocoa fragrances from Maison Tahite, I recomment Vicious cacao more. It's a nice, warm milky cocoa with raspberries, yum!

Mon Cheri, sherry-filled dark chocolate pralines, are the first thing I thought of when I first sprayed this on, and indeed the thought stayed until the end. Very sweet spiced sherry dark chocolate with vanilla and some caramel benzoin together with fuzzy woods in the dry down.

To my nose it is nice for 5 mins and then a bit stomach churning in the long run, but oddly not unpleasant.
Recommended for hardcore chocolate gourmand lovers.

I tested this yesterday and the initial 10 minutes was amazing, exactly the type of cacao scent I love and had hoped for. After that it developed into a richer, almost boozy cacao scent, then about 40 minutes in it turned into Ribelle by Rihanna; I mean it was IDENTICAL. If I'd sprayed Ribelle on my other wrist, I literally wouldn't have known the difference. I checked the notes and the only notes in common are cacao and amber so I'm not even sure how they are exactly the same.
Cacao2 is $280 here in Australia, and Ribelle is about $30 a bottle so it wouldn't even be a question of which one I'd purchase as they are literally the same perfume to my nose!

Definitely lives up to its name - this is pretty much straight-up dark chocolate. It’s interesting and unique but I’m not sure many people would actually want to smell so much like food. Could be interesting to layer with something else.

Cacao "squared" certainly lives up to its name. Like smearing a cinnamon milk chocolate bar all over my body with ambery touches. Not unpleasant, but it's so strongly and authentically chocolate that it comes off as more confectionery novelty than everyday perfume. The dry, brushy vetiver is eventually all that remains as a skin scent. Moderate projection fades over 2-3hr, longevity 8-10hr.

The first time I tested this I thought it was very promising. And I will say it is rich, dark, has a bit of punch--all of which are traits that usually please me. But honestly, for quite a long time this is just straight-up chocolate, which is not really enough like a perfume to me. Now if I came into someone's kitchen and it smelled like this, I would plop my little butt in a chair and wait for them to serve me whatever they were baking--it is delicious in that way. But I will let this go after my sample is gone--would not buy.

Belgian fresh chocolate shop on a cold day. High quality cacao and vanille on a polished wooden base.
The opening got me excited like a child, accidentaly puffing a big bag of fresh dominican cacao powder in the face, so realistic one could almost taste it. After 30 minutes it gets quieter, classier and a bit colder.
It is a very nice addition of a dark chocolate gourmand for us chocolate lovers that like to keep it sophisticated. Not flowery, nor fruity.

The bottle is simple and pretty, but the sprayer is hard to manage, maybe mine is slightly faulty.

My luckyscent sample arrived yesterday and after taking one quick sniff, decided to dab this on. Initial reaction is wow, cocao and vanilla with a forward cinnamon, drying down into more of the same on an amber base. Cocao 2 is fun, realistic scent that seems perfect for the holidays.

This morning I can still pick up the single dab to my wrist, so performance is stellar. Not the most unique scent, but well done and with a natural feel.

I blind-bought this because, normally, I can't miss with the listed notes. However, for whatever reason, my nose smelled mostly cumin, a note I never like in large doses. This one just didn't work for me but I'm glad it's working for others!

Opens with cocoa nibs and benzoin so heavy it seems mentholated. I totally understand the chocolate mint correlation. The sharpness quickly burns off to leave a resinous amber mixed with cocoa powder, framed by cedar. Not creamy but smooth. This is not a playful scent of chocolate candy. This is a dry, woody, deep, serious fragrance that is comforting. A dark scent story with both bitter notes and soft sweetness that provides balance and depth. A well crafted composition!

I'm confused why this is classified as a "Fruity Floral." I'd call this an Woody Amber Gourmand. Perfectly unisex.

Review of sample purchased from LuckyScent.com

NOTE
This was tested in December, in Alaska. Sooo, temperature could be a factor. I found no cumin (which usually smells like BO to me), or florals, or fruity notes but this could just be the cold dampening down the bloom. I wish more reviews included temperature info so I am starting to post it with mine.

UPDATE
Now it's June. With the heat this becomes much sweeter. I can get the slightly fruity aspect and it's much less dark but perhaps more complex. I appreciated the drier, bitter side more than this one. It's nice enough now, charming but no longer seductive.

Cacao 2 arrived as one of a few samples from Indigo Perfumery’s scent club. I was expecting yet another Tootsie Roll fragrance; something that tries to smell like chocolate but doesn’t quite cut it. Oh the surprise when I got a deep dark chocolate fragrance instead! In many ways Cacao 2 reminds me of a thick Mexican hot chocolate. And if I really use my imagination, that cinnamon can come across as mint and remind me of Andes Candies (I’d be curious to know if anyone else gets this impression).

I’m not really a gourmand lover, although I want to be. It’s just that gourmands often veer too far into sugary sweet territory and become cloying after a while. I start off loving them only to regret spraying the perfume hours later. Cacao 2 doesn’t do this, probably because it’s closer to an 80% cacao dark chocolate bar than a sugary Hershey’s. The fragrance lasts on my skin all day and never becomes too much.

Cacao 2 isn’t a complex fragrance but I ended up loving its simplicity. It is a warm snuggle on a cold day. That’s why I used up my sample and purchased a full bottle.

I liked this on skin more than on paper. I think it's an interesting companion to the vanilla in L'Occitane's Eau de Baux. It has the same dryness but with cacao and cinnamon. It's warm and cozy, with a slightly exotic feel, like a cup of Horchata. I think a late autumn, early winter evening at the arthouse cinema is a great occasion for this to stand out. Are there better scents out there for such occasions? Yes. I notice other reviews note MFKs Grand Soir, and Zara's Tobacco R/W/A comes to mind, but I think this is a fun option for an exotic and authentic gourmand that offers up something unique.

The labdaunum and the Amber make it very similar to Grand soir, it's basically GS with cacao.

no. nope. sharp. not pleasant. pass.

3/10

The first sniff will / might give you a big smile, as it smells like the most realistic dark chocolate, dry cocoa, neither bitter nor sweet, simply lovely.
But that's about it, the magic gets followed by reality, which knocks you down to the dishes where chocolate cake dough was churned and now there's just some traces of the brown dough drying out. Perfume turns into a smell of honey frames, where honey was harvested and scraped off together with wax days ago, and this smell just stays like this.
Had very high expectations.. Usually it is the opening of a perfume that can be meh, but then turns into beauty and is enjoyable till the end - not in this case.

I cannot believe how much I love this! I was curious about this relatively new house and in the mood to challenge myself with notes I don't normally gravitate toward, like cacao and cinnamon, so I ordered a sample. I don't have anything against gourmands, but I never really thought they were my style, you know? Until I crossed paths with Cacao2, that is.

The scent revolves around the rich cacao note and it works because it isn't sweet; it almost smells like a premium dark roast coffee or a bitter dark chocolate. The vanilla, amber and labdanum do add some sweetness, but it's a voluptuous, resin-y sweetness. Oh, that labdanum heart note is everything.

The opening is lovely but it's the dry down that truly sold me on this scent. The sweetness slowly melts away over the course of an hour or so. Then, the vetiver, benzoin and cedar really start coming through. The fragrance takes on an autumn bonfire vibe. I enjoy burning benzoin resin as incense and that immediately comes to mind, too. Vetiver is one of my favorite notes and I've never smelled it in a composition like this. It's so smoky and spicy. I am enamored.

This has been such a fun discovery for me! I need a full bottle of this ASAP and I definitely plan on investigating what else this house has to offer. Happy Samhain!