The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Goodbye New York Sour sits inside Proad's Rhythm of the Soul collection, a series that translates specific emotional registers into olfactory form. The name borrows from the cocktail: red wine, citrus, a slow dissolve from bright to bitter. The brand handed the brief to Christian Carbonnel, also known as Chris Maurice, and the 2023 release marks one of the more cocktail-coded pieces in the house's catalog, a fragrance that wears like an evening that's already half-done by the time you notice it. There's an immediate sweetness from the strawberry and red wine, cut through by the coriander's almost savory brightness, with cinnamon threading through like a faint memory of something warmer.
What separates this from the usual boozy-fragrance crowd is the collision of materials. Red wine and strawberry meet coriander and davana in the top, a combination that reads less like a dessert and more like something restless, unfinished. Cashmeran in the heart is the unusual choice, a synthetic material that smells like fabric softener crossed with amber, wrapping the rose and geranium in something clean and almost synthetic.
The evolution
The opening hits fast and wet, red wine and strawberry brightened by coriander and a thin edge of cinnamon. It smells like the first thirty seconds of a cocktail being mixed, sharp, fruity, and a little chaotic. Within fifteen minutes the davana and florals step forward. Rose and geranium arrive through a cashmeran haze, which has a slightly synthetic, laundry-soft quality that makes the floral heart read less like a bouquet and more like something you've just walked past. The tuberose adds weight, almost waxy, anchoring the florals before the base takes over. Eventually the wine is gone. What's left is nagarmotha, tobacco, oakmoss, and a quiet guaiac wood, with vanilla and tonka softening the edges. The drydown is dry, earthy, slightly bitter, and unmistakably warm.
Cultural impact
Goodbye New York Sour wears like a fragrance for people who already know what they want to smell like. It draws from the Rhythm of the Soul collection and finds a specific register: the last drink, the coat already on, the city receding. The kind of scent that suits someone who treats fragrance as a chapter heading rather than an accessory. The cocktail reference is direct but not gimmicky, anchored in red wine and tobacco combinations that feel lived-in rather than designed for show.
