I have been wearing a custom-made scent commissioned through Fresh, which I wrote about in the current issue, and walking around in its woodsy cloud has been a revelation. I get asked about it everywhere--especially in enclosed places like elevators and cabs, and members of my large extended family have been chiming in about the scents that I summoned from our collective memory. There are all sorts of notes from Maryland--Old Bay spice, tobacco leaves--but it is also modeled on one that I had borrowed from a fragrance maestro, Jon Bresler of Lafco New York. In October, Jon gave me a vial containing maybe a teaspoon of his remaining half-bottle of Toscana, a venerable but discontinued flavor from Santa Maria Novella. The gesture was extremely generous, and I savored the bottle like Halloween candy, allowing myself only a little at a time to make the sweetness last. Then on Christmas, I got something that wasn't even on my list: A bottle of Toscana. That storied Italian fragrance company is bringing back the original--available for sale now in Bresler's store on Lafayette, at Lafco's LA location, and through their website. The 3.3 fl oz (100 ml) bottle sells for $110.

So I have been toggling between my more personal potion, crafted by Lev Glazman of Fresh and his team, and on other days, the Toscana. A good friend with a nose for men's scents noticed the difference: the Fresh scent is sunnier and yet sexier, while the Santa Maria Novella revival has more vanilla and a kind of darkness. They are not exactly day and night, but that's how I divide when to wear one or the other. --NED MARTEL

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MV STAT:In March archaeologists on Cyprus discovered a 43,000 sq ft. perfume-making factory dating back 4,000 years. The perfumes -- lavender, bay, rosemary, and coriander scents -- were still intact in their bottles...