Creed Virgin Island Water

Scent names are funny.  I think that water from the Virgin Islands would smell strongly of salt, seaweed, maybe some dead fish?  Apparently, however, Creed's new Virgin Island Water "captures the tropical splendor of scents carried in the trade winds of Sir Francis Drake Channel near Ginger Island in the Caribbean."

I got a very generous sample of Virgin Island Water from the Creed counter at Saks during the Sniffapalooza Spring Fling.  I wanted to spend a little time sniffing the Creeds, as I haven't yet found a Creed scent that I really like.  Fleurs de Bulgarie and Fleurs de Thé Rose Bulgarie are both nice, but not necessarily something I want to wear all the time.  But there seemed to be some sort of rules involved with the bottles at Saks...when I walked to a quieter part of the counter, I was told that I was not allowed to sniff from those bottles, only the ones on the other side. Uh-huh.  Forget it then.  I'm a customer, Sniffa nametag or not, and I should be able to smell or spritz any bottles within reach.  But I asked for a Virgin Island Water sample and got it, suprisingly without argument.

Notes: bergamot, lime, mandarin, coconut toddy (a liquid derived from the sap of the palm tree), copra (the white inner portion of the coconut), jasmine, hibiscus, ylang-ylang, ginger, tonkin musk, white rum, sugar cane

The opening notes are all about citrus.  We get a little bergamot, a lot of tart lime, lime that's suddenly sweet like sourball candies.  Then a bit of coconut wafts in on a breeze, subtly, not at all pushy or obnoxious.  It's an obvious coconut note, but not a particularly assertive one.  It doesn't make one smell of suntan lotion.  I don't catch much of the floral elements of the scent at all before the ginger adds a little bite to the lime and coconut.  The final additions to this tasty summer cocktail are a shot of sweet white rum and a teensy bit of musk. 

Pleasant, sweet and summery, but not my style.  Maybe I'll try to sneak up on a Creed counter elsewhere.  Do them make them without SAs?