These came fresh, looked appealing and had a nice fragrance. Bottle was attractive. Good flavor, noticeable in stews, soups, stirfries. I still had a few leaves left after three months or so, and unfortunately the color and smell faded significantly. Perhaps that's to be expected. (All in all, I preferred the Turkish ones bought previously from Penzey's.) I was able to find a live bay laurel plant in the meantime, so I won't be buying more. But I'll be reusing the bottle.