If Bergamote was a return to citrus-driven cologne style, Apres La Mousson is Jean-Claude Ellena’s embrace of the fresh style that was ascendant in the late 2000’s. The perfume is meant to evoke the smell of a garden in India after a monsoon, with all of the aquatic/fresh notes one would expect from the period.
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A pleasant punch of bright citrus and woody, spice black and white pepper, V for Men does not surprise, but pleases throughout a solid dry down. Yes, there is Oud listed, but this does not dominate a dry, spicy, comfortable woodiness that lasts far longer than other scents in the category. This is expensive to be so comfortable, but if you are looking for a long-lasting pepper scent with a dry, but interesting woody backbone, this might be your scent.
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If we ignore gender and sex (as in desire), then this is a lovely powdery floral with a nuanced green opening. We include Vert de Fleur in the list of our Top 10 Galbanum Perfumes for the delicate balance of green and floral that it achieves (oh . … Vert de Fleur …).
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This is the freshly cracked black pepper with nothing but dry woods that pepper heads have been looking for. There are some longevity issues, but this captures the woody facets of black pepper better than most.
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After many decades of attempts at reinventing the fougère, this 2016 release from Amouge by perfumers Olivier Cresp and Fabrice Pelligrin signals a return to form with no sense of pastiche. This is a refined, expertly-blended statement piece with strong performance on projection, sillage, and longevity. This is a spiced version of the genre, and a patchouli bomb for the ages, but one kept lighter with lavindin and bright citrus opening and a beautiful use of sandalwood/cedar notes to dry things out in the heart.
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Cherry vanilla cola bubblegum fruit dream spice powder. Try to tap into the sensory overload of touching another person intimately, yet innocently with the shared intention of tender closeness. It might smell like this.
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Cardamom is not the star of the show in this 2011 release from perfumer Lyn Harris. The cardamom duels with coriander and cumin for spice and with frankincense and elemi for effervescence. The unique aspect of this scent, which could be a complaint from some, is that the smokiness and resin and spice blend are restrained throughout. This restraint, combined with a creamy sandalwood and welcoming amber, makes this wearable through the day without offense.
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Tom Ford’s Oud Wood was launched in 2007 as part of their Private Blend series, intended to have a smaller audience and a mark-up suitable to low volume compared to their other, already expensive, lines for the masses. This is a dry fresh wood perfume of the period that helped pushed the use of synthetic oud as a key branding ingredient in commercial perfumery. To do that, everything else is toned down (we dream of promised spices) and the oud is kept clean, floral, fruity, with some rubbery, smoky, tobacco along for the ride.
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Released in 1944, Bandit became the standard bearer for green chypre, leather feminine scents in the post-war era. Perfumer Germaine Cellier designed a scent that could withstand tobacco smoke without the heavy floral and animalic scents of the preceding decades. Bandit was for the new woman who stepped into the workplace when men were off fighting and who weren’t going back into the kitchen now that the war was over.
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Appreciate the blend of black and pink pepper, which stands out from a relatively restrained incense and rose heart. This scent rides the wave of synthetic, metallic opening and a natural pepper-driven descent to resinous, dry woods.
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Voyage d'Hermès is not Terre d'Hermès. How could this be? Those who follow Jean-Claude Ellena’s career were aware of his movement to more spare compositions, but were taken by surprise by the simplicity of Voyage. They see his signature, but don’t love the painting. For many others, this is exactly what they wanted, a light, spiced floral translucent wood and musk.
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Number 3 (only the third men’s scent from Caron) misses no opportunities. This has the aromatic, sharp citrus opening, a spiced and mildly erotic floral heart, ending with a gentile, powdered base. This is a scent that can be worn regardless of gender because it has considered and moved beyond the gender norms of its time (and now) intentionally. For all of this, we place The Third Man at the top of our Top 10 Fougère Perfumes list
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This 2011 release is a favorite of Creed fans as well as those looking for a refined cedar scent. Cedar, listed here as a heart note, is present throughout the relatively linear dry down. The galbanum and angelica lend different facets of very intense green incense, keeping this from getting too dry or falling too quickly into the creamier sandalwood/musk. If one ground pepper up finely enough and mixed it with dried bergamot and lemon zest, they may get a similar experience as we had with the opening of a 2020 decant of Royal Oud.
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Perfumer Andy Tauer has established a cult following for scents like this. The cumin and coriander brightened with petitgrain provide an earthy, spicy, musky, bright opening. Some reviewers are bothered by this spice opening. The rock rose (labdanum) and jasmine support a sweet, resinous, powdery transition to the dry desert star of the show: cedar.
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In our wear of a 2020 decant, we found that Avignon lives up to the hype as a transformative treatment of incense, but confounds an easy description. The opening of Avignon has a remarkable similarity to the scent of fossilized amber purchased from Eden Botanicals. There is a bright fruity, leathery, phenolic note that is a unified scent. It could be the fruit from the Roman chamomile combined with the peppery, lemony brightness of the elemi resting on the deeper cistus and vanilla. A blend of different myrrh oils and resinoids could also support this. Still, it goes beyond our understanding.
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Indie perfumer Ömer Ipekçi launched his Turkish label Pekji in 2015 with a focused set of scents reinterpreting classic genres. Ruh, which means spirit, was meant to return the tired “Oriental” perfume category to a sense of place and narrative.. The fullness and fruity opening of the Turkish rose is blended masterfully with bright fruitiness of cardamom and the bitterness of coffee. The spicy/floral depth blends well into the oud, ambery musk base with excellent longevity.
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This is not something we would wear regularly, but it would suit someone with a love of orange blossom and powder. Because of the quality of this execution, we include Séville à l'Aube in our Top 10 Orange Blossom Perfume lists. We love the use of Seville lavender and will be looking for more scents that employ its magic.
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Released in 1971 only three years after the Clinique brand launched, Aromatics Elixir was a generation-defining, accessible scent for women moving away from the heavy, spiced perfumes of the 1960’s. This was a sharp, medicinally bitter green powder that came out the same year as Chanel No. 19’s galbanum-driven green monster.
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A characteristic Serge Lutens scent by Christopher Sheldrake, released in 2008, this gourmand candied ginger unisex perfume luxuriates in a tea of bergamot, honey, and cacao. The patchouli and pepper keep this from drowning in sweetness, although the dried fruit and honey may turn off those who abhor any sweet note.
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This is the gentleman strolling on a Saturday afternoon with a carnation in his lapel. Born in Nice in 1905 and trained in Grasse, perfumer Edmond Roudnitska already had a number of major successes when his Eau Sauvage was released by Dior in 1966. There are few scents that approach the influence and appreciation that Eau Sauvage has sustained over its more than 50 years on the market.
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