It’s difficult to follow a review of fragrances I really like (such as yesterday’s Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille and Parfumerie Generale L’Ombre Fauve) with fragrances that are decent but not great, which is not to say that there won’t be people out there who think today’s two fragrances (Cedre and Caravelle Epicee) totally rock — but while I like both choices well enough, I can easily live without them in the long run.
PARFUMS 06130 CEDRE has a light touch, and for me, it’s a bit too light. Cedar, musc and vetiver are listed as scent notes, which might lead one to believe that you’re going to encounter a woodsy, earthy affair, but the piece as a whole comes across as slightly soapy, a little grassy green and disappointingly medium-bodied instead of rich and/or deeply wooded.
06130 Cedre is linear as far as its development is concerned, traveling from point A to point B without much in the way of deviation and, unfortunately, interest. If you’re a cedar fanatic, then you should certainly give Cedre a try, but there isn’t much in the bottle for everyone else.
I should confess that cedar is not one of my favorite essences, so anything featuring a predominant cedar note was going to have to come out of the gate with something to prove in the first place, and perhaps this is a fault in my own perspective that Cedre was destined to never overcome. Take the review for what it’s worth in that regard.
FRAPIN CARAVELLE EPICEE exhibits a very distinct pipe-tobacco character, which worked nicely for Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille and works nicely here, as well, but only once the fragrance settles into its drydown phase.
There are a lot of spices in Caravelle Epicee, and I personally think the perfumer went overboard with them: cumin, thyme, coriander, nutmeg, clove and cardamom gangpile on top of the tobacco, patchouli, amber, sandalwood and gaiac wood for an opening that’s a sour mess, but once the spices ease up, especially the cumin, clove and thyme, the dusty, woodsy quality of Caravelle Epicee is revealed, and the fragrance becomes a far more pleasant path through the patchouli forest.
The tobacco is quite nice (again, after the opening burns off), and the dusty nutmeg was an excellent choice for enhancing the dry qualities of the gaiac wood, tobacco and patchouli. The amber is subtle and the whole concoction really shines as it’s wrapping everything up, but that over-spiced opening is a sour disaster that keeps me from even contemplating wearing Caravelle Epicee again, much less purchasing a full bottle.
If only every day could be a L’Ombre Fauve day . . .
