Eloge du Traitre

After falling head over heels for ELdO's Eau de Protection for Rossy de Palma I decided to order a sample set from them. Most of the perfumes I tried until now (Charogne, Vierges et Toreros, Noël au Balcon, Archives 69 and even Jasmin et Cigarette) left me quite disappointed. None could compare to the luminosity and genius of Eau de Protection. Then along came Eloge du Traître (wonderful name, by the way). The opening is green, aromatic and bitter and than it turns more bitter still, slightly musty with a very strong woody note. It almost smells to me like biting in a branch just pulled of a tree, just not as fresh. Slightly unpleasant and unsettling almost, precisely what I love about Etat Libre. Beautiful, wearable, but slightly unsettling perfumes. After some time Eloge becomes drier, but still full of aroma. Laurel is very prominent, strangely enough I don't really smell pine at all. I'm in wood heaven. Thrown back and forth between a leafless forest in winter and a room packed with ancient wooden boxes, that have absorbed the scent of everything they ever carried. And apparently they carried a lot of dried herbs. After a couple of hours a dark, sophisticated leather shows up. The leather mixes with the bitter woods and astringent herbs and rounds the fragrance, mellows it slightly, makes it deeper. This perfume is absolutely full bottle worthy. It is melancholy, brooding, deep. A person full of dark thoughts, but not without compassion, he does not kill for fun, he kills because he needs to, because he must.

This is my favorite from the ELdO line. There's nothing hugely original going on here, but this is a very well executed fougere that was clearly inspired by some of the virile masculines of the 1980s. When I first smelled this, I was instantly reminded of Halston Z-14, which my father wore some 20+ years ago. There is also a definite resemblance to Caron's Yatagan. Still, I'm always attracted to fragrances that attempt to capture the scents of the forest. This is definitely that - you're immediately struck by a beautiful pairing of pine and laurel in this fragrance. The wormwood is nicely aromatic, and the patchouli is actually quite subtle. The real twist here comes in the form of jasmine - not an ingredient you'd expect in this sort of fragrance. That said, the addition of that jasmine really gives this an additional dimension - and balance. Since this is a throwback to those ultra masculines, it will still scare a few people. Too bad - this is a wonderful, earthy fragrance that is particularly nice in cooler weather. Wear this one in the fall and be transported to the northern woods. This could have been Agent Cooper's signature scent in "Twin Peaks". ELdO has already done a collaboration with Tilda Swinton - maybe they should do one with David Lynch?

I love green fragrances and I’ve sampled quite a few now, but this one hits a real sweet spot: it’s a woody, bitter, herbal greenness that’s distinctly masculine in a vintage way. I love the presentation of wormwood here: it adds a thrilling nervous energy to the aromatic bay leaf, sage, and clove notes, like a poisonous snake slithering through undergrowth. The pine notes also blend seamlessly into the musky, leathery base, conjuring a foggy forest, not a Christmas tree. The geranium and jasmine are a surprise, as is the fact that this fragrance is so green without having any galbanum or vetiver. It feels surprisingly light and agile—effervescent, even—but it also has impressive duration and sillage. Many people have described this as a modernized version of Caron’s classic Yatagan, which I haven’t smelled, though I gather that it’s more animalic (I suspect it might lean a little ~too~ overtly masc for my taste, though I’m very curious about it). Of all the scents I’ve sniffed by Antoine Maisondieu, this is easily my favourite. I wish it wasn't discontinued! Hopefully my decanted sample lasts me until I can find a vintage bottle—or better yet, maybe ELdO will bring it back?

A remarkable fragrance for man (though marketed as to be unisex, I can see nothing unisex in here). The opening was rather sharp with bay leaves, but after the first few minutes it settles down to a fantastic pine and bay leave combo. The best part is the heart and the dry down where "Eloge du Traitre" turns to be a smoky and warm pine scent. The pine is very natural smelling and hard to resist actually. Do try this, it is a marvelous aromatic scent reminding me of warm summer nights in forest after the rain. This smells very inviting on me and I can only imagine how perfect would this smell on a man. Masculine, warm, sensual and macho like. One of the best by Etat libre d`Orange. UPD: Wanted to add that the staying power is enormous. It has been 14 hours or so and I can feel "Eloge du Traite" on my wrist still going very strong.

Take Caron Yatagan, and give it the necessary twist to make it wearable on a daily base in the 2010's... Here is Eloge du Traitre. Beautiful piney smoky birch tar (aka leather) with a strong support of bayleaf and cloves. Shares similarities with other leather fragrances, like Yatagan (as said before), Versace L'Homme, Bogart Signature and Bottega Veneta Pour Homme. Nothing new, but an excellent fine-tuning from ELdO, that makes this one of the most interesting in that category. Quite linear with moderate/heavy projection and I suggest not to overspray if worn at the office. Highly recommended to amateurs of this style. That said, young crowds and beginner nose may not appreciate it at its real value. Fall/Winter days, 30+

I put this into my top 5 this cool rainy Spring morning. This is an underated masterpiece perhaps. It's reminding me of why I like fragrances. I thank God for the beautiful smells in nature that He has given us to enjoy. Eloge is transporting me to waking up camping on the Appalacian trail, on a mountain top in Northern Vermont. It's cool and rainy and the vegitation is more pungent. I am smelling the cool bay leaf, pine and bitter green artemesia, the smell of minerals on a wet granite outcrop. Very natural and beautiful fragrance, allmost an anti perfume, as it smells so natural earthy and coniferous. Rating: 10/10 God bless. John 3:16

At first this gave me leather, lavender, cloves, tobacco - this is how the morning after the night before should smell but never does. The tobacco and leather stay, but a breath of fresh night air creeps in and the scent sinks to a sombre, comforting elegance that I almost forgot I was wearing. Finally, I realised I was smelling cedar forests and moss. What can I say? Pretentious, I know, but this strikes me as the perfume equivalent of Vaughan Williams' Tallis variations. I truly love it and long for a big, big bottle. Would work for women, men, and as a scent for the home. Really lovely and not even slightly treacherous.

What I love about Eloge du Traitre is the dry white smoke that permeates the pine, bay, and artemisia green resinous accord, it feels almost like powdered stone drifting suspended through gently moving air. After the bracing opening the deliberate restraint lends an introspective and slightly melancholy air somewhat similar in mood to Memoir Man, the subtle dark oily leather in the drydown only adding to the mood. It's the opposite of happy go lucky, but when you're in the mood it seems to touch at a deep level

A great scent. I don't know what happened to the great Yatagan but it smelt like the ghost of what I was expecting. I suspect reformulation. This is the wonderful woody aromatic creation I was expecting. It transports you to a wonderful coniferous forest. Lots of aromatic notes and wood at first then gradually the leather appears. I think it's a unisex scent for us gals who enjoy aromatic scents. Its lovely for cold weather wear. Pretty good longevity and good sillage.

This was the best ELdO fragrance ever. I still have 1/2 bottle, and put it in my top 5 yesterday from a large collection. I love natural smelling fragrances. This is very beautiful and enjoyable fragrance from the forest. Love the bay leaf, artemisia and pine accord. Very hard to find old bottles on eBay. PS: A. GREAT ALTERNATIVE IS "FRENCH LOVER " BY FREDERIC MALLE. It has juniper, artemisia, galbanum, and other green forest stuff, with a touch of Florentine Iris.

When you first spray this fragrance you will be thrown into a forger sensation. First you are in a forest of pine trees . A refresh awakening with the warm sensuality of what is to come. Clove accords are introduced with hint of geranium. The warm down is a masculine elegance. The patchouli in this fragrance is modern with flashes of the past. This is a beautiful green, spicy and earthy scent blended beautifully

piercingly sharp green at first, almost acrid, could have cut my nose in half pure pine needles, clove, sage, patchouli, chopped garden herbs, so naturalistic it’s very bright although it does smooth out over time to a slightly bitter floral green with a dark musky cannabis/coconut incense thing going on underneath, it's interesting the entire way through, so good

Perfumery at its finest. This is just one of those fragrances that encapsulates nature so well. The outdoors, earth, dirt, campfire, rain, the forest, etc. Its a lovely coniferous fragrance that is best suited for the winter. I get similarities to Nejman's Le Seducteur.

A blast for the senses. I get so many more notes than those listed here: whiffs of rich cacao in the opening, strong whirling cumin in the middle. This creation never sits still. It grabs you and forces you to get out of your chair, damnit. I love.

The best fragrance from this house. I like wearing it on cool rainy days. It smells like wet minerals, wet rocks. Laural, sage, cloves and geranium are strongest notes for me.

A quite masculine aromatic scent, reminding me on the old-school fragrances with its bold manliness and overloads of pine. What makes this one marketed as unisex is beyond me, but maybe there is a woman that could wear this. Sorry, but I can’t imagine her. A culinary accord of bay leaf opens the wholly green pyramid of Eloge du Traitre. Like in Monocle Laurel of CdG, it’s pretty sharp and heavy, but, unlike in Laurel, it fades earlier, or, should I say, mixes with bitter wormwood to create a more pleasant aroma. In the heart those two notes are joined by a boatload of well executed pine note, which overwhelms the other two in a heartbeat and defines this one as a, mostly, pine scent. The drydown is still a fresh pine with added earthy notes such as patchouli to give an another type of personality to the fragrance. The longevity is about six or seven hours. While this perfume doesn’t have an attacking sillage, it is quite detectable to others. And while I see a wearer of this thing as a person full of self-confidence, with little regard to others’ opinions, I feel I have to say this one can provoke both extremely positive and negative reactions. It’s harsh, quite honestly, but that harshness is a blessing for someone. After all, it defined an era of masculine fragrances – Yatagan, a most-likely predecessor of this one, is a worshiped creation and it was even louder, but that was the way a man should smell. Personally, I think I’m too young for this one. Maybe, one day, I’ll be mature enough to wear this, but I think I’d choose Caron’s beast instead. Aside from that, it’s a nice, well-made aromatic, sold for a pretty regular price – a worthy buy if you like pine and green accords in general. 7.5/10

I love the marketing graphic used by Etat Libre d'Orange for this EDP. A navy, pin-striped suit-clad man wielding a deadly dagger hidden behind his back. I think it says a lot for such a daring name for a parfum. ELd'O is one of my favourite perfume houses and I have endeavoured to try every one of their fragrances, eventually! I like this fragrance because it is so much like my beloved Yatagan by Caron, Polo by Ralph Lauren and even the oddly, Indian incense-smoked RIEN by ELd'O as well. It's all leather, pine, artemisia, patchouli, musk and cloves. I was sure I saw laurel in is as well when I checked the formulations of all of these fragrances and they all fall in the same category or pine/leather/artemisia. So if you like the others, you'll like this one too. Once again, this is not a likeable scent for the masses; unless you are a parfumisto who knows how to appreciate and wear this ultra-masculine creation by Antoine Maisondieu (a favourite nose of mine). Why a woman would want to wear this is beyond me, although their website promotes it as a shared fragrance. It is a good, old-fashioned, manly smell that you either love or hate. A word of warning; not everyone who smells this on you is going to love it and they will definitely be vocal about it, believe you me! I wore it to work today and my female colleague screwed her nose up and gave me a really poor review of what she thought was 'Oil of Wintergreen' so early in the morning and that I should wear a lot less of it at work; and when I went home, my sister said I smelt gorgeous! I like this fragrance very much; but the appreciation really depends on the individual who smells it; not the wearer!

Being very nostalgic of how scents used to smell back in the 80's, an era when men's perfumes were for men and women's perfumes for women, I am a big fan of this fragrance. Back then I used to enjoy Polo Green (which had nothing to do with the reformulated trash they sell nowdays), Yatagan, Jules, Macassar, Jean Patou and the likes. Eloge du Traitre brings back all those memories with its own personality. In my opinion this fragrance is an aromatic fougere dominated by artemisia, pine, bay leaf and a dry smoky sensation on the background. It conjures up a sort of "military bitter green" image but at the same time herbal and fresh. It is a great choice for those days when I feel like wearing a green, austere, masculine fragrance with no "tobacco vanille" in its notes ! Now, as far as its name is concerned, no matter how hard I have tried I cannot correlate it to the smell. But then again it is well known that nowdays playing crazy is the essence of modern promotion. Unless of course ELDO made this as an "eloge" for the "traitre" who sold to them the formula of Yatagan so that they can produce their own version !!! Just kidding - I possess no such info ! A modern classic. 8/10

Dries down to a smooth bay leaf with a slight coniferous top. A woody leather in the back ground nose to skin. The opening blast has a drydown over and hour or two that’s pleasantly green and herbaceous thanks to the artemisia which disappears unfortunately after 30 Min or so. This part reminds me quite succinctly of Versace Green Jeans. The opening also feels like a bit of wormwood and absinthe is present though this is likely the patch playing tricks. A blind buy, it at first disappointed me but as is oft the case of ELdO it has grown on me though some of the reviews below claiming it to be a masterful example of perfumery etc are quite an exaggeration. My only complaint is it’s sillage is mediocre after 1 hour though I enjoy the scent and it lasts 4-6 hours. Something I commonly find with ELdO.

This is surely not the best and most original scent I've ever tried but I quite like it. It's basically an aromatic fougere with all the chrisms but it has something special and intriguing to my nose. Big doses of sharp pine and laurel joined by a civilized jasmine that soften the general harshness. if it were a colour it would be dark green, if it were an item of clothing it would be a pair of camouflage pants. Eloge Du Traite may be a good alternative for those days you don't have enough strength to face Yatagan but still need to be somehow assertive. Update: In the drydown it gets a bit similar to CDG's Monocle Scent N.2 (Laurel), but way more wearable. Rating: 8/10