Duel

Duel and I have had a long relationship. We've met several times and I consider us friends by now but can't decide whether there's any further chance of love or romance... To start with, I'd say it has a memorable long life. I used to think this was weak and lasted for a short period but it is one of the only Goutals that isn't gone with the first wind and its citric basenotes are incredibly vibrant. Unlike some other great offerings from this house that start furiously citric and disappear within minutes, Duel ends with an enormous dose of citrus and makes me think of the same in Lalique's Encre Noire pour homme. I love citric notes developing and staying. I see people wonder about the tobacco and I don't remember having seen that listed on their webpage, but what I smell the strongest is the mix of citrus with the paraguay mate absolute. In Paraguay, southern Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina we drink mate everyday and this is exactly how that herb smells when it's mixed with hot water and sugar. These leaves can have a process of drying that gives them a smoky smell and this is what I see here. I was really impressed when I first tried this on my skin since I hadn't read the notes and felt I had this sooo familiar thing on me and couldn't realise until I read it was mate absolute and then didn't resist and went again for a sample. Now, my problem with Duel is I love it but can't think of anyone under 50 using it. It is redolent of old people drinking "mate cocido" which is the tea version with extra sugar. This is by no means offensive... I just can't think of myself wearing this now but will definitely buy it once. This makes me think of my grandfather, his clothes and wisdom. His slow movements, the cozy atmosphere around him and I'm afraid I wouldn't dare to go dancing with this on, nor would I use it wearing modern clothes. I would definitely feel out of place, as if I was pretending or disguising myself. Its quality is great, its basenotes superb and I'm happy I've finally come to terms with it. I love it but our times differ... isn't it somehow romantic? Our love is not possible YET.

I once had this cologne in its original brown bottle. I miss it being in that bottle. Over the years, I was convinced the formulation changed. The owner, after transition assured me it did not. It did. From what I remember, the tea was once at the top, middle and base of the fragrance and everything else was underlying. It’s now too “perfumey”, although it still smells like nothing else on the market in my opinion. It is dry. It is green, albeit green in a subtle way, not really in a fougere type of way, that is sharp and cloying. The absinthe helps in this regard. It’s also slightly vegetal and a tad earthy. It has a natural sweetness of tea, throughout. It is a very light and airy fragrance. It has a slight pungent dryness, sort of like a persimmon not yet ripe, that can almost make one’s nose pucker. This dryness, lends to its old world feel. I like that someone walking by, would not just be able to pick out the notes. In this way, it is a mysterious fragrance and the original story of knights and chivalry is realized. I wish they’d bring back that brown bottle. More importantly, I wish they’d bring back the original formulation, that was tea, with an almost plum, fig like expression.

I really love this fragrance. At the top, it opens with a refreshing blend of citrus and herbal notes, followed by a subtle touch of tea, a hint of leather, and the smooth elegance of iris. Over time, the scent doesn’t change dramatically—only the citrus softens slightly—while maintaining a natural and comfortable impression throughout. There’s nothing artificial about it; instead, it feels clean and genuinely natural. If I were to describe this fragrance as a person, it would be a gentle gentleman with a sense of comfort and refined cleanliness. The only drawback is its weak projection. The scent fades so quickly that even I can barely recognize it on myself shortly after applying. Still, I absolutely adore this fragrance for its natural, understated elegance. この香水を非常に気に入っています。 トップではシトラスとハーバルの爽やかさが広がり、その奥にお茶の落ち着きや、微かなレザー、そしてアイリスの滑らかなニュアンスが感じられます。時間が経つにつれて大きな変化はなく、シトラス感が少し和らぐ程度で、全体を通して自然な印象が続きます。人工的な香りはほとんどなく、ナチュラルで心地よい雰囲気です。 この香水を人に例えるなら、優しく、安心感と清潔感を備えた紳士が思い浮かびます。 ただ一つ欠点を挙げるとすれば、その香り立ちの弱さです。自分自身でも香りを認識するのが難しいほど、つけてすぐに薄れてしまうのは惜しい点です。 それでも、このナチュラルで上品な雰囲気が大好きな一本です。

Gorgeous. It seems the notes above are incorrect--the maté absolute comes through loud and clear... unroasted green maté with mint and honey is my drink of choice all winter, so I know it well. Duel has a fresh, light, woody, green feeling, without being aggressively FRESH or overly masculine. It occupies a lovely middle ground between dry and sweet. I've been looking for a perfume to wear at work this summer. My job includes alternating between physical work and consulting/selling at times rather pricey home services, all in an environment that is warm and humid during the summer. I naturally gravitate toward sweet and strong vanilla, amber, and spice in my perfumes, but those are too much in the heat. My perfume crush/potential love/maybe soul mate right now is Dzing! But I worry that others will find it unpleasant, and judging from the mixed reviews, this is likely. Duel is the one for me, for now. No screechy or cheap-smelling elements to annoy me, not challenging to others, and perfectly unisex in my opinion.

Big Edit: Rewriting my whole review. This went from a like to love for me. A very realistic, rich black tea that always stays *just* this side of bitter. I get wafts of something slightly sweet/fruity (like a peach/osmanthus) but only here and there. I don't get orris really. It's not quite leathery on me either. This is a very natural smelling green scent featuring black tea and some lovely, soft vegetal musks. It's intelligent, understated, and cozy. Contrary to reviews below, I think this would be STUNNING on a woman. Longevity and projection on skin is quite good.

Wow im really loving this one. Opens a little herbal but seconds later some citrus joins in to overpower the herbs. Into the heart im getting a lot of tea and some musk. Very fresh and uplifting. I just bought a bottle within minutes of sampling this one. That's a first for me! Edit: Got my bottle and gave myself a good spray. Same as before except into the drydown im getting a marvelous hay/dried grass with a background of tea. This gets better every time I smell it! I just hope I get better longevity out this one than others reported.

I was fortunate to find old version. At first spray there's a mixed frougue and bitter/spicy blend from Holly. It has a herbal base with a sweet/warm blend from Artemisia and Oris root. Don't pick up any musk and leather vib. This juice has a attractive mature/sophisticated blend. This is one of those frag almost all year around. This juice does not have a generic aroma. I would buy this juice over what's being released these days. 8.5/10

Green tea with lemon that at a first sniff feels simple, but when analyzed a bit, I can say that it's not just a straightforward lemon green tea. The notes are very well blended, it is transparent, fresh, elegant and very pretty. It’s a quiet scent, though addictive to me. Petitgrain and a faint leather accord in the background from the mate with a crystallized sugary note in the drydown. 8.5/10

This is an absolute fantastic smell. Very natural and well blended sweet-herbal with a very light touch of leather. The bad thing is his low strenght and sillage. Longevity is moderate-low (no more than 4-5 hours.) Perfect to use in all the circustances. Love it. Scent 8/10 longevity: 5/10 sillage: 4/10

I love Duel. Annick Goutal is always great for making natural scent. This one is also. It is fresh light airy tea scent which is relax and uplifting. Tea and petigrain notes together are amazing. Perfect for spring and summer or a day you want to rest your nose from wearing other strong fragrance.

Green tea and citrus with some petitgrain to start, fading to Yerba and new leather. My old Annick Goutal label square bottle still has the new leather smell, it's a lovely contrast with the innocent almost cologne start. Easy and brilliant.

Terribly strange, it reminds me the smell of leather used to make shoes or something else similar

Ethereal, fleeting and wonderful. Herbs, tea, woods. I get the iris too. Unisex 8/10

This is a masterpiece, the scent is absolut fantastic, i just love it.

This is a very unique offering within the massive department store full of infinite variations of woody ambers in which I randomly stumbled across it. Duel is a fragrance that is challenging for me personally, but also very very captivating. So essentially Duel circles around the dense woody herbal facet of matte, feeling all the way through as the equivalent of sipping the supersaturated few drops of tea that are left at the bottom of the mug, deeply natural, dark green, and somewhat bitter. The opening is also quite difficult to get through, tart bergamot with intense greenness, my brain immediately goes to dill pickles. Upon closer examination it reveals a subtle leather, with a certain dusty dimension to it. It is those powdery elements that bring the slightest amount of sweetness in an otherwise unforgiving composition. There is also a certain salty quality to it, or more so mineral-like adding further intrigue. Guaiac wood is also being used in a fantastic way in this one, with it's meaty smoky qualities building the hidden backbone through this otherwise quite airy and ethereal green dust cloud. The closest I can compare this scent to is a mix between Artisan Dzongka and Floraiku I and the Moon, which I would order in the following order: The Moon and I > Duel > Dzongka. Definitely something to sample first, overall excellent, but something I still need to get used to myself.

duel I just got a bottle of this one and tested it today my first impressions although its not in the notes break down I feel some kind of citrus in the opening as its fresh and lemony feel in the opening as it dries down a tea note comes in although im not too familiar with Artemisia note I guess that's that tea note?. as it goes to the base I can detect the leather, musc and wood this is familiar to me I describe the base as smokey leathery with slight musky, notes breakdown are fresh citrusy like a honey lemon feel, greenish because of the tea note finally smokey, leathery sillage pretty soft to moderate last about 5-6 hours poor for a niche frag. Price not so appealing I got this one for cheap new packaging 62usd so I blind bought it and gave it a shot. I find the smell natural its very uplifting and in offensive its a safe scent nothing really exciting or ground breaking IMO. BLIND BUYING is not recommended as its pricey and performance is weak now if they can improve the performance it will all be worth it.

I smelt tea- black or oolong- at first, but now it's fading and starting to resemble a toned-down version of Eau du Fier. With woods. A very serene, relaxing scent. But then... One-hour: Sillage at about 3-4 inches away from skin. Two-hour mark: it is only a faint skin-scent. Four hours: I question whether I can detect it at all. For such a promising forward, this composition seems to be lacking in base-notes to slow down the evaporation. It kind of goes *poof* the moment it is sprayed. If it were priced less, I wouldn't mind carting a spray-vial around with me to reapply, but- as another commentator also remarked- this isn't worth the price tag; the bottle would be finished in no time! I am quite impressed with all four of AG's Les Orientalistes, and Vetiver, Sables, and Eau du Fier are also unique, well-constructed creations. Duel on the other hand (and Nifeo Mio to a degree)- despite the enchanting head-and-heart- simply arrive and depart.

It wouldn't know I'm smelling man's fragrance I would definitely think it's unisex. Sweet, smoky and refreshing citruses at the opening followed by some "aftershave" like spices. It's pleasant, yes, easy to like, easy to wear and probably won't offend anyone, but I have this feeling that I have smelt it before, it feels a bit generic and boring and I bet that you can find the exact smell for a better price, but if you don't care for the price tag and just want something from Annick Goutal, give this a try, it could be a perfect gift actually, really easy to like.

This is a very interesting fragrance and to me unisex. My first thought was tea, hay and some tobacco leaves! The impression is very herbal. It does bring to mind the aroma that assails my nostrils when turning over my compost heaps. Dry herbs that are slightly smoked care of the guaiac wood. I guess that's what you get when combining leather (I don't detect much), petitgrain, artemisia and musk. I have no idea what holly smells like. I dont get any of the orris root. This would be nice to wear on a crisp sunny autumn day. I get moderate silage and longevity.

Annick Goutal Duel opens on me with a citrus green tea, and stays so afterwards. I'm not very familiar with maté, but the 'green tea' I perceive does have slightly bitter nuances. I can barely distinguish leather and iris, but they do provide a smooth base to Duel, instead of more conventional clean white musk. The sillage is of Duel is soft and the longevity is around 6 hours. I find Duel a very pleasant tea fragrance. It's quite natural and very unisex in feel. A versatile tea fragrance, but the performance could have been better.