Cabochard Parfum

My friend mentioned this during one of our long conversations about fragrances last week and I absolutely had to try it. I was drawn in by the asafoetida note purely because I am a long time student of Indian cuisine. I have eaten asafoetida daily since July, in fact. I found a vintage EDP on ebay and when it got here and I opened the bottle I was terrified. In the bottle it smelled like an Avon wearer's wet dream. Instead of screaming and running out the room I very gently dabbed a bit on my wrists, rubbed them together and waited. For the first 15 minutes it lit up every single circuit in my olfactory system in the most glorious way possible. It is so complex, SO beautifully designed that it is hard to form a cohesive impression of how profound it really is at first. This scent is not fucking around. It's insanely sophisticated. Totally, 100% unisex. If I smelled this on a man I would ask him to marry me. If I smelled this on a woman I'd ask her to go into business with me and we would decimate the corporate world with our razor sharp acumen. This scent if for grown ups who have their shit together ONLY. No posers, no clout chasers, no one out here shaking a little cup and wearing a sign that says "Will wear fragrance for compliments". Absolutely no one in any of those categories are allowed to get *near* a bottle of Cabochard Parfum by Grès. That's because each bottle has their own body guards with pistols wearing ear pieces and black Raybans to execute those dryer sheet, Downy fabric softener loving bitches. I have seen people say this is sexy--no. I'm sorry. This is far beyond sexy. It's slapping people across the face, taking a bucket of ice water over the head without flinching, walking away from an explosion without looking back and slow motion dodging bullets easy as pie like you're buying Cheetos at Kroger in a bottle. God damn. I could put this on and go rob a bank without saying a word or breaking a sweat. Glorious. Absolutely profoundly glorious. As it faded I felt like a little kid being driven away from an amusement park where they had the best day of their life. I knew it had to come to an end but I'm still going to pout and kick the back of the driver's seat a little. I don't want to go home.

I first put my mitts on a bottle of Cabochard EDT more than 2-1/2 years ago and immediately loved, loved, loved it...so much that I added the EDP and vintage bottles of the EDT and Parfum to my infamous Scent Armory. Anyway, I would just like to duplicate my review of Cabochard EDT (below) but add that if Carbochard Parfum were a woman, I'd marry this strong, sexy seductress. And I would gladly permit her to spend my money, walk all over me in her sexy six-inch black stiletto heels, and grope me longer and harder than Al Franken and Roy Moore at USO Show at a Mall filled with teenage girls and radio anchors. She is that fine of a fragrance. ***** I received my bottle of Gres Cabochard last week and quickly opened it and applied it to each wrist. I find this fragrance to be a really nice throwback mossy scent that is ballsy, timeless (not dated) and simply a terrific olfactory experience. Oakmoss, leather, tobacco, woods, spices and some floral notes and other things supporting this composition and giving it structure. What's not to love? Gres Cabochard performs well on my skin; it lasts a solid 8-hours and projects above-average. While this fragrance may not be a universal people-pleaser, per se, it is smooth, bold, sophisticated and a bit ballsy. When I'm wearing Cabochard it's like wearing my soulmate...someone who will have my back when I need 'em, and will give me a good spanking when I need that too. Besides...this fragrance pleases me, which is far more important than it pleasing anyone else. Testosterone-laden dudes should not fear this one - it's awesome! Conversely, girls and pathetically weak-woman should scent themselves with a dryer sheet and don't dare reach for this gem. Godking is happy!

This is for the EDP. A beautiful aldehydic leather. The notes are very similar to Aramis obviously, but with a sweeter opening. I get the fruity notes on application along with a hint of dry tarragon. I'm a bloke btw, so it may seem different on my skin, or not. But either way, I deem this to be, as all 'fumes will soon be, completely unisex. Truth be told that's why I got it (along with Tabu, Aromatics elixir etc.). Reviews here and elsewhere from experienced perfume lovers tell of how well these reacts to male chemistry and that's what I'm finding. For what it's worth, I'm in the camp that believes fragrances have no gender they're just marketed toward one or the other, and often bought so 'I' can 'be that'. So it's down to money (for the manucaturers) and identity (for the end-user). Anyhow, Cabochard smells great on me. Lasts well too. There's quite a floral mid to it, but the spicy leather/tobacco vibe is prominent throughout, as is the sparkly/soapy aldehyde buzz, even into the mossy cream drydown. A lovely perfume for us all.

Cabochard Parfum/Extrait by Grès (Vintage) Today I’m wearing this magnificent creation of slightly bitter, dry, complex, and elegant Chypre-leather, where herbaceous tarragon, green galbanum, white flowers, and a base of leather, tobacco, and oakmoss intertwine with the earthy intensity of isobutyl quinoline, a key molecule that brings an accord of tar and tanned leather. The use of castoreum in the formula, probably in its natural form as was customary at the time, adds an animalic warmth which, together with civet and ambergris, reinforces the leather-tobacco character, lending depth and an enveloping sensuality. Cabochard is an icon of French perfumery, that embodies the refined rebellion of Madame Grès

Good god, this is glorious. I was lucky to have found the original perfume and what a delicious scent. I still have to compare this with Cellier's Bandit side by side but, from memory, there are some things in common. Both with a complex formulation that you can smell almost each ingredient and nothing is superfluous. The bright opening and the floral middle. I would say that the main difference is in the sweet tobacco mixed with the moss and leather, also less animalic, more tolerable than Bandit. The balance here is so great that is hard do put this in a box. I will hunt a bottle of this.

The distinct breath of decay found in chypres is wanting in Cabochard. As a starting point and usually compared to Bandit, the latter is moist dosed with dollops of IsoButyl Q which makes me gag; you can almost taste it. Bandit is virile if not a better adjective but Cabochard is Bandit's etude. Cabochard is restrained in all aspects where Bandit bleeds. It's definitely the smell of a motorcycle jacket after smoking but of course with the chypre DNA. Beautifully executed, temptingly arid and like a dream. It's as if Chanel briefed for a cigar fragrance.

Just straight up mature, sexy, smouldering, bold fragrance. Smokey, musky,mossy,floral chypre. I love it! If there ever was a fragrance that could capture the novel 50 Shades of Grey, this is it!. All black leather, black lace, stiletto heels and red lipstick. This is definitely the defiant bad girl's got to have fragrance. This fragrance reminds me of a wicked version of Pierre Balmain - Jolie Madame. The more evil, elegant sister.

I’m trying these C20’ vintage masterpieces one after the other tonight. WOW, what a complex, detailed, multifaceted beauty this is. I love the pants/crotch undernote in these perfumes, it’s downright pornographic. I guess one has to wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve sometimes. When hot showers were a twinkle in the eye of the designers of Parisian apartments with a bidet and a washcloth. Now I’m going to spray Jolie Madame.....

I am huffing my arm where I applied this. The juice in my vintage black and white graphic parfum dabber is transcendant compared to later EdT's and the modern EdP (which is VERY good!) I am getting all those delicious florals and the ylang is actually noticeably sweet. Then the most bitter leather floating on a wisp of incense smoke. Don't miss this if you love bitter leather chypres. Truly sublime.

Not for the lovers of sugar laced scents...this is an explosive, smouldering peppery fragrance that almost assaults the senses. Wear it if you dare, it's leathery, smokey and as some of the other reviewers have pointed out - there's a distinct bitterness. I think you can moderate this if you have to, by layering with a floral body oil. Longevity is ridiculous - a good 14 hours.

Owning one of the small parfum bottles of cabochard is a honour and a pleasure. I love the depth and complexity of this fragrance. It is an invocation of the free spirit of a joyous, rich, vivid era - strong, complex, nuanced and beautiful. It is very natural, human. There is something idolic, a reek of Body - that shows both the living and the decaying of life in the whole.

Fragrance enthusiasts often say Lalique Encre Noire perfectly conjures the image of black ink. I enjoy Encre Noire, but I do not consider it to be a scent that embodies its name. For those of you who crave the authentic "black ink" experience, look no further than vintage Cabochard parfum. An icon.

in the history of chypre family, this highly respected creation is a landmark. dry spice, damp leather, aldehydic moss and every complexity of perfume accords present to top notch mature scent. This screams vintage and unisex to my nose with amazing performance of such rarity.

If a perfume could be a person... then this is Patsy Stone from Absolutely Fabulous 😂

(this is serious and long review, skip if not interested, thank you) Imagine elegance and mystery as one. That's Cabochard. Like elegance is not easy to achieve and particularly a mystery (person is born with), that's how hard is to wear and love this fragnance. This is not for everyone, anyone or just fast choice. This is very very serious fragnance, with particular stubbornness and allure. It carries name "stubborn." It is stubborn. It is elegant. It is complex. It is dark. It is intelligent. It is space taking. It is ignorant. It is mature femininity captured in the beautiful elegant bow bottle. It's everything that the cattle hate. It steps out. It is politically incorrect. It's a shield of dark, mysterious femininity. In my whole life I never meet female wearing this perfume. That always intriqué me to think why. When I got it first time I was very young. I keep it in my collection of perfumes and testers endlessly. I didn't understand it, I couldn't wear it, while I knew it is special and important perfumes history. It's a perfume that scares you. Like a dark, beautiful lady, with French bulldog in her lap, smoking cigarettes, wearing beautiful hat, talking very intelligently... Like Madame Palmyre. This is perfume of hughe presence. It crushes all in front and leaves ones behind full of insecurities. This fragnance doesn't negotiate, doesn't make compromise. It doesn't care what people, without complexity in their character think or have to say. Very very very intelligent perfume. It puts fear into bones of simple girls, simple characters, simple guys, even simple animals and plants. It's the ultimate perfume of lonely wolf Madame black. A witch in dark smoking wearing a bow. Cabochard was created by Bernard Chant, and launched in 1959. With total participation of Madame Gres. She had ideas, she expressed them, Chant respected them. Chant's signature style was the patchouli powdered chypre, which he used to create some of the most iconic scents of all time, including Grès Cabochard, Clinique Aromatics Elixir, and Aramis for example. His perfumes often had a muted animalic quality that alluded to sweat and the bedroom, which gave them a distinct and memorable character. Yes, amimalic. This scent is also very very animalic. Female that hunts, drinks whiskey and smokes a cigarette now and then. I mean look at the color of the perfume. Like very good old whiskey. "Chant's creations were revered by both perfumers and fragrance enthusiasts alike, with his concentrated perfumes leaving a trail of scent in the air that was both emotionally arid and incredibly present. Even when he ventured into fresher floral territories, there was always a suppressed emotionalism that gave his scents a depth and complexity that set them apart from the simplistic fragrances of his peers." Yes. Very much truth. It's emotional to the bones. Such a melancholic trip. It hurts. It's like trip that triggers desire to stop the time. To stay. It's a perfume of time we lost. It only exist in our melancholia hours. In our lonely hours. It a perfume of surviving old souls captured in time. This scent smells of tears. Of sorrow. It does. Robert was young and under the guidance of mentor Andrée Castanié, then editor of L'Officiel de la Mode et de la Couture, had been introduced to Mme Grès in 1956. But it took a trip to India, the land of exoticism, which prompted Alix Grès to further her plans on the house’s fragrance. The visit had begun innocuously, invited by the Ford Foundation to assess Indian brocades. It was there that Alix Grès discovered water hyacinth: a flower she became enraptured with. It has a sweet odour, rich like tuberose, yet with a fresher top and slightly warmer. Did you ever smell it? It doesn't smell like hyacinth you know. The floral facets of this glorious bloom are nuanced by vegetal, aquatic accents and sweet and spicy notes. Inhale the Heart notes of this scent. It's water hyacinth. It survives top notes flood and stretches the smell roots into Heart notes, even stays in traces, flirting (like in its own natural habitat), till the end. Cabochard starts with citrus and deep green notes. It is a dark fragrance right from the start, and the leather is apparent almost immediately. The floral notes are muted: when smelled from a distance they are barely noticeable, from up close, the jasmine is more obvious but still seems to weave in and out. Except water hyacinth! It dries down to an animalic leathery chypre with woods, moss, and a touch of smoke (maybe too much of smoke for many people). It stays very dry for the first hour, then starts to take on a hint of sweetness from the patchouli. If you use oil on your skin before using this perfume, use Argan or Sesame oil. The perfume will sink better into your skin and only after that you can see does it like you. It's not you liking this perfume. This perfume chooses you. "Cabochard utilised the same aromachemical with Bandit: isobutyl quinoline, a harsh green and pungent, dry leather aroma, yet fanning expensive, precious, sweet flowers over it. But silent. Inspired by the archetype it muted the smokiness until the drydown. Cabochard offers a capricious bitter orange opening instead, with the illusion of wading through wild bracken catching a distant whiff of clove and hairspray. The crackling leather, powdery afterfeel of face cosmetics was sustained for hours on skin, emitting grace and confidence in a similar manner to Chanel’s Cuir de Russie, although with rather more sweetness and less birch. To Gres it recalled a walk along a deserted Indian beach: “the crispness of the early morning air, the warmth of sandalwood, a hint of far-off flowers, and the dry caress of sea breezes”. Official notes are: Top notes: aldehydes, tarragon, water hyacinth, fruity notes, asafoetida, Italian bergamot, clary sage, Italian lemon, bitter orange and spice notes Middle notes: carnation, nutmeg, honeysuckle, clove, tuberose, orris, geranium, jasmine, Bulgarian rose, galbanum and ylang ylang Base notes: juniper, civet, castoreum, resins, Tonkin musk, tobacco, patchouli, vetiver, coconut, Moroccan oakmoss, sandalwood, leather, ambergris Unbelievable! Imagine you decided to put in order all of these notes. Ever saw something like that? No. Because it's unique. And parfumer managed to implement contrôle all over the place. Cabochard, as well as Chouda, is also extraordinary in that it was the already made and discarded stock of Guighard, a small glass manufacturer later acquired by Pochet. They had made the bottles for another company who never bought them and in order to save costs, Grès bought all 500 of them for both perfumes. The difference was the little bow that adorned the pharmaceutical stopper: grey for Cabochard, green for Chouda. The Cabochard success (it sold 250 bottles in the first week of its launch) secured numerous backorders to the glass manufacturer. In a way, the commercial success owed to the enthusiasm with which it was promoted by a commission salesman formerly working for Piguet (whose biggest seller at the time was Bandit). I love the bottle. Simple as that. This perfume stood the time. Like witches do. Like she said it will. "Cabochard to be a tribute to all women who, as I do, jealously guard treasured, heartfelt memories..." Alix Grès

Soapy leather, sweet citrus fruit, powder off the bat. Bitter oakmoss, subdued heady floral, herbal, patchouli, spices, tobacco. A little animalic. As it dries the fruit is less prominent and smoky tobacco more. Got what was advertised as vintage parfum, super cute 2 mL bottle. Tried a few chypres now. Loved Mitsouko, which I found brighter, smoother, cohesive and distinct with more apparent floral and fruity peach. In comparison, Cabochard is more barbershop, owing to soapy, powder and herbal notes. I think it's interesting and I like it overall, but I'm not fond of how the barbershop conflicts with the animalic, darker aspects. Feels a bit all over the place. I'm excited to compare to the modern formulation.

This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but the warm spices & the cloying candied fruit in this creation (both of which are VERY prominent on my skin) rob this leathery chypre of its character. She could have been the Queen of Pentacles 👑 🪙 : Watery part of Earth. Ruling her cold, but fertile element with grace & poise, but instead of her unforgiving, nonchalant & raw potential - she becomes just an old dame you meet at the family gathering. Forcing herself to smile, clinging to her youth instead of embracing her wisdom & her waning moon. Desperate to be liked, but falling flat notwithstanding. No personality to impress upon; As you retire back home, the contours of her visage start to evaporate in your mind until the memory of her face eludes you completely. : A hard fruit drop lingers & fades on your tongue. Was she even there? Was I?

I'm usually a fan of more woody/creamy/vanillic scents and in a surprising twist of fate I found myself absolutely loving Bandit (not the parfum, which is more feminine and way less brutal). So I got a teeny tiny little 2mL bottle of vintage parfum of Cabochard as they are often compared. If you enjoy how brutal and damp and mossy Bandit is you might not necessarily be a fan of this. This is a much more soapy, floral, filthy patchouli scent. It's that kind of skanky patchouli that borders on animal urine that I just don't get on Bandit, "imposing" as it is. Just not for me. If Bandit is a rather fashionable butch wearing a motorcycle jacket covered in buckles that smells like ashtray, Cabochard parfum is donning a leopard print fur shrug with bald spots and vaguely smelling of some 50's white floral aldehyde bomb and piss. I respect both for what they are, but the powdery lemon fruity edge this has to it makes me rather nauseous and almost reminds me of a urinal cake. It's also a lot more sour smelling, and less wet and mossy. It's too put together to feel "earthy" like Bandit does. They are distinctly different.

I have a vintage tiny mini that has turned dark with age. Even so, the complexity is still present. It’s not a scent I’d typically wear but I can see why some do. Spices and herbs and depth. Side note: The reviews on this page are really entertaining!

Cabochard is one of my most loved vintage perfumes. I have always been drawn to bitter leather chypres. This preference goes back to my youth, when I have a distinct memory of sampling Aramis and thinking it smelled amazing. I was certainly not daring enough to lope around my high school wearing Aramis, but when I began to investigate vintage perfumes, Aramis led me directly to Cabochard. Aramis was designed by Bernard Chant in 1966, five years after he created Cabochard (1959) and three years before he designed Azuree (1969). Cabochard was the first perfume launched by the house of Madame Gres, or Germaine Émilie Krebs (1903–1993), who was trained as a sculptor and became an uncompromising and fiercely independent designer. Cabochard was immediately very popular, so I can't really fault Chant for recycling his great composition into Aramis and then into Azuree. Cabochard's leather effect relies on a big hit of isobutyl quinoline, a bitter, green, leathery note that can be too strong for many noses, but IBQ might be my favorite aromachemical of all. Cabochard's strong IBQ note connects it to Cellier's Bandit (1944). The newer Piguet Bandit is greener (much more galbanum), much more floral and sweeter in the drydown than either vintage or new Cabochard, but vintage Bandit perfume and vintage Cabochard are quite close in feeling. Cabochard has a tangy herbal dimension, with sage and plenty of patchouli, and Azuree shares this quality. In the end, Bandit, Cabochard, Azuree are similar. If you like one, you will probably like them all. If you are like me, you will want to have all three, and you'll add Miss Balmain too (equally smoky and leathery, but less green and more animalic, with more castoreum), Needless to say, lovers of sweet, fruity, gourmand scents will want to stay far away from these bitter, dark green, leathery fumes.