Le Loden

As a child, I had a Loden coat which I really disliked wearing, its green thick material everything I didn't want to wear or be, such as well behaved and polite, in addition to being quite scratchy - a big no-no for any child whose dreams centred around becoming either a fireperson or a circus princess. It did, in fact, make me want to scream, and I'm sure I did on many occasions during the winter when the coat fitted my small frame and I had to wear it; after all, the winters this far north can are very cold most years and it was a choice of either wearing it or not going out. Even now as a grown up, I cannot stand the type of coats made of Loden, so it must have been quite the traumatic experience. But - Le Loden, by Jacques Fath. Needless to say, the mere name gives me flashbacks and I have been reluctant to even try it since receiving the sample set from the house several months ago. For some reason, today must be the day and, while I cannot reconcile myself with ever wearing Loden the fabric again, the fragrance is a different matter. Thankfully. Vetiver is the star here - front, centre, back - and exceedingly strong; I also get considerable amounts of patchouli, juniper berries and tobacco with some geranium providing a pleasant spicy floral note. The initial blast is strong enough to put hairs on your chest - but the overwhelming strength presently subsides and leaves a more mellow, woody aroma. Some may say it's more masculine than unisex, but it really isn't - rather, I find Le Loden something which wouldn't be out of place worn by anyone with a strong character, who knows what's what and really couldn't care less about what others' opinions may be. Not in a narcissistic or condescending way, just intelligent, wise and experienced enough to pull this off without drama. Old Hollywood perhaps, or one of the Mitfords, but more up-to-date and timeless. Grown-up, with silks and tweed. This is fabulous and I may very well need to invest in a full bottle.

Its a pretty linear, vetiver prominent fragrance with hint of juniper and ginger and a nice greeny geranium. The tobacco gives a subtle smoky vibe that adds to the java and hatian vetiver. The other notes I cannot smell to my nose. The vetiver is not soapy or nutty. Its got a smokiness to it but the juniper and ginger "cool" it down and the geranium and patchouli gives it a very grassy green earth quality, bit not in a "dirt/soil" way. Its surprising a sweet leaning scent, well blended and refined. It doesn't have an edge to it like so many vetiver focused scents. It maintains that in your face vetiver quality I love so much but comes across much more elegant and approachable. Its a very prominent vetiver perfume, similar to Nishane Sultan Vetiver in terms of prominence, not necessarily scent. Where Sultan has a strong nutty earthy accord, Le Loden has a grassy green with a nice bite to it, but i wouldnt consider the bite "spicy." It smells very organic and fresh with a touch of sweetness that makes it feel less dark and earthy yet retains a natural smell. I own a bottle of vetiver absolute oil and Le Loden definitely has that grassy natural smelling vibe. The sillage is within 6 feet and longevity is great. Its a well rounded scent that carries from colder months to brisk spring days. I feel summer it would be a bit much and "choking." Very masculine leaning in my opinion. As a vetiver fanatic, this definitely is one of the best ones out there. If you're looking for a prominent vetiver centered fragrance but a more green sweet smell instead of soapy (Guerlain), nutty (Nishane Sultan), or earthy/smoky (Encre Noire, Chanel Sycomore), Le Loden fills that spot. Owning all of the mentioned fragrances, plus several other vetiver perfumes, Le Loden is NOT a redundant buy. I consider it the most natural and green organic Vetiver perfume I have smelt thus far.

In view of the fame of the Jacques Fath house, and given my passion for vetiver I had high expectations, that unfortunately have not been fulfilled here. Yes, it's a good vetiver but there are plenty. At $150 a pop, I expected a live rock concert with lightshow at a stadium... that revealed to be just a firecracker shot in a backyard, filmed with an iphone2 and broadcasted on youtube in low definition. Oh well...

Jacques Fath Le Loden is a truly unique fragrance that masterfully blends sweet, woody, and vetiver notes into an unforgettable composition of Vetiver, delivering a bold and distinctive character. The sweetness balances the earthy, smoky facets beautifully, creating a harmonious yet intriguingly complex aroma. I love it and it is underappreciated

Fantastic! If you are fan of vetiver fragrances this is a must have. Highly recommended. Great quality. One ding for me is the longevity is about 2 hours at most. For the right price this is a safe blind buy IMO. Enjoy!

15. December 2021 Very masculine and strong in the opening, tobacco is the most dominant, yet quite quickly on my skin it becomes softer and then all i smell are the notes of geranium, vetiver, juniper and ginger. It smells like a cabin in the woods, where the fireplace was burning some time ago, yet the place itself has already cooled down. It ́s a hunter ́s cabin, someone smoked a pipe there, some animal fur and skins are there as well... You get the idea. Everything is really nice, but i lack projection. One need to spray it liberally all over to actually smell it within an arm length. I would not mind to smell it on my man, but again, secretly, as with other 2 masculine fragrances from this collection, i would not mind to wear it myself occasionally. If only the price was more affordable..... Nice, but not worth the price again, because of poor performance

I'm so in love with vetiver as a note that I have several scents that differ from each other only by minute degrees...even if they are similar, I still find something magical about each and can choose based on my mood and what I'm doing/wearing. Does Le Loden smell similar to a lot of other fragrances? yes. Anything with a prominent vetiver will - it kind of takes over naturally. This is a little smokier, a bit of leather - I can see a full bottle in my future.

The good type of vetiver fragrance. Smells chocolatey and nutty on my skin and I really enjoy it. The way it uses vetiver is similar to Encre Noire but very different smell profile. I can tell with 100% certainty it doesn't have natural tobacco in it. My only criticism is that the longevity for a parfum concentration is really short. Best suited for fall season IMO but overall it is a year around scent. It's a like for me so far but it's growing on me.

Resemblance to Encre Noir is very strong. Le Loden has the same dirty/earthy type of vetiver, but in the opening has more spices/fruits. Dry down is basically the same as Encre Noir. I like it, but it is nothing special. Performance is average, and I would say worse than Encre Noir. Scent: 6/10 Performance: 6/10 Versatility: 8/10

This one is less smoky&dry than Encre Noir and much sweeter - think it is closer to MH Vetiver Bourbon. I do not get juniper berries at all, I'd say this one is 70% woody/vetiver and the remaining is jammy sweetness. Smells great and like Sycomore, easily unisex.

Loden and EN just like twin brothers But when EN grew up in country side, Le Loden is city dandy or maybe even gay ))) I hate to say this (as EN was my starting point as perf lover) but I'd prefer Le Loden ... but performance issues ruins everything :(

Nice scent, I find this pretty safe so far as a vetiver centric scent. I don't get people saying this is close to encre noir... I think this is significantly less dark, has to me a stronger licorice scent but the vetiver is certainly the main player with the fig not far behind. Overall a good offering for the price at discounters, roughly the same as encre noir when I purchased.

Nice dark woody earthy vetiver, not unlike Encre Noir and its flankers. I don't get any nuances such as tobacco or raspberry leaf, to me it smells pretty straightforward, basic and linear. I do consider it ridiculously overpriced at retail, but online grey market prices are more reasonable. I definitely wouldn't pay more than what Encre Noir goes online for these days.

Dirty, green, spicy vetiver and friends. Very earthy and vegetal, with a fizzy fresh top and prominent bitter tobacco leaf plus sweet patchouli in the base. Moderate projection for 2-3hr, longevity 10-12hr. The juice is, indeed, loden-colored. Reminiscent of Encre Noire but not as cold and wet, this is an extremely vetiver experience that isn't quite to my tastes.

This is the fragrance that helped me realize I just don’t like vetiver

Sweet, woody, vetiver goodness. This is absolutely an ode to the strange, smoky, peaty, profile of Java Vetiver, but this highlights the most delectable and "friendly" aspects of it (its chocolatey woodiness). It is dense, longlasting, and masc-leaning for sure. It is much more distinctive and, consequently, less versatile than Fath's Vetiver Gris, but even more beautiful for its more unique pyramid. For what it's worth, I don't smell the connection to Sycomore or Encre Noir, which have more of the citrusey, bright profile of Haitian vetiver.

This is a scent of a well traveled middle age man dressed in sharp ironed pants, Budapester handmade shoes, and a handmade leather jacket, riding a Triumph or BMW cafe racer style motorcycle. He enjoys a great cigar with aged island rum. He forgot to give a sh*t a long time ago. It is all about him and him only. An absolutely magnificent fragrance. 10/10.

It is a very masculine type of green, juniper, and vetiver notes are very strong here. Oh yes and ginger! Wood fougerie is not really my type of thing, but it would be very sexy on a man. There is also something cold, almost menthol-like in it. This perfume for sure leans masculine.

Incident Diplomatique's younger brother, except he's not a raging alcoholic covered in mud. Still very much a chocolatey patchouli bomb, but there's some fruitiness for contrast.