Dorian's Spleen

This one is classic Bertrand Duchafour sorcery, like something from the L’Artisan archives. It opens with a fairly bright accord of whiskey tang with whispers of stearn black coffee and dark chocolate. Just a sliver of each to convey the idea without trying to recreate perfume chocolate or perfume coffee (which always turns out like a scratch n sniff sticker imo). That intro quickly gives way to a mysterious grey heart of incense ash and jet black tea. The tea is made out of fruity and bitter materials that again convey only slivers of information, the rest stays submerged and obscured in cloudy incense ash. I get the tinges of sulfuric guava or papaya mentioned below but I think they are just part of the bitter aspects of the black tea note, oddly realistic. There is something so compelling about this whole scent where I swear I am having olfactory deja vu. This exact scent tugs at me from my distant memories, asking me to recall where I have smelled it before. Was it an old girlfriend’s perfume? The smell of my old drug dealer’s apartment? I know I have encountered something like this before and the buried memory adds to the appeal of wearing this strange brew. It has that perfect Bertrand Duchafour ratio of attractive to mildly disturbing. Good stuff. 3 out of 5.

Oh my god. Just oh my god. This is the one. They're mugging me on the cost if I lose my mind and full bottle this, but you know what? Worth it. It's just so good. It's surprisingly light and airy for this kind of scent, and the whiskey and caramel are almost fruity. The smoke is there, a clean smoke, and despite my reservations I'm not getting anything dirty or cigarette butt-y from the ash note. I dunno if I get much coffee, but I definitely that rich, almost-berry like dark chocolate. Reminds me very much of Mexican dark chocolate. Spices are a grab bag. Almost thought I was getting some anise on the first smell but this isn't licorice at all. It's just so good. I can see this being a year-round, any occasion banger. I would wear this somewhere black tie just as readily as I would wear it to run errands (though at around $250 for 50 ml, that might be a bit of a dummy move). This is so solid. I liked Altamura, but this is the king of this line for me. Jeez.

The themes of this perfume are addictions. That should already let you know how this fragrance will reflect. It’s so so easy to wear, beautifully experimental and artistically refined. It smells like everything that you shouldn’t be putting in your body and everything you want to, need to. Bitter dark chocolate, cigarette ash, Irish coffee and the sour air of the red light districts. Be warned at how easily you’ll fall in love with this perfume, it may just be that excess consumes you.

I gave up writing reviews here, but I can't just sit and watch so much injustice done to this perfume. This not your regular spicy boozy perfume. It starts as one, but it develops this sour ashy note in the heart. I am sick and tired of brands repeating trends. For my standards perfume has to be beautifuly done in it's theme with a special and unique touch, and every L' entropiste I tried untill now checks the boxes. This is art. This is masterpiece.

هذا العطر هو تحفة فنيّة رائحته تنقلني الى ليلة شتاء وبرد قارص وانا اجلس في مقهى مبني من الخشب واحتسي كأسا من الويسكي واستمتع بتدخين سيجارتي التي تنبعث منها رائحة الدخان ورائحة القهوة المطحونة التي تُقَدَّم للزباىن تملىء المكان برائحتها يا للروعة ويا له من مشهد رائع