Avant-Garde

Avant Garde opens surprisingly bright. It's all grapefruit, bergamot, and ambergris in the beginning, and what results is an accord that is fresh, and mainly marked by tart citrus with a salty-sweet breeziness. At times it almost crosses into aquatic territory. It doesn't present itself as an incense, tobacco, or cacao fragrance at all for the first 45 minutes--so much so that I questioned whether or not I had the received the right fragrance and that some bizarre switcheroo hadn't occurred at the bottling plant. But sure enough, right around the one hour mark or a little past, a very nice, dry, powdery and unsweetened cacao note starts to peek through the established freshness, and when it does it brings a soft, dusty, mid-spectrum incense along with it and finally a quiet but rugged, earthy tobacco. Avant Garde becomes quite a different scent at this point. Though it retains something of a fresh character (it never gets heavy, thick, or particularly dark), the breezy, salty-sweet and tart citruses settle considerably, now sharing the space with a much dustier, drier, earthier presence, and the focus shifts to an undeniable natural cacao and its supporting notes. To my delight, the ambergris holds, and blended among this dusty earthy cacao is the subtle but noticeable salty marine breezy sweetness which first appeared on a larger scale in the opening. It makes for a wonderful, interesting and innovative drydown, all the while keeping Avant Garde's freshness in tact. This development, or transformation is complete after about 2 hours, maybe 3. After that it's pretty much finished shifting shape in any form and it's just a matter of some of the base notes becoming more prominent in relation to the diminishing top notes. Avant Garde has good performance overall. Regarding its projection, it has a typical, gradually declining arc of intensity, starting the first hour with good, above average projection, reaching out about a foot and a half, and then receding from there on. By the third and fourth hour it's become reserved, perhaps half a foot off the skin, but still with a solid noticeable presence, and by hours 5 and 6 it's a skin scent, which hangs on for a couple more hours. Overall I would describe its longevity as 8 hours, consisting of the steady, gradually declining projection described above. Avant Garde is undoubtedly unisex, though it leans fairly masculine in my opinion. I've noticed other people feel the opposite however, so it's probably just safe to say that it's unisex. For me, it's the kind of fragrance that would make a nice casual choice but can also be dressed up, especially when taking into account the development of its second half. It seems seasonally versatile, save for maybe the absolute hottest months of the year. Perhaps what I like most about Avant Garde is that it's a fresh scent, but a really different oneThere's nothing out there that's really like this, and it smells as new and nifty to me now as it did ten years ago when i first sampled it. If there's a drawback here it's that I'd like the scent to have a little more oomph after the 3rd or 4th hour when it really becomes more reserved, but a few extra sprays help with that and I can work around it. In Conclusion, this is a creative and original winner, and one I'm happy to have in my collection. Final rating, a very solid 8.7/10. Recommended for sampling. I would recommend it as a blind buy, but its reserved character may be too soft for some. Side note: M. Micallef as a house is a bit underrated. If you're into niche and luxe fragrances, they're absolutely worth exploring. As a whole, the scents are very craftily composed and include vibrant, impressive, modern ingredients, but the compositions tend to be a bit quieter or softer than a lot of the loud, brash stuff that's being released at the moment.

one of the best fragrances , "cacao" based first you will feel a sweet smell who it is like honey as well as cacao after several minutes , the fragrance will be dark and smokey because of tobacco and leather . this time is very chic . I enjoy every moment of this perfume . finally after About 20 min , the dark and smoky and also bitter smell will be weakly and And cocoa prevails if you like guerlain L'Instant EDT or EDP , I thought this one is better than L'Instant یه عطر با بیس پوست کاکائو که نظر طرفداران گرلن اینستنت چه تویلت و چه پرفیوم رو مثل آب خوردن جلب می کنه از همون اول بویی مثل شیرینی عسل با حس تلخی و ترشی بی نهایت خوشبوی پوست کاکائو مواجه میشید بعد از مدت کوتاه حدود 2 دقیقه عطر حس تلخ تر و دودی و تاریک تری به خودش میگیره بخاطر تنباکو و چرم خیلی شیک و خوش بو هست .از لحظه لحظه این عطر لذت میبرم بعد از حدودا 5 دقیقه بوی فلفل صورتی رو میشه احساس کرد که اینجا قید نکردن ولی من خیلی خوب حس می کنم گرچه چند دقیقه ای مهمون ما خواهد بود ولی در همین مدت کم هم عطر رو پرحرارت و جذاب تر نشون میده حدود چند دقیقه همین طور روایح قبلی که ذکر کردم هی سویچ میشن یعنی یه لحظه بوی واضح تنباکو رو متوجه میشید و بعد از چند ثانیه بوی چرم واضح تر میشه و . . .خیلی جالبه در حین این رقابت سخت ، لوبیای تونکا یه شیرینی ملایمی رو در عطر اضافه میکنه تا تو این وضعیت شیر تو شیر حوصله آدم سر نره دقیق نمی دونم ولی رایحه پچولی رو هم در لابلای این تاریکی میتونم حس کنم که خیلی ضعیفه ولی عطر رو باظراوت تر کرده که حس کمی مرطوب و گیاهی خودش رو به صورت خیلی ضعیف و ملایم در دل عطر قرار داده هر چه بیشتر از عمر عطر میگذره رایحه پوست کاکائو بیشتر خودشو نشون میده و در این پروسه ، روایح تاریک و تلخ و دودی ، بخور و چرم و تنباکو ضعیف تر خواهند شد بعد از حدود 20 دقیقه از اسپری عطر ، اون حالت تلخی روایح قبل به شکل ضعیف تر حضور خواهند داشت و شیرینی که مثل عسل بود قوت میگیره ولی اصلا دل آدمو نمیزنه همین طور تا آخر ادامه پیدا میکنه منتها در اواخر عمر عطر اون حس تلخ هم تاحدودی محو میشه وشما فقط بوی پوست کاکائو رو حس خواهید کرد اگر به پوست کاکائو علاقه دارید حتما باید در کالکشنتون باشه این عطر چون بهترین عطر بر پایه پوست کاکائو هست که تا حالا استشمام کردم حتی بهتر از گرلن ها

First of all I really appreciate whole line of the M.Micallef Brand. Everything is in high level of quality. Rare material, natural essence, Costly price and ... about this beautiful painting: Actually I expect something Smoky and dark! but it's a warm delightful sweet fragrance. Everything expertly mixed and balanced together. the cacao playing main role in this beautiful panting! you can smell cacao from top note until base note. It start whit freshness of citrusy top note whit hint of cacao and develop to smokiness of tobacco and elegant note of leather & incense mixed whit cacao. and warm base of tonka bean and amber finishes this wonderful painting! and it is as unconventional and modern as it name suggest. the projection and logevity is good. but it really made for a real gentle. اول از همه م واقعا از این برند فوق العده خوشم اومد. واقعا کارهاشون فوق العادع با کیفیت و تک هستن. همه چیز در بالا ترین مرحله ی کیفیته حتی قیمت ها! :D خوب حالا برگردیم سراغ این تابلوی نقاشی زیبا. راستش من انتظار یه عطر دودی و تاریک رو داشتم اما این یه عطر گرم و شیرینه. اما همه چیز متناسب هست و باعث سردرد و خستگی شما نمیشه. کاکائو نقش اصلی رو تو این عطر داره. شما تو تمامی نت ها کاکائو رو حس میکنید. عطر اولش با یه نت مرکباتی با طراوت باز میشه به همراه کمی کاکائو و بعدش کاکائو به همراه ترکیب ظریفی از بخور و چرم سر کار میاد که خیلی ترکیب دلنشین و خوشمزه ای داره. در اخرم دانه تونکا به همراه عنبر و کاکائو خود نمایی میکنن. من خیلی لذت بردم از این عطر. فقط یه مقدار زیادی هزینه ی عطر بالاست که واسه اهل دل مسئله ای نیست. عالی بود این عطر.

M. Micallef Avant Garde opens with a burst of fresh citrus, but within minutes it begins fading into the background as the tobacco moves front-and-center in this fragrance...and here is where things get interesting. Some would say this is a sweet tobacco fragrance and I wouldn't disagree since tonka bean and cacao bring forth a lightly sweetened quality. However, my initial reaction was that Avant Garde was a smoky tobacco scent until I realized that incense was pulling the tobacco in that direction. To me, this is a fresh-dry tobacco with the sweet notes and incense doing battle to bring the tobacco to the wearers attention. It is a well-crafted sweet-tobacco/smoky tobacco scent with tonka, cacoa and incense playing a supporting role. I do pick-up some leather and ambergris well into the drydown, but both stay in the background. Longevity and projection are both moderate on my skin. I feel this fragrance is best suited for Spring or Fall evenings. Okay, I admit this fragrances can be a bit challenging, but I really liked this fragrance when I first purchased it back in 2014 and, over the years, I enjoy and appreciate it more and more. In closing, I feel that Avant Garde is perfected suited for the upcoming Fall weather and, although somewhat unisex, I feel that it is a better fit for a more serious professional gentleman. But that's my take on this fragrance.

A male scent you say? Well for me it morphs into a bombshell of a unisex fragrance! Oriental spicy, yes, I get that. A grand entrance is made in the beginning with orris(root) and sweet, heady, rich tobacco (reminds me of walking into a top- notch tobacco shop I used to frequent in downtown Ansbach, Germany ...) mmmmm). Tonka beans, incense (and perhaps some leather to give it some masculinity) seal this delectable olfactory dream. Don't really get the citrus but it's nice to know it's there; same thing with the cacao: I have to really try hard to detect it. It is very elusive. I do get vanilla but maybe that's the cacao. Luckyscent.com lists the notes as: Bergamot, grapefruit, cocoa bean, tobacco, incense, Russian leather, tonka bean, grey amber. Very well done. P.S. At drydown a dead ringer for Baldessarini Ambre` mixed with Bvlgari Black.

Unisex; sweetly laced tobacco, but not sickenly sweet. Mild tobacco of the loose, pipe variety found in tobacco shops.Very well blended as are all M. Micallef scents are. Projection: not much, stays close to you, like a soft scent blanket and longevity is good, although light at the drydown, which comes amazingl Add: I would say that silage is good although stays close to the skin. Will linger on clothing longer. The grapefruit note is all but smothered under all the other notes. Never saw it coming or going.

It was a blind buy for me cause i found it in really good price and omg it is amazing!! Its totally avant garde for me and something i never smelled before!! I love it! Great blend and lasts for ever! Sweet but not that sweet! Tobbaco and iris blended with cocoa making an amazing perfume! I cant stop smelling it ! It makes me feel great!! 10/10

Unisex; sweetly laced tobacco, but not sickenly sweet. Mild tobacco of the loose, pipe variety found in tobacco shops.Very well blended as are all M. Micallef scents are. Projection: not much, stays close to you, like a soft scent blanket and longevity is good, although light at the drydown, which comes amazingly fast.

One of my most successful blind purchases, it doesn't smell cheap, it's very enjoyable for teens to adults. This longevity is very monster, does not disappear even when ablution and the scent is very satisfying for sillage, strong enough and I like it, will not offend others.

Some people here forget that this scent is an 2006 entry and was way AVANT GARDE for that time. I still love to wear this little gem. this gives me the perfect break from all the trash that have been produced the last couple of years.....many of them bespoke here.

A sensual scent to set my heart all aflutter! Avante-Garde is truly that indeed--contemporary and edgy with a gorgeously warm citrus opening, rather masculine to start with a very scant aquatic/melon undertone that occasionaly glistens through 'til the end. As Avante-Garde warms up, I get some dry cacao and leather which is a little rough but at the same time, seductive. Then the leather starts to soften and smoke with a hypnotic curl of sweet tobacco... Thicker it becomes with the resinous depth that tolu balsam offers--pure, earthy, spiced deliciousness. The scent of tolu balsam I think is similar to palm or date sugar--big, darks chunks of gritty sweetness, like a really dirty and rich clump of conventional brown sugar but with some dark yellow, burnt grassy edges. Tonka contributes some smoky hay-like vanilla that accents the sensual, leathery drydown just perfectly. If you love leather fragrances, Avante-Garde is a must try--comforting, strong and naturally edgy.

I never thought leather, incense and ambergris would blend so well in a fragrance but I forget we're talking about Jean-Claude Astier here. The opening of Avant-Garde is very citric and fresh. With leather peering in through the background. Within minutes it completely changes and morphs into an excellent tobacco and leather fragrance with a hint of incense and cacao. I feel there is a fruit note of some kind here,very hard to make out. The leather you get here is similar to the leather found in vintage Bel Ami. Really complex and refined. While it feels like this Avant-Garde could be a gourmand, the ambergris plays an excellent role here in keeping things fresh. Never allowing a single moment of this fragrance reaching gourmand-ish sweet territory. In the end you are left with a pleasant scent of smooth leather and tonka. Very glad that I have this in my collection.

This is all about smooth and light but dominant slightly sweet tobacco, intensive cacao and very strong tonka beans. This is equally strong to tobacco note. I'm not impressed, it's decent, safe, year round scent suitable for day and night but definitely is better than many new releases. Quality stuff. I also get very mild abstract citrusy notes, I can't detect specifically bergamot or grapefruit. The incense emerges some minutes later. There's also mild leather and noticeable ambergis with a dusty vibe at the background. Performance is moderate overall and it feels unisex leaning slightly to masculine scents. Edit After about 3 hours it's a nice tonka bean skin scent..

Opens quite sweet with a hint of bergamot. I also detect some watery notes that remind me of watermelon. Then the herbal and sweet tobacco warms up. After that, cacao and powders are added. Lastly, a hint of incense is added to the mix. I could not detect any grapefruit or leather on my skin. The drydown is tobacco on a watermelon base. Sillage is soft on me, longevity moderate. Not sure what to think of this scent. I enjoy the sweet and soft tobacco, but the watermelon base below it all is kind of strange. Have never smelled a combination like this before. It's both fresh and warm, very odd. Definitely unisex.

A very dark fragrance, but definitely unisex. Opens up with an almost harsh blast of leather, which slowly gives way to sweet pipe tobacco. I couldn't find neither grape nor cacao in this, but I swear there's hints of liquorice and - something cherry like? Also in the drydown, a musk/myrrh is always present in the background - I'm not really sure if it's due to the ambergris or a mix with incense. A very complex fragrance, which oozes quality but is a little too - tadaa! - avant garde for me. Strangely, when I think about it I could imagine someone like David Bowie wearing this in his younger years :-)

A very kind member here sent me a miniature of Avant-garde. To my nose, the opening reminds me of Dune for Men: sweet sirupy citrus, very light and soft. I could imagine this very well on a woman too. I am used to quite hard and edgy perfumes, so for me Avant-garde seems above all comforting, as Tigerlilian put it, and optimistic. I don't get any tobacco, leather or cocoa on my skin. If you really look for it, there is something a bit in that direction, but if you don't, it is a dryer version of Dune. Which is not a bad thing to have on you at all !

A gorgeous modern masculine chypre-like composition from the very underrated Micallef line. This perfume opens briefly with muted notes of citrus, grapefruit and bergamot. The heart is also rather fast but one can detect tobacco, cacao and incense. It quickly settles into its masculine powdery base of ambergris, leather and tonka bean. Masculine leaning with moderate projection and sillage and very good longevity. Clean, refined, understated, unique and elegant. Enjoy!

Worn many times during the cooler months (30-40F) The opening is very nice with a sweet tobacco scent and subtle citrus notes. The dry down is also very nice with the tonka based powdery vibe and some underlying leather and musky marine notes. Overall very beautiful fragrance. It is a shame that it has only moderate sillage and short longevity. It is easily a blind buy if money is no object, but not worth the price for me .

Very unisex, albeit on the masculine side. Never overbearing, never heavy, but a lovely mix of leather, tonka and insence from the start. Unfortunately this went away very quickly on my skin, left now 2 hours later is a faint soft insence/vanilla (extremely reminicent of Alkemia Philtre d'amour which had me a bit confused until I realized it was the tonka beans)).

Generic part with 90's citrus fruits, then opening interestingly on tobacco leaves, sweet tonka smoke, returning to a generic marine base. In the middle I have some dusty but almost unrecognizable cocoa. As an attitude it reminded me of Dune Pour homme and a little Diesel. Young, sparkling, luminous, easy to wear, yet generic scent. A young man, dressed well, with grease.